Mother's Day Keepsake Video
This is the easiest Mother’s Day gift you can do, and it is one of my all-time favourites as a mother. We do it for each child at CEFA Early Learning schools, for Mother’s Day and for Father’s Day. Since most of you are not at school due to the COVID-19 outbreak, I thought I’d share it with you so you can do it at home and surprise Mom on Mother’s Day.
Best Ages for This Activity
18 months to 5 years.
How to Make It
You will need:
- Your phone
- Your child
Let’s get started!
- Make sure your child is nicely dressed (no need for a gown, just clean clothes that fit) and groomed (face washed, hair brushed)
- When Mom isn’t looking (it’s a surprise), find a nice corner of the house, or a blank wall
- Take a video of your child answering one of these questions (or any other question that you feel comfortable with):
- What do you love about Mom?
- What is your favourite thing to do with Mom?
- Voilà! Now send to Mom by e-mail (or post on Facebook and tag Mom, adding why she is the most amazing mother ever) on Mother’s Day
- If you have more than one child, do one video for each child, or one video with each child taking turns telling Mom why she is so special
- If you are really inspired, you can have your child film you delivering the same message to their Mom, or to your own Mother
Learning Opportunities
This is a great activity to help your child think of others, namely: their mother. This helps your child develop empathy. Also, you will be developing your child’s public speaking talents as a bonus.
Books Your Child Might Like
6 Easy Ways to Teach Your Child Empathy
A four-year-old girl walks into a classroom for the first time. She does not speak English, and she knows no one, except her father who lovingly drops her off. The children are playing and only one boy notices her by the door from the other side of the room. He gets up, walks towards her and reaches for her hand. He doesn’t say a word, but when he looks at her, she knows he understands exactly how she feels, and she feels safe.
Children who are empathetic are better able to deal with their emotions and those of others during conflict or even in everyday situations. This also allows them to “read” social cues, such as when a person wants to play and when they prefer to be left alone, or when it’s ok to give someone a hug. This will help your child make friends easier, have deeper and more meaningful relationships, and even have better grades at school.
Every child has the innate ability to understand another person’s circumstances, thoughts and feeling, which is described as empathy. As parents, all we need to do is cultivate it. Here are 6 tips to teach your child empathy:
Help Your Child Recognize Different Feelings
Help your young child recognize different basic emotions and begin identifying them with words. Start with basic feelings, like “angry”, “happy” or “sad” and evolve to more subtle ones like “proud” or “disappointed”. Once they recognize their own feelings, they are better able to recognize them in others. This is the first lesson in teaching empathy and emotional intelligence. You can draw how you feel, talk about it, express it with movement, but don’t forget the most important prop: a mirror. Show your child their facial expression for each emotion and explore it together.
As they grow older, use more complex vocabulary to help them understand how they feel: “It surprised you to see dad arrive so early today”; “You have a big test tomorrow, and now your stomach hurts, are you feeling nervous?”; “You have had a very long day, are you feeling drained?”.
To enhance this learning, make sure you share with your child how you are feeling as well, by using feeling words yourself. You can say, for example, “I am so thrilled to see you!” or “I am preoccupied” or “indecisive” or whatever you may be feeling. The more precise vocabulary you use, the more your child will begin to understand subtle nuances between emotions.
Be Aware of Others’ Feelings
As you go through the day, demonstrate empathetic behaviour towards other people. One way to do this is by observing other people’s state of mind. Invite your child to participate in this observation by including it as part of your daily conversations. For instance, “That baby is laughing, do you think she feels happy?” or “Look at the puppy in the car, it must be feeling lonely! I bet it can’t wait for its owner to come back from the store…” or “Your friend was very quiet today; I wonder if he is feeling sad about something…”. This will help your child recognize feelings in others, which is the first step towards helping someone feel better and empathizing with them.
Walk Your Talk
The best way to teach a child empathy is to be empathetic as parents. Respond to your newborn’s needs with empathy and kindness, don’t keep them crying or waiting and you will teach them that you love them, you care for them, and that they can count on you. As they grow older, listen to them and let them know they are loved no matter what, cared for and understood. They will learn that being there for someone provides comfort, and soon act the same towards you, and towards others.
Children model your behaviour. If you are kind and empathetic towards people you care about, they will learn to do the same. If you are kind and empathetic towards people you have never met before, they will also learn that from you. This is an invaluable learning experience for your child, and one they will most likely keep for the rest of their lives.
If your child sees you holding the door for strangers, giving up your seat for someone who needs it more, or being patient with a new teller at the bank, they will learn to do the same. This will teach your child not only to understand how others are feeling, but to know that they have the ability to make others feel better and to help just by the way they behave towards them.
