Mothers Day Gift Ideas for Young Kids!

Freebies, Piano, Piano Printable / By / September 13, 2021 / , , , , , ,

I have raised five children and when they were little I was always looking for homemade or DIY Mothers Day gift ideas. They loved having something special to give me that they created. As a music teacher, I always encourage my students to play songs for parents. I know their parents appreciate practice and thoughtfulness. This is especially so when kids learn a song just for them.

It’s a fact… young children love to create. My almost 2 year old grandson is always saying, “Watch me!” as he dances, plays an instrument, or is riding his little scooter. It’s only natural for a young child’s creative expression to explore musical instruments… examining, experimenting, and often playing them in ways unintended 🙂 So when I created this Mothers Day gift idea, it is with the intention that a preschool age child can experiment and play any key on the piano to play the Mother’s Day Song, because this is how they learn!

A Mothers Day Song

This unique Mothers Day gift idea includes a song sheet that has a flower for each syllable of each word. It’s fun to see if the child hears that some syllables might be longer than others. Some young children may not notice and that is okay too!

To help the child with the words, I like to point to the flowers as I speak the words. A child can repeat each row like an echo. They even have fun moving a small toy (like a lego, mini eraser, etc.) from flower to flower.

mothers day gift ideas

Some Ideas How to Introduce this Activity to Kids

I am a huge fan of play-based learning, so allowing a child to experiment playing notes at the piano without rules is really important… there are no right or wrong notes when it is their own creation. There are so many developmental benefits of making music, so when children are encouraged to make music it catapults their brain into higher levels of cognitive development.

I always encourage parents to create a joyful home using children’s music. However, in this instance, I encourage parents resist the temptation to give a young child creative ideas. While these suggestions are usually not intended to impede the creating process, I find children become limited by these suggestions… thinking they must copy an example demonstrated by an adult.

Upon hearing their creation, it is fun to ask the child to tell you what thoughts they had about playing their song the way they did. Did they have any other ideas? Does the song move higher? Or lower? Are there some notes that are long? or short? Will their song sound better if it is played soft? medium? loud? a combination of some of those ideas? Talking about these kinds of musical thoughts may give them some more good ideas!

Some children may be absolutely brand new to the piano keyboard and anything they play is wonderful. Other children may already know a little bit about the piano and might like to write the music alphabet letters on their flowers. This helps them remember to play the song the same way each time. And of course, you can print the song sheet again if they change their mind!

A Mothers Day Card

Mothers day gift ideas

Another part of this Mother’s Day gift idea is a greeting card.

Often young children want to get things for the people they love, and having a beautiful greeting card is special for them. On Mother’s Day, they will be able to play their song on the piano and also give a beautiful card that they can sign. Light gray words reading “I LOVE YOU” are inside the card. A child can choose to trace the letters, and they can also trace or color the butterflies on the back of the card.

Writing, tracing, coloring all encourage the development of fine motor skills which are super important to any young piano student. So I always encourage toys, games, and ideas to help young musicians get a head start.

I am offering this Mothers Day gift idea for free! By signing up on my mailing list, you will receive the digital files for the Mothers Day Song and the greeting card (envelope not included). You will also be notified of all the freebies, preschool music products, and videos I create to help you teach music to your child. I am sure your budding musician will love creating a one of a kind song and greeting card! Make this Mother’s Day a memorable day for your preschool child! And… the special mother in their life!

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