May Mothers: Creating Special Gifts and Memories

May 6, 2026 | Kenmore Hills Early Learning News

May is a month of golden mornings, cooler afternoons, and one of the most heartfelt celebrations on the Australian calendar — Mother’s Day. In 2026, Mother’s Day falls on Sunday, 10 May, and here at Kenmore Hills Early Learning, we are already buzzing with excitement, creativity, and love as our children prepare something truly special for the extraordinary maternal figures in their lives.

Whether it’s a mum, a grandmother, a nana, a stepmum, an aunty, a foster carer, or any other special person who fills that nurturing role — May Mothers deserve to be celebrated with all the warmth, wonder, and imagination that young children bring so naturally to everything they do.

Why Handmade Gifts Mean So Much

There is something profoundly moving about receiving a gift made by small hands. A painted handprint. A carefully decorated card. A little pot plant wrapped in tissue paper and sticky tape. These aren’t just gifts — they are keepsakes, imprinted with a moment in time that no shop-bought present could ever replicate.

At Kenmore Hills Early Learning, we believe that the act of creating a gift is just as meaningful as the gift itself. When a child sits down to make something for the person they love most, they are not just crafting — they are practising self-expression, developing fine motor skills, building emotional literacy, and deepening their understanding of what it means to care for another person.

The Sunshine Coast Gallery, a Queensland cultural institution, notes that engaging in artistic activities can significantly enhance various aspects of a child’s growth — from cognitive and motor skills to social and emotional wellbeing. Creating art encourages children to think critically, make decisions, solve problems, and express what they feel when words aren’t yet enough.

For a three-year-old who can’t yet write “I love you, Mum,” a painting — full of swirling colour and pure intention — says it perfectly.

The Developmental Magic Hidden in Every Craft

When children make gifts, the learning happening beneath the surface is extraordinary. Let’s look at what’s really going on when little ones create their Mother’s Day masterpieces:

Fine Motor Development Holding a paintbrush, cutting with child-safe scissors, pressing a handprint into clay, rolling playdough into a shape — every action strengthens the small muscles of the hands and fingers that children will later rely on for writing, drawing, and everyday tasks. Craft-making is, quite literally, preparation for life.

Emotional Intelligence Creating something for someone else requires a child to think beyond themselves — to imagine what their mum might like, to feel pride in what they’ve made, and to experience the joy of giving. These are foundational emotional skills that the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) V2.0 recognises as central to healthy social and emotional development.

Language and Storytelling When a child shows an educator their artwork and explains what it is and who it’s for, they are practising communication, narrative, and language in the most natural and motivated way possible. Every craft table at Kenmore Hills Early Learning is alive with conversation.

Creativity and Problem-Solving Open-ended creative experiences — where there is no single “right answer” — invite children to experiment, make choices, and discover. This kind of thinking is at the heart of EYLF Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners.

Nature-Inspired Gifts: The Kenmore Hills Way

At Kenmore Hills Early Learning, our approach to learning is rooted in Wildhood — the belief that children thrive when they are connected to nature, free to explore, and empowered to discover the world around them through play, imagination, and authentic experience. Our Mother’s Day gift-making reflects this philosophy beautifully.

Rather than reaching for plastic and synthetic materials, we love to incorporate the natural world into the gifts our children create. Some of our favourite nature-inspired Mother’s Day ideas include:

  • Pressed flower cards — collecting blooms and leaves from our outdoor garden spaces, pressing them, and arranging them onto handmade cards
  • Painted river stones — small, smooth stones painted with love and decorated with tiny fingerprints, hearts, or whatever the child’s imagination dictates
  • Seedling pots — children help plant a small herb or native flower seedling, decorate the pot, and present it as a living, growing gift
  • Leaf print wrapping paper — using leaves gathered from our gardens, dipped in paint, and pressed onto paper to create beautiful, one-of-a-kind wrapping
  • Nature collage frames — collecting seeds, petals, small sticks, and bark to create a textured frame around a favourite photograph

These gifts carry the fingerprints — quite literally — of your child’s time in our care. They are made with love, shaped by nature, and designed to last far beyond a single Sunday in May.

Creating Memories Together: What to Do at Home

The celebrations don’t have to stop at our centre gate. Here are some simple, meaningful ways to create Mother’s Day memories with your child at home in Kenmore Hills and the surrounding Brisbane west area:

  1. Make breakfast together — Even toddlers can help pour cereal, add berries to a bowl, or press down the button on the toaster. The togetherness is the gift.
  2. Go on a nature walk at Brookfield or Kenmore — Collect treasures along the way — leaves, feathers, seed pods — and bring them home to create a nature collage or a simple floral arrangement for Mum.
  3. Plant something together — Visit a local garden centre and let your child choose a plant for the garden or a windowsill herb. Planting together and watching something grow is a memory that keeps giving.
  4. Read a special book aloud — The Queensland Government encourages families to read together as one of the most powerful ways to build bonds and support early language development. Choose a story about love, family, or mothers, and read it snuggled up together.
  5. Take a “memory photo” — Set up a simple backdrop, put on a favourite outfit, and take a photo together. Print it and pop it in a frame — it’s a gift that will be treasured for decades.
  6. Write a “love book” together — Ask your child questions like “What do you love about Mum?” and “What’s your favourite thing to do together?” Write down their answers exactly as they say them. Their words, unedited and unfiltered, will be the most treasured thing you ever give.

