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Colorful flower pots are an easy idea for Mother's Day.

We’re looking ahead to Mother’s Day and how we can help our little ones show their love to their Mom or caretakers . Here are a few quick and simple ideas to get your little ones involved in the fun of planning Mother’s Day. 

Keepsake Gifts

Finger painting crafts can be fun and sentimental, using red paint on your kiddo’s thumb to create little hearts all over a piece of construction paper folded in half. You also can paint the outline of your little one’s hand and use it as the top part of a flower. Adding on the stem and little leaves and even a flower pot at the bottom.

I loveeeee receiving a plant as a gift. As a kindergartener, I gave my own mom a spider plant as a gift, and she still has it in her living room 25 years later!

 Your kiddo can paint a flower pot using their fingers, paint brushes, or paint markers. Even if the plant eventually grows too big for the pot, it can be reused with other plants in the future.

 Another suggestion that I would love to receive is a painted picture frame with a photo of mom and kiddo or the whole family. These simple keepsakes are something to cherish for years and years to come. 

How to Fill the Day

Mom works hard, and we all know it! A great way to decide what activities to do on Mother’s Day is to look at the mom in your life and what she does for fun or to relax. How about getting the kiddos involved in cooking up some breakfast and letting mom sleep in. Really little ones can do things like wash fruit in a colander. If you go for smoothies, they can help with throwing everything into the blender and pressing the buttons. What color straw would mom want?? They know the answer! 

What other activities could be fun for mom and the kiddos on Mother’s Day? You could gather the supplies to make an herb garden. This can work whether or not you have a yard at your home. You can use larger terracotta pots. Then mom and kiddo can tend to the plants together and eventually use some of the herbs as ingredients for dinner. 

Lessons from Plants

Helping kiddos learn how to plant and take care of flowers, herbs and other plants is a great life skill. It allows for children to practice patience, waiting for the flowers to bloom and getting more comfortable with delayed gratification.

 It teaches kiddos the important task of caring for another living thing. It is also just another fun way to get the kiddos excited about getting outside and into the sun. 

Get Ready to Dance

My last Mother’s Day activity suggestion is for personal  motivation. A Mother’s Day dance! Ok hear me out, this could be as simple or as complex as you want to make it. But  a dance party is never a BAD idea. 

Grab a bluetooth speaker and put on the mom in your life’s favorite playlist. 

If you want to go all out, you can get streamers and balloons to make it a real party. 

Have a great Mother’s Day! You’ve got this!

Sophie Hamel is a freelance writer and works as a crisis responder. Her son is three years old.

Luminous removes the hassle of arranging for tuition vouchers and helps make childcare affordable. Vouchers can help ease your financial stress. Learn more about qualifying for HRA and ACS vouchers at our Bronx and Brooklyn centers. Payment can also be made by SEIU/1199 Child Care, check, credit card, and through the Luminous reimbursement program. Contact Luminous Early Childhood Learning Center at enrollment@luminouschildcare.org or call us at 929.228.1180.

Happy little African American boy in a pumpkin patch in autumn,

Hi, parents, and happy October! I’m so happy to celebrate my favorite season of the year. It's that time of year for fall fun with little ones. Here are some autumn- and Halloween-themed suggestions to keep your little one entertained.

As always, we are keeping these as simple as can be. Let’s get started! 

Squishy Fun

First is an activity that is great for our really tiny humans. If you plan to carve pumpkins, don’t throw away the guts of the pumpkin.

Instead, toss them in a gallon zip lock bag to create a super simple and squishy sensory activity for those 12-24-month-olds.

This way they are still involved in the pumpkin carving, but in a safe way. And this allows us parents to really focus on our own pumpkins, am I right? 

Pumpkin Washing

Another idea for our little littles is a pumpkin washing station. To keep it really simple, go for smaller pumpkins. You’ll need to grab a container, fill it with warm soapy water, and make sure there you’re set up in an area that is protected from the splashing or is OK to get wet.

Our three- and four-year-olds can really get involved in the activity by washing everyone’s pumpkins before the carving begins! 

With larger pumpkins, skip placing them in water. Instead, just give your little one a couple of washcloths and some warm soapy water. This way they can wipe down all the pumpkins, and get them nice and clean for carving. But you don’t have to find a giant tote to fill with water either. 

Sensory Bin

Another easy peasy sensory activity for our littles ones is a fall-themed sensory bin.

You could use multicolored dry pasta, pinecones, smooth acorns, or even some leaves. There is basically no mess when it comes to this activity since everything is pretty large and we parents love to hear that.

Give this one a try and let me know how it goes and how long your kiddo stayed engaged in the activity. 

Hunting for Decorations

This next one, I just did with my kiddo over the past weekend, and we had such a good time. I realized, I didn’t have any Autumn or Halloween decorations for our house! As such a huge fan of this time of year, that did not sit right with me. Lack of storage space keeps me from holding onto a lot of decorations, other than those we have for Christamas. 

So, I asked my kiddo if he wanted to go to the thrift store to pick out some decorations. Surprise, surprise, his response was “NOW?” It just so happened we had a few free hours before I had to go to work. So, I said “Sure!” and we were off. 

We headed over to our local Goodwill. I really tried to let him pick out the things he thought would be cute for our little home. He found some pumpkin string lights (LOVE), tealight candle holders (one black cat, a pumpkin, and a little ghost), a wooden pumpkin door hanger, and the cutest little stuffed pumpkin with a black top hat and black and white striped arms and legs. They are absolutely perfect.

Extra tip: Bring something to donate to the thrift store. Most thrift stores offer a coupon for making a donation. So not only was everything pretty cheap in the first place, we also got 20% off! We spent a total of only $10. And we had a great time doing it. 

But, the fun didn’t stop there. We still get to go home and decorate with our super fun finds. 

There you have it, friends! Easy peasy autumn activities to incorporate when you’ve got the time.

I hope they are just as much fun for you as they were for me. Let me know how it goes!

Sophie Hamel is a freelance writer and works as a crisis responder. Her son is a 3½-year-old preschooler.



Luminous removes the hassle of arranging for tuition vouchers and helps make childcare affordable. Vouchers can help ease your financial stress. Learn more about qualifying for HRA and ACS vouchers at our Bronx and Brooklyn centers. Payment can also be made by SEIU/1199 Child Care, check, credit card, and through the Luminous reimbursement program. Contact Luminous Early Childhood Learning Center at enrollment@luminouschildcare.orgor call us at 929.228.1180.