It’s too easy these days to stop off at the supermarket on your way home to pick up a bog standard Mother’s Day card off the shelf and write a quick message inside. This is fine some of the time, but this year, why not push the boat out with your own beautiful, handmade card? It’s a fun, craft activity to do with children too. Below we’ll give you all the tips you need to make a fabulous pop-up card your mum will treasure forever.

You will need:
Card in different colours
Glue
Felt tip pens
Googly eyes
Wool
Stickers or pieces of foam and felt

Instructions:

1. Lay a sheet of card (white is easiest to colour in) horizontally and fold in half. Get your child to decorate the outside of the card using the pens, stickers, felt, etc.
2. To make the pop-up section of the Mother’s Day card, take another piece of card in the same colour and cut out a 4 inch square.
3. Fold the square in half and align it with the crease inside the decorated card.
4. Fold the left and right sides of the square under by about a quarter of an inch and glue these tabs to the card.
5. Close the card making sure the square insert folds outwards as you shut it.
6. The square insert can now be turned into a pop-up person made to look like the child! Create the head by cutting out a circle of card, drawing on a face and using the googly eyes. Use wool to create the hair. Cut out a T-shirt shape in a different card colour and make two cut-out arms with hands on the end.
7. Stick these parts onto the pop-up square inside the card making sure you don’t attach them to the actual card. Check that the outstretched arms don’t stick out when the card is closed. Before gluing any of the parts down, fold them in half to make sure they have a crease like the pop-up insert.
8. Add finishing touches like hearts or extra decoration. Write on the outside of the card ‘I love you’ and inside write ‘this much!’

As an additional touch get your child to write some Mother’s Day poems to further personalise the message. This is another fun activity and Mother’s Day poems are a lovely way to show just how much their mum is loved. Alternatively there are lots of beautiful poems you could copy into the card such as Christina Rossetti’s ‘Sonnets Are Full of Love’.

We’re sure all mums would much prefer a thoughtful, handmade card and original message for Mother’s Day this year. Not only is the finished product something she will adore, knowing the time and effort that has gone into making it all will remind her just how much she means to you!

Jess Savage loves working with children as a teacher and caring for her own son and daughter. She enjoys blogging about ways to help kids be creative in the classroom and at home.

Earnest Parenting: help for Dads wanting to make terrific Mother’s Day cards. Hint, hint….

Tags: craft, glue, make your own, memory, Mother's Day card, parenting help