Updated May 2021! Mother’s Day is a special time when children can express their appreciation to mom for all that she is and does. Following are some free online resources for parents, teachers and anyone else who is looking for Mother’s Day stories and activities for kids of all ages! Enjoy! Mother's Day Stories NEW! Girls and Women in the Bible - Includes the stories of Bible mothers such as Eve, Sarah, Jochebed, Hannah, Ruth, Mary, Lois, and Eunice. Also available in ebook format (epub and Kindle) or as a coloring book. Dear Mom - A bilingual English and Spanish book for children that is ideal for Mother's Day Honor your Parents – A short PowerPoint on the topic of loving and respecting mom (and dad) not just on Mother’s Day but throughout the year. Includes activity ideas at the end.
God's Splendid Mothers – Stories about famous mothers in the Bible for children.
What is a Mother? – Entertaining story for Little kids about what a mother does and why she is special. Includes cute photos of animal mothers with babies. Mother's Day (ppt) - This PowerPoint is ideal for older children and explains how Mother’s Day originated and what the true meaning behind the day is meant to be. Lesson Plan Appreciate Your Parents - Lesson plan from My Wonder Studio that includes reading, discussion ideas and fun activities. Activities Mother's Day Coloring Pages for older children. Mother's Day photo vase craft - a cool DIY Mother's day activity for older kids. Pray a Way Poster and Coloring Page: Grandparents - Poster and coloring page with short prayer for grandma. Mother's Day Cutouts - Two pages of colorful cut-outs that are ideal for Mother's Day cards and other activities. Bible Mothers Coloring Pages - Six coloring pages featuring well known Bible mothers from the Old and New Testaments. Each page includes a brief overview of the mother depicted. “Active Appreciation Activities” – Entertaining activities from My Wonder Studio that can be easily adapted to show special appreciation to mom on Mother’s Day. Mother’s Day Cards – printable Mother’s Day card templates, available in black and white and color. Mother’s Day Crafts, Activities, and Worksheets – An assortment of Mother’s Day arts and crafts activities for kids of all ages, courtesy of Enchanted Learning Mother’s Day Treats – Breakfast in bed and special treat ideas and recipes that many older kids could do with just a little bit of help and supervision from a parent, grandparent or babysitter. Even younger kids will enjoy helping make at least one of these treats for Mom, although they may need a bit of extra help and assistance.
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 By Renee Chang None of her friends or family understands why she has done it, and most of them would like to shake her out of her foolishness. Their objections make sense. After all, May is in her mid-forties and has been living alone ever since her daughter moved out. May is also in debt. And yet, here she is, raising her ex-husband’s child by another woman. May married early and was divorced by her early twenties, but even before that, she had been raising her first child alone, as her ex-husband had a drug addiction and spent as much time in prison as out. Then twenty-some years later, he reappeared out of the blue and asked for a favor. He had fathered a new baby with another woman, and he wanted May to arrange for the baby to be taken into an orphanage before he went to jail again. Little Joline had been abandoned by her mother, and it seemed she was destined for a childhood spent in an institution. Instead of that, May arranged to keep the baby and has been raising her for the past five years. It hasn’t been easy. May is working hard to make ends meet, and Joline is a handful. But May is undeterred. “People have been telling me what a big burden Joline is, and how she isn’t worth the sacrifices I make to look after her. But no one ever asks me how I feel or really listens to why I’m doing this. “After my last failed relationship, I felt I had lost everything to live for and that I’d never have a normal family. But when I first saw Joline’s smile and felt her little hand clasp one of my fingers, I knew then that there was someone who loved me and needed me. Joline is not a burden, she’s my source of love and joy.” Just then, Joline came over and placed her arms around May’s neck and kissed her cheeks. “I love you, Mommy. You’re the best in the world!” May’s face lit up as the proud mother she is. It dawned on me then. May was right, even though others had misjudged her. Rather than letting life’s misfortunes and struggles drag her into a spiral of self-pity, she had chosen to focus on giving what she still had. And in doing so, she also found the happiness that had been eluding her. Article originally published in Activated! magazine. Used with permission. Photo by Wilson Corral via Flickr.
