Making a creative Mother’s Day card is always a more cherished gift than buying one from Hallmark. This year, use your children’s footprints to make a sweet Mother’s Day card your mom will keep and display for years. This is an easy Mother’s Day craft for dads to do with their children or to use in Sunday School and elementary school classrooms.
Begin with an 8×10 sheet of construction or craft paper. I recommend getting a piece of patterned craft paper from the local craft store. Choose a fun color with a small floral or decorative pattern that fits your mother’s personality. If possible, try to match the card colors with her decorating colors to make the card easier to display all year. Fold the 8×10 paper in half horizontally.
Take a piece of craft paper in a complementing solid color. Cut a strip of paper 8 inches long and about four inches wide. Place the folded Mother’s Day card so it opens from the bottom up. Glue the solid colored strip of paper centered horizontally across the front flap.
Now comes the fun part. It might take a little bravery with toddlers, but the result is cute enough to take the risk. Choose washable paint colors to complement your Mother’s Day card design. Place a small amount of craft paint in a sturdy paper plate. Cover the floor with newspapers or disposable plastic tablecloths to protect the floors and carpet. It is easier to complete this part of the Mother’s Day craft on the floor than trying to lift children up on a table surface.
Place several sheets of white craft paper on the prepared work surface. Help your child place one foot on the paper plate and step directly in the paint. Make sure the paint has covered their foot including the toes. Help your child balance so she can then step on the white paper. Try not to smudge the footprint by moving the foot around. The best result is when the foot is placed firmly on the paper and then removed straight up. You may need another adult or older child to help you hold the paper in place as your child lifts her foot.
Make a few footprints of that one foot on the white paper or on different pieces of paper. Then use a towel to clean the first painted foot. Now, help your child step with the opposite foot into the paint and repeat the process. This time, when your child makes the footprint, help them line it up so it is at an angle to the original footprint with the heels overlapping. You will have two footprints starting at the heel and angling apart like a V. This makes a heart shape out of the footprints. Complete the footprint hearts for each of the original footprints.
Now, choose the best footprint heart and trim around it. You can either cut around the heart shape or cut out a white circle around the entire heart. Either way, take the footprint heart and glue it to the center of the Mother’s Day card on the front flap.
Use ribbons and buttons to finish decorating the front of the card and then sign the inside. Families with more than one child will want to experiment for a design that uses a footprint heart from each child. Three young children or babies could fit three footprint hearts across the front of the Mother’s Day card. Or place the oldest child’s heart, which will be the largest, on the front of the card and younger children’s footprint hearts inside the card.
