Photo Credit: doriana_s via FreeImages
Life swirls at a hectic pace in most families today. Mother’s Day is a chance to slow down and appreciate one another — while saluting the woman of honor. You’ll want to make the day special, but celebrating Mother’s Day shouldn’t require extensive planning and preparation.
Starting traditions and making memories is much easier than you think. Consider the ideas below as your personal “think tank.” Any one of them brings a family closer and makes being one of its younger members more exciting, while showing mom she’s loved.
Below are 10 creative ways to celebrate Mother’s Day with your children.
Engage your children
1. Consider an outing the whole family can enjoy. Perhaps kayaking, boating, fishing, attending a children’s theater, or heading to a museum.
2. Reconnect with each child (if you have more than one) separately throughout the day, especially if you are attending a big family Mother’s Day get-together.
3. Involve your children in your breakfast-in-bed treat; read them the Sunday comics — or have them read them to you. Direct older children in preparing a dish you like.
4. Assign an important new job. Whether taking pictures or video, hand over the camera so your child to be the day’s chief photographer, especially if your Mother’s Day plans involve an getting together with other people, such as grandmas and aunts. Using an adult’s camera — whether on your cell phone, tablet, or disposable — is serious business to a young child.
5. Make changes that you’ll enjoy throughout the year: Tend the yard, plant flowers, or break ground for a new garden. Years later, the project will become the tree she planted or the fence he built on Mother’s Day.
Do something unusual
6. Spend time in nature, whether on a quick walk, a day-long hike or an afternoon in your own backyard. Study the butterflies, birds and plant life around you. Turn to online searches or library books to investigate what you see. If there’s a creek, stream, or lake in your area, cast a line (permit permitting) and see what you can catch.
7. Reminisce over happy memories by going through old photographs of when your children were much younger. Point out big moments (first steps, first birthdays) and share what you’re proud of.
8. Harness flower power. Spend a day at your local botanical garden. Many have spring festivals — and might have Mother’s Day events — that are ideal for family picnics.
9. Take a walking tour of your neighborhood or town. Adventuring on foot can lead you to surprising place of interest. Look online for a map that guides you to parks, landmarks, historic buildings you had no idea existed.
10. Look up. If warm weather is in the forecast that evening, take blankets outside and look at the stars. Point out constellations.
Almost anything you do this Mother’s Day that is out of your usual routine has the potential become an annual tradition and a warm memory for children of growing up and you, the honoree of the day.
This post was adapted from Little Things Long Remembered: Making Your Children Feel Special Every Day
