Mother's Day Lapbook, 'Diamond' Necklace and Tea!

One of my favorite classroom events is our Mother's Day Tea!

We transform our room into a pink and purple paradise to spoil and honor our moms!

Today was our tea and I think every mom and grandma that came had a splendid time!

The scene is all set for a wonderful tea party!

Each mom/grandma had a 'reserved seat' full of all their child's homemade treasures!

To make our reserved signs, I simply put a slit in a 1/2 sheet of cardstock that I had folded in half. I ran off a 'Reserve For ____'s Mom' paper (1/2 sheet) that had the words on both sides and had the kids write their names on both sides.  I inserted the paper into the slit and had a picture of them leaning against the 'tent!'

Each child decorated a program for mom!

It detailed our order of events and song list!

The back of the program had this poem with a tea bag and the back of their lapbooks had their flowerpot hand print and poem!

Their 'diamond' necklaces were ready to be presented to mom!!

So each mom will walk away with a lapbook about them, 'diamond' necklace and special program!

Our Enoboard got a 'face lift' for our slide show too!

 I had inserted each of their pictures into a slide and had them tell me why they love mom!  The show ran continuously in the background with music I had downloaded that was perfect for mom!  We had 'You Are My Sunshine,' 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow,' 'A Mother's Song,' 'In My Daughter's Eyes,' 'My Wish,' 'I Hope You Dance' and 'Safe and Sound' playing in a continuous loop, as well!

We had a TON of goodies that the kids served to mom!  They had to take mom's request and come get them their treats/tea!  No mommies were to do any work today!

The back drop for our presentation was our 'Whose Mom Am I?' portraits!

The children drew a detailed portrait of mom (we discussed what a 'portrait' was [head only]) and they wrote some clues about Mom!

Under each flap was the 'answer' as to whose mom it was!

The moms really enjoyed finding their glorious portraits- and once they found it, they got to take it down to take home!

This was a real easy and quick project- and one moms are sure to cherish for quite some time!

You can find the frames, writing prompts and answer reveal in this pack:

During the show we recited the poem 'We Love You More Than Applesauce!'

I had each of the children choose a food from the poem and they held it up during the show!  On the backs was a picture of mom, so that when we got to the line 'BUT we love our Moms the MOST!' they each held up their picture of Mom!  Oh how I wish I had a picture of it because it was SO cute!

But here are some pictures of our props!

 I LOVE these Mom pictures!!!!

So how did we go about making all these treasures we presented to Mom?

We started with our necklaces!

You can find all the directions and 'recipe' in this FREE download on TPT!

In the past I have used the salt/flour dough recipe that I included in the file, but this year I was pressed for time so used Crayola's Model Magic!  It dries in 3 days...and they were 10,000x easier I think it will be my new method!  I also happened to get the HUGE bucket for 50% off during a craft sale at Michaels, so I have enough left for next year too!

First rip off a piece

And have students roll it into a ball 

Then have the students push a dime into the center 

I used a pen to make the 2 holes for the string.  I choose to do 2 holes so that the necklace can lay flat when Mom wears it! 

I threaded ribbon through the holes while the model magic was still wet and it worked out beautifully!

I laid them out on wax paper to dry (the kids names were written on the wax paper too so I knew whose necklace belonged to who!).  The next morning I flipped them over so that the bottom could dry.  Within 3 days they were ready to be painted! 

The kids used regular school (tempera) paint them

I let them paint in whatever style they wanted!  Some chose a solid color, others rainbow and I had one polka dot creation!

And then when they were all dry I used this Model Magic Glaze to seal them (I only used it on the front because the warnings say it can stain clothing if it rubs on it, so I didn't want to get any moms mad if the necklace stained their shirt!) 

And the results were STUNNING!!!

This one got a 'crackle' effect when the glaze dried!

 The shine on them was incredible!

Our lapbooks were a HUGE hit!

This was my first shot at lapbooking...and now I am addicted!  I already have  Father's Day and End of Year packs set to go!

You need a file folder for each kid- or use a 12x18 piece of construction paper that you fold in the same manner!

Fold each side into the middle.  Then glue a piece of cardstock in the middle to make the book sturdy!

Add the elements included

 Color the decorative elements

And write about mom!

Glue the writing into the center/on the cardstock

And the decorative elements on the front 

I chose to include a ribbon so that I could tie it closed!

They wrote under the flaps

And our lapbook was all done!

On the back we made a handprint flower pot!

The flower were made with their thumbs (yellow) and fingerprints (colors)

To make the pots I used a sponge dipped in brown paper to make long rectangles.  They I cut them down and cut off the sides to make it look more like a pot! 

They came out too cute for words!

I know these books are going to be tucked away and saved in a special spot...and I would love to be a fly on the wall as they are pulled out in years to come for my little kinders to see what they wrote when they were little love bugs!

Everyone had a great time- and I surely heard some sniffles!

The children did a fabulous job and each mom/grandma left with a HUGE smile on her face and in her heart!

Seeing the kids present their necklaces to mom was beyond precious and I was so excited that each child in my class had someone come to be with them today!

Tomorrow I get to be on the other side as I am headed to my boys Mother's Day Ice Cream Social!  I can't wait to grab some special hugs and kisses!

Did you do any special projects for Mother's Day or possible try out the 'diamond' necklaces or lapbook?  I would LOVE to hear how they came out!!!

Wishing everyone a great Mother's Day!

Until next post,