Replace cards with books: You can easily spend a lot on a greeting card that gets tossed into the garbage. Books, on the other hand, are lasting and can be chosen according to your mom’s interests.

Replace chocolate with a memory jar: Write out some of your best memories (a dozen or more) of mom or grandma on small pieces of pretty paper. Include things you’ve done together, favorite family traditions, things she’s done or said that made a difference to you, the best advice she’s given you. Fold them and put them into a jar so that she can “munch on them” over time.

Replace flowers with a photo bouquet: Collect special photos of mom or grandma, particularly those of the two of you from your childhood. Use duplicates or colour copies to create a collage. Or, glue two copies of each photo back-to-back (so the photo is visible from both sides). If you like, make flower shapes using coloured construction paper and glue the photos onto the centers. Slip the photos onto the plastic sticks used to hold the card in floral arrangements. Put the sticks into a flower arranging base at different heights and angles. Finish with some ribbon and a few fresh or dried flowers.

Replace the fancy dinner out with some quality kitchen time: The room in most homes that’s full of the most memories is the kitchen. We relax, smell, taste, talk, and learn things there. Maybe your mother or grandmother is older and not able to cook as much as she used to. Do a little role reversal and cook for her a special meal she used to cook for you. Get advice and tips from her as you cook. The meal will bring back memories for you both.

Replace buying new stuff with sharing “Old Stuff”: Dig deep into drawers, closets, and the basement or attic to find forgotten mementoes – your mother’s old “glam” earrings, an old teddy bear or holiday photos. Share the memories and feelings these keepsakes evoke for both of you.

Replace promises with coupons: Give mom a booklet of coupons or IOU’s with different chores and household tasks that you’ll do. She can “cash them in” whenever she likes. A great finale to the coupons? On the last one write, “I will be there whenever you need me – valid for the rest of our lives.”

Give mom a hug: Sound simple? It is. And moms say they love it.

Hide “love notes” around the house: Each note can have one reason on it that you love mom. Mom will find some of the notes on Mother’s Day, and the rest through the following week.

A great gift idea for new mothers  is a Mom-Aid Kit: Get a pretty box and into the box put the following items (write out a note explaining the meaning of each item):

• A cottonball to soften life’s hard blows
• A plaster to help heal hurt feelings
• A battery to give you extra energy when you’re feeling drained
• A toothpick to help you pick out the good qualities in your children (especially at those inevitable moments when they’re driving you crazy!)
• A button to button your lip at those times when it’s the best strategy
• An eraser to erase the mistakes you’ll make along the way
• A candy kiss to remind you of the simple power of a kiss or a hug
• A roll of Life Savers sweets as a reminder to offer help when it’s needed, and accept help when you need it
• A candle to light your way when things seem darkest
• A ‘calling card’ to phone your own mom (or a friend) anytime you need some advice, a shoulder to cry on, or a kind word

Start a special family Mother’s Day tradition, like running a marathon together or doing some other community service each year (save the dinner out with mom for another day when the restaurants aren’t so busy).

Take a family photo each year: Create a Mother’s Day scrapbook keepsake, in which children write their thoughts and feelings underneath each year’s photograph.

Mothers are never too old to need their own mothers: Make sure mom has time on Mother’s Day to be with or call her mother. Ask an older mother or grandmother whose mother may not be living if she would like to visit her mother’s gravesite on Mother’s Day, or do something else to remember her.

Preparation: How to dye hard boiled eggs:
Protect your work area with paper towels or newspaper. Mix 1 teaspoon of vinegar and 20 drops of food coloring (use more to intensify color) in 1 cup of hot water in a heatproof bowl, cup, or jar deep enough to let you submerge an egg completely.

To create different tints of a color, vary dipping times: Submerge eggs for less than 5 minutes for light colors, and leave the egg in for 10 minutes or more for deeper shades. Using tongs makes handling the eggs easy.

To make a two-color egg, dye the whole egg first in a light color, let dry for 15 minutes, and then submerge half into a darker color (this idea works best for hard-boiled eggs)

Games:

1.  Relay Races
Turn your backyard into a racetrack. Divide kids into two teams. At one end of the yard, mark a starting line for each team with a set of balloons tied to a stake that you have driven into the ground. At the other end, drive a stake with another set of balloons into the ground for each team. Have the teams stand behind their starting lines, and give every child a plastic spoon and each team only one egg. The kids who are first in line should place the team’s egg in their spoon and hold the handle in their teeth. At the blow of a whistle, they must race to their team’s other set of balloons, around it, and back, passing off the egg to the next teammate in line (it’s okay to use hands for this). If an egg falls to the ground, it can be picked up and placed back in the spoon. The first team to have all of its members finish the course wins the game.

2.  Egg Bocce
In this version of the classic Italian lawn-bowling game, the object is to see which player can get his egg closest to the “pallino,” or in this case, a plain white egg. Each child should get two eggs that are the same color. To begin the game, one player throws the pallino underhand across the yard. Then that same player rolls or tosses one of his colored eggs in order to get as close as possible to the pallino. From the same starting point, the other players each take a turn, tossing one of their colored eggs toward the pallino as well. When all the kids have gone once, everyone gets to try again, this time with his or her second egg. Players can use their eggs to knock away the other kids’ eggs, moving them farther from the pallino, or to edge their own first egg closer. After all the players are finished, measure the distance of the eggs from the pallino to see which one is closest to it. If there is a tie, the player whose egg is in the best condition is the winner.

3.  Shell Crack
See whose egg doesn’t crack. Give each child an egg, then divide into pairs. At the starting signal, the children smash the eggs’ small ends together. The ones with unbroken shells advance to the next round. Whoever has the last uncracked egg wins.

4.  Memory
Play a matching game that tests who has the best memory. Make matching pairs of colored eggs, dyeing one side only. Set eggs face down in rows. The first player tries to find a match by turning over two eggs. If they match, he keeps them and goes again. If not, he turns them face down, and the next player is up. Kids keep taking turns until all the matches are found. Whoever finds the most wins the game.

These stickers are great to decorate cards and sticker books.