10 Mother’s Day Crafts With Babies

Mother’s Day crafts with a baby or toddler are less about producing something Pinterest-perfect and more about the process itself: messy hands, giggles, and a keepsake that captures exactly how tiny your child’s hands were this year. None of these ideas need expensive supplies. Most can be pulled together with things already in your kitchen drawer or craft box, and they work whether your little one is six months old and just sitting up, or a toddler who wants to “help” with everything.

A quick note before you start: babies and young toddlers explore with their mouths, so always use paint and markers labelled non-toxic and safe for children, keep small parts like beads or wire well away from anyone under three, and never leave your child alone with paint, glue or scissors, even for a moment. If your baby has sensitive skin or eczema, it’s worth doing a small patch test with any new paint first, and checking with your health visitor or GP if you’re ever unsure about a product.

10 Mother’s Day Craft Ideas To Do With Your Baby

1. Handprint Flowers

This is the classic for good reason. Paint your baby’s palm and fingers with a washable, non-toxic paint (or use a baby-safe finger paint if you’re worried about them licking their hand) and press it onto paper to make petals. A few handprints arranged in a circle, with a green stem drawn on afterwards, makes a simple flower that’s genuinely lovely to keep. If your baby won’t tolerate paint on their hands, you can gently press a clean hand into a shallow tray of paint instead of brushing it on, it’s quicker and less likely to end in tears. Have a warm, damp cloth ready for clean-up straight after.

2. Pop-Up Cards

Babies and toddlers can’t write heartfelt messages yet, but they can absolutely decorate. Fold a piece of cardstock, cut a simple slit to make a pop-up tab (an adult’s job), and let your child loose on it with chunky crayons, washable paint, or stickers. The 3D element gives babies something interesting to look at and poke, and it’s a nice way to introduce the idea of shapes popping “up” and “down.”

3. Homemade Photo Holder

You’ll need a smooth, palm-sized stone, some baby-safe paint, a sealant like Mod Podge, and thin wire with a few beads. Let your baby choose a stone (from a clean, safe spot) and help them paint it under close supervision, since babies often try to put paintbrushes in their mouths. Once it’s dry, seal it with a thin coat of Mod Podge, then twist the wire into a loop to hold a small photo. Keep the beads and wire strictly out of reach once the craft is finished, as they’re a choking hazard for babies and young toddlers.

4. Tin Can Butterfly Planters

Give an old tin can a wipe, cover any sharp edges with tape, and let your child paint it. If you kept any handprints from the flower craft, cut them out and glue them onto the can as “wings.” Draw or paint on a simple face, then pop in a small houseplant or a few seeds once it’s dry. It’s a nice way to reuse the handprint activity and end up with something you’ll actually keep on a windowsill.

5. Mother’s Day Plates

Plain ceramic plates are cheap to pick up, and a set of non-toxic, oil-based paint pens made for ceramics will let your child “draw” you a portrait. Toddlers often surprise you with the details they notice, like the colour of your jumper or what you’re holding. These pens are usually set by baking the plate in the oven at a low temperature (check the pen packaging for exact instructions), and once cured they’re dishwasher safe for light use. Keep in mind this is really a toddler activity rather than a baby one, since it needs some hand control, but a baby can still “help” by pointing at colours.

6. Egg Carton Flowers

Cut individual cups from a cardboard egg carton (not foam, it won’t hold paint or shape well) into a four-petal flower shape. Let your child paint each one with acrylic or poster paint, leave it to dry fully, then push a garden stick or pipe cleaner through the base for a stem. It’s an easy one for smaller hands since the pieces are chunky and easy to grip.

7. Shrinky Dink Pendants

Shrinky Dink sheets are a fun way to turn a scribble into jewellery. Let your child decorate the plastic sheet with permanent markers or coloured pencils (check the packet for which works best with your brand), cut it into a simple shape, and bake it according to the instructions on the packet, this should always be done by an adult, as the plastic curls and shrinks quickly in a hot oven. Once it’s cooled and flattened, thread it onto a cord. If your child is under three, it’s safer to attach the finished pendant to a keyring or bag charm rather than a necklace, since cords around a young child’s neck are a strangulation risk.

8. Paper Flower Bouquet Frame

This is similar to the photo holder but focuses on decorating the frame itself. Patterned paper cut into flower shapes and glued around a plain picture frame gives a full, textured look with minimal fuss. Pop a photo of your baby in the centre, ideally a duplicate print, since little ones aren’t always gentle with the original.

9. DIY Heart Scribble Mug

You’ll need a plain mug, a porcelain paint pen, and some sticky-backed plastic (contact paper). Cut a heart or simple shape out of the sticky plastic, stick it onto the mug, and let your child scribble over and around it with the pen. Peel the plastic off once they’ve finished to reveal a clean heart shape against the scribbles. Most porcelain pens need to be cured in the oven to become dishwasher-safe, so check the instructions on the pen before you start.

10. Old-Fashioned Mother’s Day Card

Sometimes simple really is best. Cardstock, a few markers, some stickers or cut-out shapes, and a bit of glue is all you need. Your baby or toddler can’t write “I love you” yet, but they can choose where the stickers go and scribble across the front, and that’s exactly the kind of imperfect, handmade card that tends to get kept for years.

Whichever of these you try, the finished craft matters far less than the twenty messy, giggly minutes it takes to make it. Keep the session short (babies and toddlers rarely last more than ten or fifteen minutes at a craft table before they’re done), have wipes on hand, and take a photo of your child mid-mess. In a few years, that photo might mean more to you than the craft itself.