I Love You to Pieces Craft | A Great Mother's Day Student-Made Gift Idea

Looking for a meaningful, easy-to-prep craft that your students can gift to someone special?  This "I Love You to Pieces" writing prompt and craft is the perfect student-made gift for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Grandparents’ Day, Valentine’s Day, or any special occasion!

This craft is perfect for all ages!  It works well for students as young as Pre-K all the way through late elementary grades.

How it Works:

Students will tear pieces of construction paper and use them to fill in two heart shapes, creating a colorful mosaic effect.  

While having fun with the rip-and-tear technique, they’ll also develop fine motor skills.  

Best of all, it’s a simple to prep and budget-friendly craft!

 

What’s Included?

1 Ready-to-Print PDF (Not Editable)

1 Picture Template

 

How to Complete the Craft:

 Color - Students begin by coloring their papers using markers or crayons.

2.   Writing Prompt – Students complete the prompt about someone special they love and why.  Encourage them to use complete sentences and add meaningful details.

3Heart Collage – Provide students with a variety of construction paper colors.  Have them tear the paper into small pieces (no scissors needed!) and glue them inside the hearts to create a mosaic effect.  

**TIP* Encourage students to start with the edges of the hearts first, then fill in the centers.

Add a Picture – Take and print a 4x6 photo of each student.  

Using the template, cut the pictures down to size and glue them into the frame.  

No photos?  No problem!  Students can draw a self-portrait instead.

Laminate – Once the craft is complete and the glue has dried, laminate for extra durability. 

       Gift Time! – Students are ready to surprise their special someone with their heartfelt, handmade keepsake.

 

This quick, easy, and budget-friendly craft is a perfect, meaningful gift for any special occasion.  Whether for Mother’s Day, Father's Day, Grandparents’ Day, or Valentine’s Day, it’s a keepsake that families will cherish for years to come!

Click HERE to download the "I Love You to Pieces" Printable from my TpT store!

Mother's Day Gift Idea - Student Made Keychains for Mom!

If you are looking for an easy, practical, and cheap Mother's Day gift for your students to make, then these heart keychains fit the bill!

Your students can add any design and colors to their heart keychain.

They can also write sweet messages on their heart keychains as well.

This year I did something different and added each student's name on their heart keychains as well.

Here is what they look like when I made them last year without the names.  Both ways turn out great!

Here's how we made the heart keychains:

Step 1:

For this craft you will need Shrinky Dinks plastic sheets, scissors, colored pencils, a hole punch, small jewelry rings, keychain rings, and the printable heart template (found HERE).

I like to use the frosted Shrinky Dinks plastic sheets because colored pencils work well on them.

 

However, they do make clear plastic sheets as well.  These would be great to use permanent markers on.

Step 2:

Using the heart template, trace as many hearts as you can on the rough side of the Shrinky Dinks plastic sheet.  You should be able to get about 4 hearts on one page.  You can also just print the hearts directly onto the plastic paper using your computer printer.

Step 3:

Cut out each heart.  Make sure to keep any extra scraps of the Shrinky Dinks plastic as you cut.  You can use these scraps for your student crafts as well (more about that on step 7).

Step 4:

Add a hole punch at the top center of each heart.  It is important not to forget or skip this step.  The hearts must have a hole punched before baking!

Step 5:

Give each of your students a heart to decorate.  Have them add their own designs, message, colors, etc. to the rough side of the heart.  I have found that colored pencils work really well on the Shrinky Dinks plastic.

Step 6:

Instead of a heart, another great design idea would be to have your students trace their hand on the Shrinky Dinks plastic!  They can then decorate their own handprint!

Step 7:

Using the extra scraps of the Shrinky Dinks plastic that you have, cut out small rectangles using wavy scissors.  These are great to use for students to write their name on and add to their heart keychain.  Don’t forget to add a hole punch at the top of these as well.

Step 8:

Follow the steps on the Shrinky Dinks packaging to shrink and harden each student’s designs.  

I take them home for this step.  I cut and place a brown paper sack on a cookie sheet.  Then, I add all the pieces to the cookie sheet (rough side facing up).

Step 9:

Cook at 325 degrees for approximately 1 to 3 minutes.  Watch them carefully while in the oven.  You will see them first curl up then lay flat.  Once I see them lay flat I let them cook about 30 seconds longer and then take them out of the oven.

Step 10:

Once you take them out of the oven let them cool.  If there are any that are still slightly curled take something (like a pad of paper) to push it flat before it cools.

Step 11;

Using needle nose plyers add a small jewelry ring through the hole punches.  Then, add the keychain ring.  Finally close the jewelry ring tight.

Step 12:

The keychain is now complete!

Step 13:

These keychains make a cute and useful keepsake for moms! 

