Are your children old enough to answer questions? Do you have a phone or a camera? Do you have 5-10 minutes to create something special for Mum, that she can keep forever? You’ve come to the right place.
Scroll to the bottom of this post for finished example!
Rethinking ‘craft’
When you have little ones and hear “Mother’s Day gift”, the most likely thing that springs to mind is ‘craft’. What a lovely gift, right? Don’t get me wrong. When my children decide from their own little hearts to make me something it is a very special gift. If the gift comes from someone else asking them to do it, some of the magic inevitably disappears (gifts from little bubs excluded) If you’re looking for something that doesn’t involve paint or textas that will still bring a smile to mums face, here’s what to do.
Set up
Find somewhere with a nice backdrop for your child/children to sit. Don’t do this next to a pile of washing or next to the nappy bin. We’re trying to send good vibes! Make sure the place (indoor or out) is well lit, quiet and nice to look at. Get your phone or camera pointed at where your child/children are going to sit, either using a tripod, bench or holding it in your hand. Do a test run to make sure you can see your bubs face/s clearly and hear what they say.
Questions
Here’s our suggested list of questions. The answers generally range from heartfelt to funny, add or remove them as you see fit. You might wonder how there aren’t things like “why do you love Mummy?” included. It is important to remember that questions involving the word “why” can be a little tricky for some children to answer on the spot, but you know your kids best…feel free to improvise! We suggest filming in one continuous video which you can edit later.
For older children who aren’t keen on being filmed, we have made the list so that it can be printed out and written on.
Editing
Most phones or devices will have a free editing software/app available. For the easiest edit, simply add our INTRO PIC to the start of the clip, then your video, then our OUTRO pic. Add an audio track a low volume (using free theme music). Save to camera roll and you’re ready to send to Mum on the big day!
Alternatively, you might wish to edit the clip so that you can cut together responses from each of your children or edit out gaps and bloopers. It’s entirely up to you how you present the finished product. We used iMovie on our iPhone to edit and save the clip.
Finished product
You now have a completely unique gift to represent this brief period in time. It wont have to sit at the bottom of a storage container. Mum can keep it on her phone or share it with the world. Here’s what Mr LBO and the Little But Oncers came up with to show you an example.
We hope this helps to make Mum’s day extra special! (don’t forget to give her some peace and quiet as well)
littlebutonce.com 