I am not a Pinterest mom. I do not enjoy scrolling to find the perfect craft and spending hours forcing my kids to make something that nearly never matches the inspiration picture. I’ve learned over the years that, to attempt to do so, inevitably leads to disappointment (me) and frustration (my kids) as I try to force something that just isn’t meant to be.

I am also a mama on a tight household budget, always looking for ways to simplify and use what we already have. Enter: today’s Mother’s Day craft! It is not born of Pinterest or a blog, did not require a single item to be purchased and is quite simple – yet is perfect for the amazing moms and grandmothers in our lives.

Here’s how to adapt this for you and your crew of littles:

Step 1: Pull out all the crafting supplies. What do you have? Get it all out in the open where you can see it.

Step 2: Let your kids go through the goods. Ask them, “what could you make?” They may need some guidance here, or they may have the perfect vision, all on their own.

Step 3: Set-up a good crafting space. Hopefully, the craft is something they can do mostly on their own. I think we all know the story of crafts that we make vs. crafts our kids make. Let them do it. I often find my kids, aged 2 and 5, are so much more capable than I think, if I only give them the chance!

Step 4: Know when it’s time to stop. My two-year-old did great and had a blast with this project. Until he didn’t. A surefire way to create resistance to crafts is to force participation past the point of fun. Sometimes a break is all they need and then you can come back to it, fresh, another day or hour.

Step 5: Make sure they help with the personalization, as well. If that’s writing a note, or filling out a sheet, as we did. I searched for these pages online and simply printed them at home. Quick and easy, and the things my daughter came up with are so special.

Step 6: Involve your kids in the clean-up! This step is so important. The tendency is to shoo them away and just take care of it ourselves, but I find involving my kids in every single step, through the very end, makes a big difference in the way they view crafting and the project they made. It reinforces ownership, capability, and ability – and these are important things!

Step 7: Sadly, we live far away from our Nana and Gigi, so our next steps will be to get these packaged up and shipped off!

I hope you’re able to use these simple steps to create something fun and unique to celebrate the mothers and mother-figures in your lives. Like everything else in life, it doesn’t have to be perfect. A little thought and creativity can go a very long way in making mothers feel loved!

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