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Recipe makes about 4 servings of 1 cup each Ingredients: • 2 cooked chicken breasts (about 12 ounces), cut up into 1 inch cubes • 1/2 low-fat or fat-free mayonnaise • 1 medium or large Granny... More
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The Capital Disctrict Parent Pages Features are cover stories pulled from our print edition. For ALL features, stories & more, pick up an issue at one of our many locations.
Gifts from the hands and hearts
Posted on Mon, May 11th, 2009
Written by: Jennifer Farnsworth, Parent Pages Writer
email: cdparentpg@aol.com
For as long as there has been a Mother’s Day, the hearts of moms have been melted by the gifts their children have made with their own hands. Tattered and faded magnets still hang on my mother’s refrigerator, and I remember how important I felt giving them to her.
Guilderland YMCA instructor Becky Phillips said that the process of making a handmade gift can be more important to the child than the end product, and there are a number of simple gifts that kids can make for their moms that will be cherished for years to come.
Phillips teaches multiple preschool programs, including an art class, that allow her to draw upon her experience as an elementary school art teacher and a mom herself. She said Mother’s Day projects are not only her favorites but the children’s as well. She often duplicates the projects in her classroom at home, helping her children make Mother’s Day gifts for their grandmas.
“When making something as special as a Mother’s Day a gift, it’s important to remember that it represents the hard work of the child, along with the creative process. The end result is just what a tangible representation becomes of how hard they worked to make something for Mom,” said Phillips.
Phillips said children gain confidence and pride when they are able to have ownership of their projects. She said some of her favorite Mother’s Day gifts over the year — both given and received — have included jigsaw puzzle piece frames, spray-painted handmade frames, dish towels decorated with fabric paints and markers, and T-shirts and tote bags with handprints.
“Handprint crafts for young children can be turned into butterflies or flowers,” said Phillips.
At Wonderland Nursery School in Schenectady the children have been making bonnets for their moms out of restaurant-sized coffee filters. Teacher Leslie August has the children invite the moms to a tea party at the school, where they present them with the gifts they made. August said the children are filled with pride seeing their moms wear the colorful hats.
“We take the filters and dip them into watercolors and use ribbon for the ties. It may seem silly to see moms wearing coffee filters on their heads, but to the children they are beautiful handmade hats,” said August.
Phillips said that older children can get creative with pottery, decorating vases from local craft and dollar stores. Terra cotta pots often provide the perfect blank canvas. She said once the pots are decorated, filling them with garden gloves and seeds of mom’s favorite flowers makes a perfect personalized and inexpensive gift.
At the Albany Art Room, dads can bring in the kids to make a gift for Mom. Founder Karen Schupack said the Art Room is filled with kid-friendly supplies, and for about $5, little ones can get creative with the markers, paper, paint, stencils, brushes, beads, strings and easels.
“We have a lot of bead-making when they know it’s a Mother’s Day gift,” said Schupak of the young artists that visit the studio.
It’s almost a given that Mom loves anything with a photo. A family’s favorite snapshots can be turned into books, mugs and calendars at just about any pharmacy. Other photo gifts can be created online at sites like Snapfish and Shutterfly.
Making homemade gifts is also a great opportunity to showcase skills that have been passed down through families. Phillips said those talents that have been passed from one generation to the next, such as woodworking, knitting, crocheting, scrapbooking and cooking, can be put to work when making gifts.
“These types of activities are getting lost,” said Phillips. “By teaching children, we show them how much we as mothers appreciate them.”
You can contact cdparentpg@aol.com with any questions. Also, feel free to post comments below.
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Posted on Mon, May 11th, 2009Written by: Jennifer Farnsworth, Parent Pages Writer
email: cdparentpg@aol.com
For as long as there has been a Mother’s Day, the hearts of moms have been melted by the gifts their children have made with their own hands. Tattered and faded magnets still hang on my mother’s refrigerator, and I remember how important I felt giving them to her.
Guilderland YMCA instructor Becky Phillips said that the process of making a handmade gift can be more important to the child than the end product, and there are a number of simple gifts that kids can make for their moms that will be cherished for years to come.
Phillips teaches multiple preschool programs, including an art class, that allow her to draw upon her experience as an elementary school art teacher and a mom herself. She said Mother’s Day projects are not only her favorites but the children’s as well. She often duplicates the projects in her classroom at home, helping her children make Mother’s Day gifts for their grandmas.
“When making something as special as a Mother’s Day a gift, it’s important to remember that it represents the hard work of the child, along with the creative process. The end result is just what a tangible representation becomes of how hard they worked to make something for Mom,” said Phillips.
Phillips said children gain confidence and pride when they are able to have ownership of their projects. She said some of her favorite Mother’s Day gifts over the year — both given and received — have included jigsaw puzzle piece frames, spray-painted handmade frames, dish towels decorated with fabric paints and markers, and T-shirts and tote bags with handprints.
“Handprint crafts for young children can be turned into butterflies or flowers,” said Phillips.
At Wonderland Nursery School in Schenectady the children have been making bonnets for their moms out of restaurant-sized coffee filters. Teacher Leslie August has the children invite the moms to a tea party at the school, where they present them with the gifts they made. August said the children are filled with pride seeing their moms wear the colorful hats.
“We take the filters and dip them into watercolors and use ribbon for the ties. It may seem silly to see moms wearing coffee filters on their heads, but to the children they are beautiful handmade hats,” said August.
Phillips said that older children can get creative with pottery, decorating vases from local craft and dollar stores. Terra cotta pots often provide the perfect blank canvas. She said once the pots are decorated, filling them with garden gloves and seeds of mom’s favorite flowers makes a perfect personalized and inexpensive gift.
At the Albany Art Room, dads can bring in the kids to make a gift for Mom. Founder Karen Schupack said the Art Room is filled with kid-friendly supplies, and for about $5, little ones can get creative with the markers, paper, paint, stencils, brushes, beads, strings and easels.
“We have a lot of bead-making when they know it’s a Mother’s Day gift,” said Schupak of the young artists that visit the studio.
It’s almost a given that Mom loves anything with a photo. A family’s favorite snapshots can be turned into books, mugs and calendars at just about any pharmacy. Other photo gifts can be created online at sites like Snapfish and Shutterfly.
Making homemade gifts is also a great opportunity to showcase skills that have been passed down through families. Phillips said those talents that have been passed from one generation to the next, such as woodworking, knitting, crocheting, scrapbooking and cooking, can be put to work when making gifts.
“These types of activities are getting lost,” said Phillips. “By teaching children, we show them how much we as mothers appreciate them.”
You can contact cdparentpg@aol.com with any questions. Also, feel free to post comments below.
Readers had this to say
Nobody has made any comments about this yet... you could be the first. Comment about this article.