Help Your Child Understand Others
Your child covers their ears when they hear another child cry very loudly. Their first reaction is to feel bothered by the child, or at least by the loud noise. You take the time to look and quietly comment to your child “That boy seems very upset, I see he is also holding his leg, he must have fallen and hurt himself. How can we help?”.
As your child gains more practice, choose situations that are progressively more subtle or complex, for example “I noticed that Lily had her head down and was walking slowly after school today, I wonder if she had a chance to play with anyone at recess? Do you know if she might be feeling left out?”. Also try to help your child understand why a person may be affected by something that does not seem so obvious to them “You sister is not upset with you, she is upset because she did not do very well on her test. She just needs a little time alone until it passes and then she will be able to think about it without getting emotional.”
Show Your Child How to Make Others Feel Good
It is incredibly rewarding to make someone else happy. Give your child ample opportunity to care for you, they can make you a tea, for instance, or save you a piece of their chocolate bar. For their siblings you could as “What do you think we could prepare for dinner that would make your brother feel special?”. For others try saying “It was really nice of you to hold the door for that man at the supermarket, especially because he looked so tired”. If you or your child has guests your child could offer them a drink of water when they arrive or hang their coats. Once your children receive an allowance, teach them to set aside some of that amount (it can be any amount they choose) to help someone else. They can choose to help someone in need, or raise funds for something they believe in, like saving endangered species. You can also ask them to help you carry some groceries to bring to the food bank or recycle bottles to help keep the environment clean.
One of our favourite games to play as a family is, after dinner, picking the names of each-other out of a bowl and being extra kind to the person we got without telling them, for as long as it takes that person to realize we were their secret benefactor. Another fun thing to do is choosing one family member at dinner time, when we are all together, and telling them (one at a time) one thing we like or admire about them. It teaches your children how to really look at someone’s good traits rather than always point out what they don’t like about them, and also to think a little more deeply about that person and what they mean to them. The next time you have dinner, someone else will have a turn, until all of you got showered with love!
Recognize and Praise When Your Child Is Being Kind
When you see your little one demonstrating empathy, concern or care for others, be quick to compliment them on their actions; “It was very nice of you to share your bucket at the park. How did you know this child wanted to play with it?”; “You made grandma very happy by giving her such a big hug. She misses you so much when she doesn’t see you!”; “It was very kind of you to share your seeds with the birds”.
Children who are empathetic feel much happier and more fulfilled. They also have a much higher level of understanding and acceptance for other cultures and embrace different people and experiences regardless of how different they are from their own. They have more respect for animals, insects, and the environment, and have the qualities needed to be a true leader, an example for others. You can enhance this by exposing your child to different cultures if you like traveling, or even different foods, different music, different books, where they learn to appreciate others’ ways of seeing the world, which in turn expands their own view.
The next lesson will be to ensure that they treat themselves with the same kindness and respect as they treat others. The same way you taught your child to discover their feelings first before being able to understand how others feel, teach them that unless they feel happy and their needs are met, they won’t have much to give. A lesson as parents we also should learn!
Spa Day for Mom
When my youngest was three, I was invited to a Mother’s Day Spa at CEFA Early Learning schools, in his classroom. When I arrived, all the children had their own basin with warm water where they each soaked their moms’ feet, a little towel which they used to dry them, and then nail polish of every imaginable colour to paint our nails with. I left with one nail of every colour, toes and hands, and with a son so proud for having given me the best manicure and pedicure ever (according to him and his choice of colours), that I never forgot that Mother’s Day present. I loved every minute of it, and so did my son. He loved having the chance to do something for me, and to make me feel beautiful, and I loved seeing how much he enjoyed it.
This activity is very easy, as all you need is nail polish and a little hand moisturizer (or if you made the bath bombs I posted, you can use the sweet almond oil you have). You can complete it with a shoulder massage (teach your child how to do it) along with a cup of mint tea and you have a full spa day! This will be a nice treat for Mother’s Day, or any day for that matter (after all, spa days are always welcome!).
Best Ages for This Activity
2 to 5 years (or older). If your child is younger, you might need nail polish remover as mom’s toes and feet will most likely also be painted – still working on fine motor skills!
How to Make It
You will need:
- A basin or Tupperware to soak mom’s feet in
- A small towel
- Nail polish (see if you can find a variety of colours for your child to choose from)
- Hand moisturizer, or you can use sweet almond oil or grapeseed oil
- Nail polish remover
- Flower petals (these are optional, but you can get them next time you go out on a walk, to add to the warm water)
Let’s get started!
- Fill a large bowl, a basin or a Tupperware with warm water, and add flower petals to it
- Put the towel beside it (to dry mom’s feet)
- Your child can invite mom to soak her feet, then dry them, then choose a nail polish colour (or several) to give mom a pedicure (and a manicure if they like)
- While the polish dries, your child can give mom a back rub, using the moisturizer
- Partners or siblings can help your child bring mom a hot cup of mint tea or a glass of champagne if she prefers – I know what I would prefer!