Step 14:

Your students can make all types of different shapes for their keychains!

Star shaped keychains turn out great too!

Step 15:

Finally, have your students wrap their gift.  You can grab this printable Mother’s Day gift bag HERE!

Now your Mother’s Day gifts are ready to send home!

These keychains also make a great Christmas parent gift, Grandparent's Day gift, Father's Day gift, etc.!

*Affiliated links included in this post.  As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Handprint Calendar – Student Made Calendar for a Parent Christmas Gift

You might think I'm crazy writing a blog post about parent Christmas gifts in June, but it's actually one of my summer time - prep for the next school year - projects.  Let me explain...

There are always so many options when deciding on what you want your students to make and give their parents as a Christmas gift each year.  I always look for something that is cheap, doesn't take up much class time, and is a great keepsake for parents.  These handprint calendars are one of my top favs!  Not only is it a great keepsake but it's something parents can actually use and for a whole year!

I actually prep - print - and bind these calendars during the summer.  I do that so they are ready to begin at the beginning of the school year.  All you need is cardstock paper, paint, and binding combs to make these adorable calendars. 

At first look you might think these calendars would be so time consuming to have students make but I have it broken down so it doesn't take up a lot of class time and is a stress-free project.

Here's what I do....

1.  First, during the summer I decide what pages I want to include in my handprint calendar books.  After I decide on the pages I print and bind them together.  I prep these calendars during the summer so they are ready to begin once the beginning of the school year craziness settles down.  Also, by starting these calendars early in the school year you can break it down to a weekly project when you have extra class time.

When picking the pages for my calendars I decide what kind of cover I want them to have.  There are three different cover pages to choose from.

There's a cover that has a big blank space so student's can make their own handprint design on the cover.  (I usually have them make a heart handprint on this cover.)

Then there are two different handprint clipart cover options.  One that has hearts in the middle of the handprints and another that has the calendar year on the handprints.

(If you don't prep these ahead of time you could totally let your students decide which cover option they would like.)

Not only can you have your students color their cover page but they can also add their handprint as well!

2.  Not only do I have to choose which cover page my calendars are going to have but  I also have to decide what handprint crafts I want my students to make for each month.

There are two different handprint poem options for each month.  Here's a look at the different options to choose from for each month:

January

(Penguin and Snowflake)

Penguin

Snowflake

February

(Valentine, Heart, and Ladybug)

Valentine

Heart

Ladybug

March

(Shamrock and Leprechaun)

Shamrock

Leprechaun

April

(Bunny and Rain)

Bunny

Rain

May

(Chick and Tulips)

Chick

Tulips

June

(Butterfly and Strawberry) 

Butterfly

Strawberry

July

(Flag and Watermelon)

Flag

Watermelon

August

(Fish and Sun)

Fish

Sun

September

(Tree and Apple)

Tree

Apple

October

(Pumpkin and Spider)

Pumpkin

Spider

November

(Leaf and Turkey)

Leaf

Turkey

December

(Santa and Snowman)

Santa

Snowman

Once I decide what handprints I want my students to make for each month I copy the handprint poem pages and yearly calendars on cardstock paper.  I print them front-to-back so when you open the calendar the poem and handprint are on the top and the calendar is on the bottom.

I also copy these two keepsake pages to add to the back of each student's calendar.

This page has The Hands of a Child poem by Amy Ethridge on it.  I have the students add their handprint in the box.

This page is an all about me page the students fill out about themselves.

They are a perfect addition to the back of the calendar book.

3.  Once I have all the pages copied I bind the books together.  I use our school's comb binding machine.  If you don't have a binding machine you could use book rings, ribbon, etc.

The 3/8 inch binding combs are the perfect size to use with the calendars.

4.  Finally it's time to start adding student handprints to the calendar pages!

I use washable tempera paint for the handprints.

To make this calendar project stress free and fast I break the handprints down to about one a week (starting in September).  Each week I pick a day (usually when all the students are there) to make one of the handprints.  I call students up one at a time and paint /stamp their handprint.  I usually do this during quiet classwork time or during center time.  

Once the handprints have dried I give the students their calendar books to add details and finish up the handprint poem page.  This is a good project to have students work on when there is extra class time, when they have finished their work early, etc.

For example, after the handprint dried this student added dots and an antenna to their ladybug.  They also colored the poem page and calendar page.  Some students might even add grass, plants, etc. to their ladybug picture.

Some students might choose to leave the calendar blank or add special dates to it.

I continue this one handprint a week schedule until the calendars are finished.  By starting in September is allows for a couple extra weeks in December to finish up incase we get behind.  

By the time the crazy holiday season arrives the calendar gifts are already finished!  All we have to do is wrap them up!

Click HERE to download the pages to make your own handprint calendars!

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Canadian poem pages are also included!