Mothers Day Parties with an Educational Learning Twist

* The earliest Mother's Day celebrations can be traced back to the spring celebrations of ancient Greece in honor of Rhea, the Mother of the Gods.
* During the 1600's, England celebrated a day called "Mothering Sunday."
* Celebrated on the 4th Sunday of Lent (the 40 day period leading up to Easter), "Mothering Sunday" honored the mothers of England.
* It began as a day when apprentices and servants could return home for the day to visit their mothers. They often brought a gift with them, often a "mothering cake," a fruit-filled pastry known as simnels.
* Furmety, a sweetened boiled cereal dish, was often served at the family dinner during Mothering Sunday celebrations.
* By the 19th century, the holiday had almost completely died out.
* The earliest American Mothers' Day (or Mothers' Work Day) was initiated around 1858 in West Virginia.
* Anna Reeves Jarvis, a local teacher and church member, wanted to work for improved sanitation in her town. During the Civil War, she extended the purpose of Mothers' Work Days to work for better sanitary conditions for both sides in the conflict. After the Civil War, Reeves worked for a reconciliation between people who had supported the two sides in the war.
* Today we give gifts and flowers to honor our mothers. Traditionally family members have a breakfast or a dinner together on Mother's Day. Some families serve Mom breakfast in bed and pamper her on this special day.
* Make sure to give Mom a gift she can use all year long on like a big kiss or a personalized picture frame.

THE GREAT MOGUL: According to the lot, one of the players stands on a chair or a stool and takes on a majestic air. He/she is the Great Mogul. All the rest players come to him/her one at a time, bow to him/her, kneel before him/her, look in his/her face and say: "The Great Mogul! Bow down before you without tears and laughter!" The players must pronounce this phrase solemnly and seriously. At the same time the Great Mogul tries to make the players who come to him laugh: he/she pulls faces, wriggles etc. The player who laughs while speaking to the Great Mogul becomes the Great Mogul in the next round.

EGGHEAD: Take three eggs and hard-boil one and leave two raw. Put them in a bowl, have someone pick one out and smash it over their head. If they get the hardboiled one out of three people, they get a prize.

Right click to copy the the printable Mothers Day puzzle below.
Mothers Day Criss Cross Puzzle