- Mom can relax after her spa – best Mother’s Day ever!
Learning Opportunities
This is a great activity to help your child think of others, namely: their mother. This helps your child develop empathy. Also, painting nails is an excellent fine motor skills, a precursor to writing!
Books Your Child Might Like
Mother's Day Homemade Bath Bombs
This fun activity is written for partners, siblings and loved ones of Mom to help her child create something special that Mom can pamper herself with. Warning - this activity requires patience. If you feel this is too complex, don’t despair, I will post easier activities too. If you do give it a try, please take a photo of you and your child making the bath bombs and send it to contact@parentingwithnatacha.com. I will enter you into a draw for a $100 gift card to amazon – you earned it!
In honour of Mother’s Day, here’s a recipe for homemade bath bombs that your child can make, using simple, natural ingredients that you most likely already have at home (and no citric acid). These are bath bombs Mom will love to use. They float beautifully on the surface as they dissolve, and if you make a few extra, even your child can pamper themselves with a nice fizzy bath, as this recipe is safe for children to use. Prepare to be amazed!
Best Ages For This Activity
Three to five.
How To Make It
Ingredients
- 2 cups (260g) baking powder
- 1/8 cup (30g) sweet almond oil (you can substitute for grapeseed oil or avocado oil)
- 3 tbsp (45 ml) apple cider vinegar
Optional Ingredients
- 1 tsp (5g) vanilla oleoresin essential oil – this will give it a pleasant scent
- 4 drops of soap dye – you don’t need this. No colour will give you white bath bombs, whereas these will add colour
- ¼ cup cake sprinkles - you also don’t need these, but they are what you see in the picture, they decorate the bath bombs.
- You can also use ¼ cup dried flowers for Mom and have your bath bombs look like these instead (bonus – you don’t need soap dye, they look good in white!)
- A few spritzes or drops of isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol – this is just in case your bath bomb mixture is too dry to keep its shape. Spritz until you have the right consistency.
- Muffin cups. I have silicone muffin cups I use at home for baking, which are ideal. Alternatively, you can purchase bath bomb molds – you don’t need them unless you want round bath bombs.
Let’s Get Started!
- In a small container, mix the sweet almond oil, soap dye and the essential oil together, using a spoon.
- In a large bowl, mix the baking powder and the sweet almond oil mixture. It’s better to use a mixer if you have one, but you can do it by hand. You might have to help our child a little.
- Once mixed, add the apple cider vinegar, one tablespoon at a time, and mix really fast to avoid a reaction. You’ll still get a little bubbling, that’s ok.
- The bath bomb mixture should feel like damp sand once you add all the vinegar. If not, add a little more vinegar.
- Add the sprinkles or dried flower petals and mix. If you like, you can add a few dried flowers or sprinkles to the bottom of the mould, so they are right on top of the bath bomb once it dries, like this:
- Pour into the muffin cups / bath bomb moulds. Pack it lightly, loosely, not too tight.
- If using the moulds, press them tightly together once they are both full. This will make the two halves stick together.
- Using a spoon, tap on the mould, then carefully lift off one half (one mould), turn the bath bomb around and remove the other half. Because these bath bombs are non-toxic, they are a little more fragile than the bath bombs that use citric acid in their recipe, which means you might have to try a few times before you get it right. And by you, I mean your child.
- Place the bath bomb on a lined tray and let dry for 24 hours (somewhere where Mom won’t look) – if you’re not the best planner, don’t worry. You can use the bath bombs as soon as they’re ready.
- Voilà! You made bath bombs.
Learning Opportunities
This is a great S.T.E.M. and science activity. Because your child will be measuring and using other mathematical skills, it also is a great math. Make sure you use math vocabulary by paying attention to colours, to intensity (of scents, of colours), to density, etc. Your child will also learn to CEFA by making something for their mother and will spend quality time with you while making it. Also, this is a highly sensorial activity. Take the time to explore the scents, the colours, the textures, to enhance the sensory learning, which will lead to writing. Making the bath bombs will also use your child’s fine motor skills, essential for writing.
Extended Learning Opportunities
While making the bath bombs, have a conversation with the child about their Mom. What do they appreciate about Mom? What are their fondest memories? Talk about their Mom, about what things she likes, about what she was like as a child, etc.
Show the child how to wrap a present and help them write or draw on a card.
CEFA tip: Remember to let the child do as much of the process as they are capable of. I know this is a hard activity and you will have to help a bit more than usual, but keep in mind that the child should be doing as much as they can.
Books Your Child Might Like