We all know some sweet moms who deserve special gifts for Mother's Day! And we know, some super sweet kiddos want to make something for ALL the women in their lives! Like mom, pineapples are trendy yet classic. They represent sweetness and hospitality so they are perfect for mothers everywhere! Each of these DIY pineapples will have its own special personality just like the students who made them! They are a gift mom will display proudly and cherish forever!
This is the perfect project for little ones! It only requires a few supplies, and students really can do almost every step independently. To get started, I gave each kid a DIY Small Ceramic Pineapple. They are just the right size for little painters. We put each pineapple on a paper plate with a small puddle of Crayola Yellow Acrylic Paint. We didn't have any special paintbrushes so I just grabbed some out of our watercolor sets. Trust me, any brush will work.
The kiddos painted the fruit of the pineapple yellow. They can spin the paper plate as they are working so they don't have to pick up a wet pineapple. No one wants yellow fingerprints everywhere! I reminded them to cover any white spaces they missed, and then we let the pineapples dry. It only takes a few minutes for acrylic paint to dry so you can take a quick break to read a book or dance to a favorite song.
When the yellow was dry, we put a little puddle of green on the same plate. You could rinse your first paintbrush or grab a second brush for this step. The kids loved getting into all of angles and painting the leaves of the pineapple bright green. Nothing slows busy kids down like a painting project! They were so focused to get it all painted!
When your pineapples are completely dry, it's time to give them a personality! To make some unforgettable faces, we used Giant Black Googly Eyes. We attached everything using Clear Glue Dots. They were perfect for this project! You could also use hot glue, but the Clear Glue Dots were the perfect size, mess free, and adhered tightly to the pineapple. This really is a kid project that doesn't require a grown-up to do most of the work!
You could be done painting at this point, but we really wanted our pineapples to have some rosy cheeks. I put a teeny tiny spot of pink paint on each paper plate. The kiddos used their thumbprints to make two sweet rosy cheeks. I love this personal touch and checking out those tiny little fingerprints! The kiddos drew a smile with a permanent marker. The smile is what makes each pineapple really unique. My kids weren't ready to make their own bows yet so I tied some little bows using Fuchsia Sparklet Glitter Ribbon. They used another glue dot to stick the ribbons on under the leaves.
Now it's time for the hardest part - deciding who will get each sweet pineapple. They are perfect for moms, but there are lots of special women in our children's lives. The free pineapple gift tag download has 6 different printable tags, including mom, aunt, grandma, mimi, nana, and even teacher! We used another Clear Glue Dot to attach the tags to the bottom of the pineapples!
Now your little pineapples are ready for someone special. These handmade gifts will make Mother's Day even sweeter!
