- my iParenting
- quick clicks
- dads today articles
- dads today q&a
- message boards
- research baby names
- prepare a birth plan
- content channels
- ip channel rss feeds
- read birth stories
- read parenting stories
- recommended books
- e-newsletters
- safety recalls
- ip diaries
- ip store
- mom of the month
- dad of the month
- editor's letter
- letters to the editor
 |
- e-newsletters
- Sign up to receive our free weekly e-newsletters
- award-winning products
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families.
Crafty Dad
Help Your Child Make Something Special for Mother's Day By Debbie Swanson
A pot of flowers to liven up a porch or front steps is always appreciated.
Purchase a large clay pot at a garden store. Use it as is, or have your child paint or handprint it for a personal touch. (Be sure to choose a paint which will hold up to watering and outdoor weather.)
With your child, cover the base of the pot with small rocks, fill it with potting soil and top it off with nursery bought seedlings. Based on your climate, place it indoors or on your front steps Mother's Day morning. Over time, your family can have fun replacing the contents of the pot with seasonal plantings.
Give your child some glue, children's scissors and markers or paint, and let him create his own sculptures or inventions. Or, if he needs some direction help him jazz up a blunt-ended soup can to hold pencils, or decorate an empty paper towel tube to make a telescope for bird watching trips together.
Choose a clean cardboard box, such as from a bar of soap or an empty container from rolled oats. Trim off any remaining cardboard around the opening so that one end is completely open. Have your child decorate the outside of the box gluing scraps of colored paper, pictures from old magazines or colored tissue paper. Overlapping the decorations and covering the entire box works well, or let your child make their own design.
To make the box sturdier and add a bit of shine, mix a solution of about half regular glue and half water. Give your child a paintbrush to liberally paint over the entire outside with the glue solution. Let it dry overnight.