By Michelle Charisse It’s Mother’s Day. I take my place on stage, test the microphone, and scan the hotel restaurant where some friends and I are about to perform. Most of the 200 people who came for the Sunday brunch are mothers and daughters—young mothers with little girls, elderly mothers with adult daughters, short round mothers with tall slender daughters, and some who look like they could be sisters. There are a few sons and husbands, but they are greatly outnumbered by the women, who are all radiant. The reception desk is heaped with individually wrapped pink roses, the hotel’s gift to the mothers on their special day. As the opening chords of our first number fill the room, I feel my mother’s presence. The lyrics remind me of her. “Surround me with the little people…” Mom brought eight little people into this world, each of us her favorite in some inexplicable way. “I want to be held in the everlasting arms of eternity…” Those arms hold her now. It’s been seven years since she died of cancer. My dad held her in his arms till she took her last breath. We kids still hug her goodnight as we say our prayers. Now she’s in Jesus’ arms for eternity. I blink away the tears. “Laughing and singing, what a way to live…” Now I think about my stepmom, who I love just as dearly and can only think of as “Mom,” whose voice I heard on the phone just days ago. As usual, she was full of laughter. If there is one person who knows what it means to live, it’s her. “Life ain’t worth living, if it’s not to give…” I can see her now, giving tirelessly as she cares for my dad and their eleven children who are still at home. (Three of us are grown and living abroad.) Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, giving. A young mother gets up from her table and dances through the restaurant with her baby girl in her arms. The baby laughs. She is secure. She is loved. Then I realize why I can smile and laugh and come halfway around the world to show other people God’s love. It is because I have been blessed with the love of not one, but two mothers—one who had to leave me but is ever near in spirit, and one who came when I needed a mother the most. What am I doing, fighting back the tears? I am secure. I am loved. God has blessed me in double measure. Text courtesy of Activated magazine. Photo by Kathleen Zarubin via Flickr.
Slideshow for Mother's Day, courtesy of Tommy's Window. Note: The downloadable version of this Mother's Day slideshow (which can be viewed with Microsoft PowerPoint) is timed to go with a song by the same name. 
Poems about Mothers from various authors In the heavens above The angels, whispering to one another, Can find, amid their burning terms of love, None so devotional as that of “mother.” —Edgar Allan Poe * God could not be in every place With loving hands to help erase The teardrops from each baby’s face, And so He thought of mother. He could not send us here alone And leave us to a fate unknown Without providing for His own The outstretched arms of mother. —George W. Wiseman * The world has no such flower in any land, And no such pearl in any gulf in the sea, As any babe on any mother’s knee. —Algernon Swinburne * Your mother is always with you… She’s the whisper of the leaves as you walk down the street. She’s the smell of bleach in your freshly laundered socks. She’s the cool hand on your brow when you’re not well. Your mother lives inside your laughter. She’s crystallized in every teardrop. She’s the place you came from, your first home… She’s the map you follow with every step that you take. She’s your first love and your first heartbreak… and nothing on earth can separate you. Not time, not space… Not even death… will ever separate you from your mother… You carry her inside of you… —Author unknown * You may have tangible wealth untold; Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold. Richer than I you can never be-- I had a mother who read to me. —Strickland Gillian * If I were hung on highest hill, Mother o’ mine, O mother o’ mine! I know that your love would follow still, Mother o’ mine, O mother o’ mine! If I were drown’d in deepest sea, Mother o’ mine, O mother o’ mine! I know that your tears would come down to me, Mother o’ mine, O mother o’ mine! If I were lost of body and soul, Mother o’ mine, O mother o’ mine! I know that your prayers would make me whole, Mother o’ mine, O mother o’ mine! —Rudyard Kipling * The sweetest flower that ever grew Is mother love, so kind, so true; Conceived in God’s infinite mind, Placed in the breast of womankind. Its buds in morning rich and rare, At noonday blooms divinely fair; When evening skies are red and gold Its true magnificence doth unfold. Its fragrance fills the earth and skies, It may be crushed, but never dies; The sweetest flower that ever grew Is mother love, so kind, so true. —Author unknown * Who ran to help me, when I fell, And would some pretty story tell, Or kiss the place to make it well? My Mother. —Ann Taylor * Blessed be all mothers Who have come into our lives Whose kindness, care and loving Remain with us to guide. —Susan Kramer * My prayer for you, mother Heavenly Father, Hold my precious mother close to Your heart as I hold her close to mine. Let her know today and every day how much I love her. Lord, comfort her mind and reassure her that her motherly care was everything I needed and wanted, and that I love her dearly. Lord, comfort her body as she ages and grant her health and vitality as she goes through her days here on earth. Bring all good things to my mother, dear God, and bless her every day, in every way. In the name of Jesus I pray, amen. —Author unknown Excerpted from “The Wonder of Mothers” © Aurora Productions. Used with permission.
By Shirley Ceasar My young son came into the kitchen this evening while I was preparing dinner, and he handed me a piece of paper he’d been writing on. So, after wiping my hands on my apron, I read it, and this is what it said:
Well, I looked at him standing there expectantly, and a thousand memories flashed through my mind. So, I picked up the paper, and turning it over, this is what I wrote:
When he finished reading, he had great big tears in his eyes. He looked up at me and said, “Mama, I sure do love you.” Then he took the pen and in great big letters he wrote, PAID IN FULL. Photo credit: via photopin. Article courtesy of Motivated magazine.
