There are some wonderful Mother’s Day gifts for kids to make but this one seems to say what’s in our hearts using a few simple words and child drawings.
This special “I Love Mommy” booklet uses only one sheet of paper but the folding is quite tricky. There are photos for each step. Adult help needed.
1. Fold paper in half with a hotdog fold–long and thin. Crease sharply. Unfold.
2. Fold paper in half with a hamburger fold–short and wide. Crease well and this time keep folded.
3. Fold paper in half again with a hamburger fold and crease. The paper sort of looks like an extra long dollar bill.
4. Unfold the paper. There will be 8 little sections. They look too small to be useful but are just right for drawings.
5. Refold in half on the hamburger line and cut along the middle line on the fold edge but only to the crease! Just like you were going to cut it in half but stop after one long snip.
6. When you stand it up, the cut part bends out like a diamond.
7. Pull these 2 points right out.
8. Squeeze all these wings together and re-crease the sections.
9. As you lay it down, it has formed a wee book; the pages will turn and none will fall out. It all stays together. There will be 8 pages.
Grownups can print a short sentence on each page according to what kids say, or just a word or two for young toddlers. Kids add the drawings. The front cover is page 1 and the back cover is page 2. Some kids may be able to print on their own or copy from grown-up printing. This is what we did:
Page 1/front cover. I Love Mommy
Page 2. by ______________ (child prints name)
Page 3. Mommy makes ______________. (pancakes or other food)
Page 4. Mommy calls me ____________. (honey, princess, buddy, or nick name)
Page 5. Mommy likes ____________. (flowers, movies, books, etc.)
Page 6. I love Mommy.
Page 7. Mommy loves me.
Page 8/back cover. No words, just hugs and kisses. You can add the year.
Other family members can do this for moms or moms can do this with kids for a keepsake treasure. This is easy to mail. Kids whose moms have moved away or died can draw some memories: My mom read this story. My mom sang this song. We went for a walk. The kids can keep this book to remind them on Mother’s Day since they can’t be with their moms. Kids can make several of these as gifts for grandmothers too.
These books are small, just like kids, but the memories and love fill hearts.