Here are directions for your “Love Mother” soup‑can craft, Susan — designed to match your uploaded example and classroom display theme.
🌸 Love Mother Handprint Bouquet Craft
✂️ Materials
- 1 empty Progresso soup can (cleaned and dried)
- Decorative paper or scrapbook paper (pink polka‑dot or floral)
- Ribbon and small bow
- Construction paper in 7 colors (purple, yellow, blue, orange, green, red, and yellow again)
- Markers or pens
- Glue or tape
- Green tissue paper or shredded paper for filler
- Optional: small paper hearts and flowers for decoration
🪄 Steps
Prepare the can:
- Remove the label and clean the can.
- Wrap it with decorative paper and secure with glue or tape.
- Tie a ribbon around the middle and add a bow.
Create the handprints:
- Trace a child’s hand on each colored paper and cut them out.
- Write one loving action on each hand:
💜 Help Her 💛 Hug Her 💙 Pray for Her 🧡 Listen to Her 💚 Respect Her ❤️ Give to Her 💛 Be Kind
Assemble the bouquet:
- Tape or glue each handprint to a craft stick or straw.
- Fill the can with green tissue paper.
- Insert the handprints so they fan out like a bouquet.
Decorate:
- Add small paper hearts and flowers around the base.
- Write “LOVE MOM” on a heart label and glue it to the front of the can.
Display:
- Place the craft on a classroom table or bulletin board.
- Pair it with your “Love Mother By What…” or “Love Mother Young and Old” poem for a complete Mother’s Day lesson set.
Susan Y Barker 2026© MBGeorPastorKBPBANNABENNMRMPM #1012f
“Pleasing God by Loving Mom”
🌸 Pleasing God by Loving Mom
A Mother’s Day Story‑Lesson for Children
The sun peeked through the curtains of the little yellow house on Maple Lane, and twelve‑year‑old Debra Grace stretched her arms with a happy sigh. Today was Mother’s Day, and she had a plan—a big plan. Not the kind of plan that involved glitter explosions (which had happened last year), or the kind that involved burnt toast (which had happened the year before). No, this year she wanted to do something that would make Mom smile and God pleased at the same time.
Debra tiptoed into the hallway, careful not to wake her little brother, Jonah, who slept like a baby bear in hibernation. She whispered to herself, “Lord, help me do this right today.” She remembered a verse her Sunday School teacher had taught:
“Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.” —Ephesians 6:1 (KJV)
She tucked that verse into her heart like a secret treasure.
🌼 Chapter 1 — The Plan That Almost Fell Apart
Debra had created a list titled: “Seven Ways to Make Mom Smile So Big She Might Float Away.”
Make her breakfast (without burning anything).
Clean the living room (without being asked).
Help Jonah get dressed (without him running away).
Pick flowers from the backyard (without picking the neighbor’s).
Write a card (without spelling “Mother” as “Moth”).
Sing her favorite hymn.
Give her the biggest hug in the universe.
It was a good list. A noble list. A list that would make any mother proud.
But then Jonah woke up.
And everything changed.
He came barreling down the hallway wearing one sock, a superhero cape, and a cowboy hat. “Debra! I’m hungry! And I lost my other sock! And I think I swallowed a Lego!”
“You did WHAT?”
“Just kidding,” he giggled.
Ellie sighed. “Lord, I need extra help.”
She remembered another verse:
“Let all your things be done with charity.” —1 Corinthians 16:14 (KJV)
Love. That was the key. Even when Jonah was… Jonah.
🌸 Chapter 2 — Breakfast, Battles, and Blessings
Debra managed to make scrambled eggs that were only slightly crispy. Jonah spilled the orange juice twice, but Debra didn’t fuss. She just cleaned it up and whispered, “I’m doing this for Mom… and for You, Lord.”
When they carried the breakfast tray to Mom’s room, Jonah shouted, “HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!” so loudly that even the neighbor’s cat jumped.
Mom sat up, smiling the warm smile that made everything feel safe. “Oh my, what a surprise!”
Debra felt her heart glow. She wasn’t perfect, but she was trying. And trying with love was what mattered.
🌼 Chapter 3 — The Lesson of the Little Hands
Later that morning, Mom gathered Debra and Jonah on the couch.
“You two made my day,” she said. “Do you know why?”
Jonah raised his hand. “Because we didn’t burn the house down?”
Mom laughed. “Well, that too. But mostly because you used your hands to do good.”
She held up her own hands. “God gave us hands to help, to love, to serve, and to bless.”
Debra thought about that. She remembered another verse:
“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.” —Ecclesiastes 9:10 (KJV)
Mom continued, “When you use your hands to obey, to help, to hug, to pray—you are pleasing God. And when you please God, you make my heart happy too.”
Debra felt something warm inside—like sunshine mixed with joy.
🌸 Chapter 4 — The Surprise That Surprised Everyone
That afternoon, Debra and Jonah decided to clean the backyard. Jonah found a worm and named it “Sir Wiggles.” Debra found a dandelion and declared it “the most beautiful flower ever grown.”
When Mom stepped outside, she gasped. “Children… you cleaned all this?”
Debra nodded proudly. “We wanted to show God we love Him… by loving you.”
Mom’s eyes filled with tears—the happy kind.
She hugged them both so tightly that Jonah squeaked, “Mom… can’t… breathe…”
They all laughed.
🌼 Chapter 5 — The Heart of the Lesson
That evening, Debra wrote in her journal:
“Loving Mom is one of the best ways to show God I love Him.”
She remembered Jesus’ words:
“Honour thy father and mother.” —Matthew 19:19 (KJV)
And she realized something important:
Loving Mom wasn’t just a Mother’s Day thing. It was an everyday thing. A God‑pleasing thing. A heart‑growing thing.
💗 Closing Thought for Children
When you use your hands to help your mother… When you use your words to bless her… When you use your heart to love her…
You are pleasing God. And that makes every day a beautiful day.
📖 Bible Reading (KJV)
Here are passages that pair perfectly with the lesson:
Ephesians 6:1–3 — Obeying and honoring parents
Proverbs 31:28–31 — Children praising their mother
Colossians 3:20 — Obedience pleases the Lord
1 Corinthians 13 — The way of love
Psalm 127:3 — Children are a heritage of the Lord
Matthew 19:19 — Honor thy father and mother
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