Mother's Day gifts

Pop-up shop

Buy gifts from a wholesaler or ask families to donate good quality unused items, perhaps in exchange for a non-uniform day. Items such as bath and beauty products, sweet treats, candles (scented or otherwise), stationery, jewellery and plants would all be well received. Working with eager volunteers, set up a shop in a convenient space at your school. Allot each class or year group a time to visit the shop and select something for their mother or carer. Offer a wrapping service if you can.

Da bomb

Focus on selling a specific product for a reasonable profit rather than offering various different items in your shop. Bath bombs are a fun option, as they come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The smaller versions, also known as bath marbles or rocks, can be sold by the bagful for a reasonable price. Purchase bath bombs in bulk from wholesalers, local shops or specialists, who may make them to order. Bath bombs are surprisingly easy to make, so if you have crafty volunteers they could get involved in the production process. Wrap the bombs in attractive bags and add pretty ribbons and labels. To raise more funds, entrepreneurial PTAs could even organise a bath bombmaking workshop.

Cake and bun sale

Mother’s Day (Sunday 30 March 2025) has its origins in the historical Christian festival of Mothering Sunday – a day when people would visit their ‘mother church’. This was either their local church or the one where they had been baptised. It fell on the fourth Sunday of Lent, three weeks before Easter, and was a time to break the fast and enjoy celebratory food. To revive this tradition, hold a traditional PTA cake (and bun) sale. Produce some baked goods, ask for donations, order them from a local baker or see what the supermarkets have to offer. Traditionally, these treats would have included Simnel Cake with marzipan decorations or yeasted iced buns topped with sprinkles. In Bristol, the buns are known as Mothering Buns, and you can find recipes for them online.

• Holding a Mother’s Day event? Read our Mother’s Day event ideas
• Father’s Day gift ideas
• Father’s Day fundraisers

Breakfast in a box

Any lie-in is a treat for busy mothers and others, even more so if someone serves them breakfast. Prepare special breakfast boxes which children, fathers or carers can pre-order for collection the Friday before Mother’s Day. If you’re an exceptionally efficient PTA with a highly localised community, you could even run a delivery service. Include a fresh croissant – always best eaten on the day – or other pastry, jam and butter, juice and fruit, with dietary alternatives as necessary. Otherwise, find items that will stay fresh for longer.

Personalised presents

Some of the companies that produce PTA Christmas cards also run a similar scheme for Mother’s Day. Ask the school to get involved and allow the children to create their artwork during the school day. Once the image is uploaded, families can choose from a selection of gifts, including coasters, mugs and bars of chocolate.

Bloomin’ marvellous

Plants and flowers are a great gift to celebrate mothers and others. Set up a stall in the playground, selling plants that are in flower, such as primulas or pansies. You may be able to get a good deal from a local garden centre or grower. Use attractive pots and add a heartfelt message, such as ‘I love you’ or ‘best mum’, or get the children to design cards to put on lolly sticks. It takes some effort to prepare the plants and set up the stalls, especially for larger schools that need more stock, but the profit margins can be good – aim for a 100% markup. Or source bunches of flowers from a local nursery or florist and present them attractively with ribbons and messages. Daffodils are a popular choice.

An indulgent cream tea

A takeaway cream tea makes an extra-special treat for Mother’s Day afternoon. Acquire suitably sized scones, cupcakes and biscuits by requesting help from the bakers in your community, asking a local firm or supermarket for donations or buying wholesale. Box them up with some fancy tea, small pots of clotted cream and jam, and anything else that makes it unique – a tea light, for example. It can be quite a bit of work, so round up those volunteers!

Cut the costs

• Hold an after-school craft workshop for children to make cards for their mothers and other special people. Gently encourage the children to write something personal about why their special person matters to them.

• Show your committee’s appreciation for all the mums by compiling free goody bags. Ask local supermarkets, garden centres and any other local contacts for bulk donations of small items such as chocolate or small plants and pop them in paper bags. Ask the children to write a special message on the gift tag. Avoid throwaway plastic where possible.

Include everyone

• Make your Mother’s Day celebrations more inclusive by aiming it at ‘wonderful women’ or ‘mothers and others’ so that children can choose someone else to receive a gift. For example an aunt, grandparent or carer.

• Mother’s Day is marked across the world but not all countries celebrate it on the same day. Teach the children to say ‘I love you Mum’ in as many of the languages represented in your community as possible.

• Ask the school if any pupils are recently bereaved or have parents with a terminal diagnosis and work together to handle their situation in a sensitive manner.