Some of the best Mother’s Day gifts don’t come from a shop. These five craft ideas use things you’ll likely already have at home and they’re genuinely fun for kids to make, not just endure.
Good for a rainy weekend morning, a school holiday project, or any time you need to keep small hands busy while making something Mum will actually love.
Shower Sugar Scrub
A homemade sugar scrub is one of those gifts that looks impressive, costs almost nothing and uses ingredients straight from the pantry. It also doubles as a great sensory activity for little ones. Mixing, scooping and squishing is half the fun.
What you need: 1 cup raw or white sugar, ⅓ cup olive oil (add more if you want it runnier), a few drops of food colouring, a few drops of essential oil, a recycled glass jar, ribbon and paper to decorate.
How to make it: Pour the sugar into a bowl and mix in the olive oil. Add a few drops of food colouring — pale pink and lime green both work beautifully. Add your essential oil of choice (rose, geranium and peppermint are all lovely). Let the kids mix with clean hands for the full sensory experience, just discourage tasting. Spoon into the jar and decorate with ribbon and stickers.
It keeps for months and is a genuinely useful gift.
Tea Bag Cinnamon Bickies
Cinnamon cookies cut into tea bag shapes and threaded with string. These are adorable and they taste great. Fair warning: the kids will eat half of them before Mum sees them.
What you need: 150g unsalted butter, 1 cup caster sugar, 2 tsp vanilla essence, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 egg, 2 cups plain flour, ½ tsp baking powder.
How to make them: Cream the butter, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. Add the egg and mix. Sift in the flour and baking powder and stir with a wooden spoon. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Roll out on a floured surface and press a doily into the dough for a pretty pattern if you have one. Cut into rectangles, trim the corners into a tea bag shape and use a skewer to make a hole at the top. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes and cool on a rack. Thread with string and a small tag.
Serve with a proper cup of tea.
Relaxing Bath Salts
A beautiful, useful gift and another great sensory activity while you’re making it. The mix of salts, dried flowers and essential oils looks and smells genuinely lovely. Easy enough for younger kids with a bit of help.
What you need: 1 cup Epsom salts (available from the chemist or supermarket toiletry aisle), ½ cup pink Himalayan rock salt, ¼ cup mixed dried flowers or herbs (rose petals, lavender, cornflower or chamomile all work well), ¼ cup baking soda, 5 drops essential oil.
How to make it: Add everything to a bowl and let the kids mix with a big spoon, or with their hands if you want the full sensory experience. Pour into a clean jar and decorate with ribbon or a handwritten label. Add ¼ cup to a warm bath for a genuinely relaxing soak.
Pom Pom Flowers
Flowers that never die. Once you master the fork pom pom technique you can make a whole bunch in different colours. They look lovely in a small vase on a bedside table and will last indefinitely.
What you need: A fork, wool in any colour, scissors, wooden skewers, paper straws or sticks from the garden for stems.
How to make them: Wrap wool around the top prongs of a fork, leaving a small gap at each end, until you have a thick bundle. Cut the end leaving a long piece to thread through the middle prong, wrap around the bottom and repeat, pulling it tight. Carefully slide the wool off the fork. Hold the middle firmly and cut the loops on each side to create a fluffy pom pom. Push onto a skewer or stick and trim into a round shape. Make a bunch in different colours and pop into a small vase or wrap in brown paper with twine.
Rainbow Pot Plant
A living gift that keeps growing, dressed up with a little handmade rainbow to make it special. A small succulent, herb or flowering plant works perfectly and is easy to find at any nursery or hardware store.
What you need: A small terracotta pot, a seedling or succulent, cardboard (a cereal box is ideal), paddle pop sticks, coloured pencils or textas, sticky tape.
How to make it: Plant the seedling in the pot. Cut rainbow shapes from the cardboard and colour them in as brightly as possible. Tape a paddle pop stick to the back of each one and press into the soil around the plant.
Simple, cheerful and genuinely lovely on a windowsill.
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