 From Jesus with Love
Text courtesy of Activated! magazine. Photo by 123rf.com 
Jonatha Holand I am a CEO. I do not have a special parking place. I do not get bonuses. As a matter of fact, I haven’t had a paycheck in 12 years. My job description includes landscaping, house cleaning, accounting, shopping, and general clerical work. But my job-critical tasks are teaching, counseling, nurturing, and disciplining. I am not always popular. But that’s okay because it is not part of my job to be popular. I am my Children’s Executive Officer. I’ve been entrusted with raising three children to be adults. It’s not vitally important that they become successful in the way that we often define success—lots of money, fame, a specific career. But I do want them to succeed in the way Webster describes it, “to turn out well.” I heard a mom say recently, “I don’t have time to discipline.” Of course we’ve all had moments when we’ve caved in. But a key part of helping my children to turn out well is to teach them that there are consequences for both good and bad behavior. For instance, I was in the grocery store with my then 3-½ year old. He was in a phase of not wanting people to look at him. But how were these poor shoppers to know that! Of course, a woman looked at him and he stuck his tongue out at her. I asked him to apologize. He said no. I took the cookie out of his hand and again explained that that was not acceptable behavior and asked him to apologize. Nothing doing. This saint of a woman, perhaps a veteran parent herself, patiently stood by supporting our Public Behavior 101 class. This went on and on for at least a couple of minutes until he finally apologized. I thanked her for her patience and turned my back from him to get some English muffins. At that point he declared so the store could hear, “I don’t like you, Mom.” I turned back to him and calmly said, “You don’t have to like me, you just need to obey me.” The man stacking bread on the shelves said, “Wow, that’s good…. I like that.” Discipline, which Webster describes in part as “to train or develop by instruction and exercise, especially in self-control” is a large part of parenting. It’s teaching your child to learn self-control, to accept responsibility for his actions, to think clearly, and make good choices. I’ve realized that if I do too much of this for my children, they will not learn it for themselves. I often ask myself, how do you teach the children what is appropriate behavior? And the answer comes back, by behaving appropriately yourself. Every parent’s heart has soared when a child demonstrates what Mom or Dad has strived to teach. The same parents have cringed when they have seen or heard their little ones mimic their less than acceptable behavior. Is this the reason to despair and give up? Absolutely not; it should inspire us to do better. Childhood needn’t be a boot camp. But it’s not a free-for-all either. There’s a balance to be found. My role is to help them be intelligent but not arrogant. I want them to be peacemakers, but not doormats. I want them to be good but not naïve, wise but not suspicious. I want them to be obedient but not subservient, patient but not apathetic. I want them to have respect for themselves. I want their presence in a room to bring light, not shadows. I will retire some day from being a CEO. And it’s right that I do. There will come a time when my children will be adults—and executive officers of their own lives. Jonatha Holland is a mother of three and lives in Carlisle, Mass. Article courtesy of Christian Science Monitor.
Her children rise up and call her blessed.
—Proverbs 31:28 Most of all the other beautiful things in life come by twos and threes, by dozens and hundreds. Plenty of roses, stars, sunsets, rainbows, brothers and sisters, aunts and cousins, but only one mother in the whole world. —Kate Douglas Wiggin But one thing on earth is better than the wife, and that is the mother. —L. Schafer Everybody knows that a good mother gives her children a feeling of trust and stability. She is their earth. She is the one they can count on for the things that matter most of all. She is their food and their bed and the extra blanket when it grows cold in the night; she is their warmth and their health and their shelter; she is the one they want to be near when they cry. She is the only person in the whole world in a whole lifetime who can be these things to her children. There is no substitute for her. Somehow even her clothes feel different to her children’s hands from anybody else’s clothes. Only to touch her skirt or her sleeve makes a troubled child feel better. —Katharine Butler Hathaway To a child’s ear, “mother” is magic in any language. —Arlene Benedict Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children. —William Makepeace Thackeray In the heavens above The angels, whispering to one another, Can find, amid their burning terms of love, None so devotional as that of “mother.” —Edgar Allan Poe Life began with waking up and loving my mother’s face. —George Eliot God could not be in every place With loving hands to help erase The teardrops from each baby’s face, And so He thought of mother. He could not send us here alone And leave us to a fate unknown Without providing for His own The outstretched arms of mother. —George W. Wiseman Old-fashioned motherhood never goes out of style, because it’s all about love. I made people to need love, and I intended for them to first experience that love through their mothers. Mothers are the embodiment of love and care and tenderness—love that even the tiniest baby can feel and respond to. Love is the best thing in life! It’s the most important lesson anyone can ever learn and the greatest gift anyone can ever receive—and mothers teach it and give it like no one else. Life would go on fine without many things, but not without mothers. Old-fashioned motherhood is here to stay! —Jesus
Excerpted from the book "The Wonder of Mothers", by Aurora Productions. Click here to purchase this Mother's Day gift book online.
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