Why I Love You Flower
By Caroline Wyman
Objective: The students will be able to make a beautiful flower for Mother's Day and express thoughts about why they love their mother. Grades K-2
Initiation: Read a Mother's Day book to the clas and discuss it. Some suggestions are I Love My Mama by Peter Kavanagh, Is Your Mama a Lama? by Deborah Guarino, I Like Noisy Mom Likes Quiet: A Mother's Day Story by Eileen Spinelli or The Mother's Day Mice by Eve Bunting.
Development: After talking about the books and answering questions about why moms are special, have a large flower drawn on a flip chart with a lot of large pedals attached. Have the students raise their hands and give one example for each child as to why they love their mom. Make sure they give specific answers. Give an example if you need to guide them towards specific thoughts. For example...you may say "I love my mom because she hugs me when I fall down and get hurt" or "I love my mom when she reads to me at night". Copy the answers onto the large pedals until you have filled them all in with I love you thoughts. Have the students brainstorm their answers on a piece of paper helping and guiding those who need it. When they have complete all of their thoughts and written them down in their own handwriting, hand out large construction paper that is already cut into pedals and stems, and a cupcake holder cup for the center. Have the students copy their Why I love You sentences onto the pedals. Use different colored pencils for each sentence. Glue the pedals around the cupcake cup and place the stem accordingly. What a great Mother's Day gift!
Closure: After everyone has completed their flower share them with each other and enjoy a closing Mother's Day story.
Materials: Mother's Day book, construction paper, pedals, stem, cupcake holders and colored pencils.
Time: 45 min.
Caroline Wyman has a degree in Sociology and a Masters in Elementary Education and is the administrator for TeacherNet.com.