Mother's day!  Breakfast in bed (is that salt or sugar in the pancakes?), big hugs, and of course hand made crafts and cards from kids presented with pride!

Figuring out what to give your mother (or spouse!) for mother's day gets a little tougher as an adult.  (I'm not saying my mother wouldn't appreciate a handmade clay pen holder from me now, but...).  Fortunately, if you have kids of your own, you can tag team with them!  I think most mother's will agree one of the best mother's day gifts (from Dad, or from a mom or dad to their mom) is channeling kids' creativity and love into gifts that can really be enjoyed - hopefully for years to come!   

So here are 3 tips for setting kids up for mother's day gift giving greatness! 

1. Make it original.  

Kids love stickers in all their forms - Moms, not so much!  Kids' own handprints, scribbles, painting, or handwriting is so much more personal and meaningful.  So whatever the medium (clay pen holder to plain old paper!) hide the stickers and stamps and colouring pages. 

Good...

Better!

2. Make it about the relationship.  

Try asking your child to make a picture of themselves with Mom (or Grandma), or ask them to write a line or two about what they love doing with them.  Or for a younger child, ask them what colours they think the recipient likes and use those colours to draw or paint with.  What about gifting something meaningful that wasn't made explicitly as a mother's day gift. If it's original and about the relationship, it could be perfect! More options to choose from means you and your child can pick something you think the recipient will really like.

For instance, I love this drawing my daughter made of the two of us together several years ago!

3. Make it durable and functional.  

This is where us adults can jump in (and reap kudos for making Mom's gift extra special). I have some dishes my kids decorated with sharpies one year for mother's day. I treasure them, but they aren't washable, so they're tucked away on a shelf. Likewise, cards can start to look a little rumpled...

What to do? A great option is to frame a piece of art or handwriting (major extra brownie points for getting out the hammer and nails and actually hanging it for her!)  

Or step it up even more and showcase your child's creation on something like a DoodleTurtle scarf or leggings.  Meaningful, long lasting, and wearable!  

Like this scarf made with a painting my daughter made for her Oma (in Oma's favourite colour) 

So set your child up with crayons or paint, or check the fridge for special art, and team up with your kids to up your Mother's day game! 

What do you think? Have other ideas for gifts kids can make that moms will love? Leave a comment!