Celebrating All the Special Women in Our Children’s Lives

Mother’s Day at Kenmore Hills Early Learning is an inclusive celebration. We know that every family looks different, and every child has different special people in their life. Some children are raised by grandmothers who have stepped into the role of primary carer. Some have two mums. Some are in foster or kinship care. Some have lost their mother and are navigating grief alongside celebration.

Our educators approach Mother’s Day with sensitivity, care, and genuine attentiveness to each child and family. If your family’s situation is unique, please speak with our team ahead of time — we are here to ensure every child feels seen, included, and excited to celebrate whoever their special person may be.

As the Queensland Government’s early childhood resources remind us, the role of early childhood services is to support positive relationships and ensure every child experiences genuine belonging. At Kenmore Hills Early Learning, that is not just a guideline — it is our everyday commitment.

The EYLF and Creative Gift-Making: Where Love Meets Learning

Everything we do in the lead-up to Mother’s Day at Kenmore Hills Early Learning is grounded in the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) V2.0 — the national framework guiding quality early childhood education across Australia, including the Queensland Kindergarten Learning Guidelines (QKLG) which shapes our kindy program.

Creative gift-making naturally supports the following EYLF learning outcomes:

  • Outcome 1 – Strong sense of identity: Children develop confidence and a positive sense of self as they see their work valued and celebrated by the people they love.
  • Outcome 2 – Connected to their world: Making gifts for family members reinforces children’s understanding of relationships, community, and their place within them.
  • Outcome 3 – Strong sense of wellbeing: The joy of creating, giving, and being appreciated supports children’s emotional health and overall wellbeing.
  • Outcome 4 – Confident and involved learners: Open-ended creative experiences build curiosity, critical thinking, and the love of making and discovering.
  • Outcome 5 – Effective communicators: Sharing what they’ve made, explaining their choices, and expressing love through art are all powerful acts of communication.

When a child hands their mum a lumpy, glittery, slightly lopsided piece of art and beams with pride — every single one of those outcomes is alive in that moment.

Join Us for Mother’s Day at Kenmore Hills Early Learning

We would love for you to come and experience the magic of our community this May. Whether you’re an existing family or considering enrolling your child, we welcome you to come and see how Kenmore Hills Early Learning brings together the warmth of nurture and the wonder of nature — every single day.

To learn more about our Mother’s Day celebrations, our Wildhood-inspired program, or to arrange a centre tour, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our friendly team.

📍 82 Brookfield Road, Kenmore Hills QLD 4069 📞 (07) 3088 2081 🌐 kenmorehillsearlylearning.com.au 🕐 Open Monday – Friday, 6:30am – 6:30pm

Sources

The following Queensland-based sources were used in the research and writing of this blog post. No other early childhood or childcare services have been cited as sources.

  1. Sunshine Coast Gallery (Sunshine Coast Council, QLD) – The Impact of Art on Children’s Development gallery.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au – The Impact of Art on Children’s Development — A Queensland-based cultural institution providing evidence-based information on how creative arts activities support cognitive, motor, social, and emotional development in young children.
  2. Queensland Government – Resources for Parents and Families qld.gov.au – Resources for Parents — Queensland Government guidance for families on supporting early childhood development, the value of reading together, and connecting with community support services.
  3. Queensland Government – Early Childhood Education qld.gov.au – Early Childhood — Queensland Government information on early childhood education programs, the EYLF, Queensland Kindergarten Learning Guidelines (QKLG), and family support.
  4. Queensland Department of Education – Positive Relationships with Children earlychildhood.qld.gov.au – Positive Relationships with Children — The Queensland Regulatory Authority’s Statement of Shared Commitment, outlining the shared responsibility of educators, providers, and families in ensuring positive experiences and belonging for every child.
  5. Early Childhood Australia – Queensland Committee earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au – Queensland Branch — Queensland’s peak body for early childhood education and care, providing advocacy, research, and resources for educators, families, and policymakers.
  6. Mary MacKillop Childcare North Queensland (MMCNQ) – EYLF Learning Outcome 2 mmcnq.catholic.edu.au – EYLF Learning Outcome 2 — A Queensland-based Catholic early childhood organisation sharing insight into how the EYLF supports children’s connection to their world and the role of educators in fostering this through meaningful, play-based experiences.

Kenmore Hills Early Learning is a proudly Brisbane-based early learning service dedicated to bringing back the essence of Wildhood — where nature, imagination, and play come together to give children the very best start in life. We welcome children from 6 weeks to school age, Monday to Friday, 6:30am to 6:30pm. Enrolments are open — contact our team today to arrange your centre tour.