Mother's Day Forever Handprint Bouquet

This week we are working to learn our first (and most difficult) poem that we will recite for the Moms at our very special Mother's Day Tea Party. It's a poem about giving Mom a "forever bouquet". In other words, some type of crafted flowers that will last forever. (Scroll to the bottom of this post to see the poem and download a FREE pdf of my class poster for the poem.)

A few months ago, I saw an adorable hand-print bouquet on Pinterest from The Trendy Treehouse. I knew it would be a perfect supplement to our poem. (In the past we made coffee filter flowers for the Moms, but I like that the handprint art can be laminated, framed, and saved FOREVER.) Here's my take on the project. I mounted plain white copy paper onto yellow construction paper. I also swapped out the original idea of a painting bow around the stems and added a fun, multi-colored paper vase to give it just a little more "pop." I am so thrilled with how these turned out.

Adding a heart to each handprint is easy: 

dip your finger into yellow paint and make a small "v"

These forever bouquets are SO beautiful!

Mothers Day Poem

Here is the very sweet poem my children will recite at the Tea Party for their moms. I've included the motions that accompany it in parenthesis. Hopefully they all make sense! Before reciting the poem, the children will walk into the room and place their artwork face down on the floor in front of them. During the very last line, children will bend over to quickly pick up their "forever bouquets" and hold them out toward their mothers.


Mothers Day Poem 
Dear Mom,
I will love you forever (children hug themselves)
and forever you will be
the most wonderful mother. (open arms like a rising sun)
You mean everything to me. (point to themselves with both thumbs)

I thought of buying you flowers (rub fingers together like you're holding money)
in the usual way, (hold arms out near shoulders - look bored)
but I knew you would prefer
a FOREVER bouquet.  (reach down to pick up flower artwork)

What is your favorite gift to make in class for Mother's Day?