mother’s day bookmarks

I love teaching primary students. I teach 8-10 year olds and they are fun! I’d have to say that, over the past 3+ years, I have been enjoying working with younger children more than teenagers.

One reason why I like primary teaching is that it gives me more opportunities to do crafty activities with children. With mothers day around the corner, we made some things for our mothers/grandmothers. We made these bookmarks. They look so cute.

We took photos of the students in a variety of poses. The main objective was to have the hands in the air so the bookmark looks like the student hanging from the tassel.

Students trimmed around their photo and pasted it into card, which they also cut out. We had the bookmarks laminated and we punched holes near the hands.

I worked with small groups of students to make tassels. After a while, the kids were helping eachother make tassels, which were attached to the bookmark with a loop knot through the hole.

Some students wrote notes to mum on the back of their bookmarks.

We also made cards using the computer. Students also made coupon booklets for mum. Students wrote and edited a list of things they wanted to for or with mum (eg one hour of sewing; one free haircut; a foot massage; clean the car; do the dishes; one hour of peace and quiet etc). They made little booklets for mum, decorated and presented nicely, matching the bookmark.

Mother’s Day can be tricky when you have a class. Sometimes students have not got mothers. They might be foster kids or their mums might have died. They might not live with their mums. Their mothers might be in prison or they might be sick. As a teacher, you need to tread carefully around the notion of parents. It’s always important to know what your students’ situations are. You don’t want to ask a kid about their mum, only to he told that mum died last year.