Thank Goodness for Moms!

Mother’s Day is a great time to recognize one of the most important educators in a student’s life—Mom!

I’m so grateful for my own mother (now 91 years old) and all that she’s done for me over the years! She’s the one who gave me the courage to go to college (I’m the first in my family)! Though a mom myself and now a Yiayia (Greek for “grandma”), I often think about the lessons I learned from my mother and her generous love for family and friends.

I say it’s truly fitting to celebrate all mothers! Throughout the world, people celebrate Mother’s Day on different days and in various forms. This year in the United States we honor mothers on Sunday, May 13th.

So just how did Mother’s Day begin? The American version of this holiday was created by Anna

Jarvis in 1908 and became an official U.S. holiday in 1914. Later on, Anna denounced the

commercialization of Mother’s Day and spent a good portion of her later life trying to get it revoked, but it has stayed. Today we continue to celebrate moms with gifts, flowers, cards, and other celebrations!

Include some of these crafty RAFT hands-on activities that I know your students will love to create for their mothers! And they will mean so very much to mom because they were made by their child’s own hand and heart. Have a Very Happy Mother’s Day!

• Bobble Heads: Self-portrait? How about a “Self-Novelty Sculpture” instead? Students will love “making mom” into these cute, personalized bobbleheads.
  Subjects: Physical Science, Social Studies, Language Arts, Art
• Faux Stained Glass: Student artists of all ability levels can use this flexible technique to create dramatic effects. Make cards, bookmarks, or other decorative objects mom will love!
  Subjects: Art Techniques, Decorative Arts, Art History
• File Folder Frames: Creating frames from file folders is an easy and inexpensive way to add the finishing touch to a photograph or a piece of student artwork, and it makes an excellent gift for mom on Mother’s Day!
  Subjects: Artistic Perception, Creative Expression
• Foiled Stencil Cards: I remember making Mother’s Day cards for my mom, and she kept every one of them all these years! In this activity, make bright, shiny Mother’s Day cards that she will stay forever!
  Subjects: Holidays, Written Communication, Greeting Cards
• Stencil Suncatchers: Mom will adore these hand-made suncatchers, and you can use them as a springboard for teaching about color, light, filters, and art history!
  Subjects: Color, Light, Filters, Art History.
• Tape Case Display Box: Empty and unwanted cassette tape holders can be used to create impressive display boxes that are the perfect size for mom’s business cards!
  Subjects: Celebrations, Gift Giving, Social History
• MoM’s Playoffs: Wow Mom by playing this game and showing her how well you know how to multiply monomials (which involves increasing coefficients and adding the exponents of expressions which have the same base)!
  Subjects: Monomials, Multiplication.

Written by Jeanne Lazzarini, RAFT Math Coach/Curriculum Writer