Creating an Inclusive Mother’s Day Assembly for KS1 and KS2
If you’re wondering how to create the perfect school assembly for Mother’s Day, we’ve got you covered with this ultimate guide. From making a statement with showstopping musical numbers to helping students celebrate all types of parents, guardians and caregivers this holiday, we hope to spark a lightbulb moment to keep your kids and audience members smiling.
Read on to discover our favourite Mother’s Day assembly ideas for KS1 and KS2 students, from coming up with some goals to how to go about putting a show together.
How to Conduct a Mother’s Day Assembly for KS1 and KS2 Students
Conducting a Mother’s Day assembly for KS1 as well as KS2 students doesn’t have to be overcomplicated – we’re here to break down a couple of ideas for you that will help you celebrate the day without leaving out any students.
Creating an Inclusive Environment for Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day can be difficult for students with a variety of backgrounds and family structures – some students may have a poor relationship with their mother, may not know her, or may be/have been in care.
While the ideas presented below are designed to be adapted and suitable for students with all kinds of family situations, it’s important to remember that no child should feel pressured to share their family situation, and when presenting an activity, any examples used should model a range of answers to help normalise various family structures. This means that your Mother’s Day assembly, whether for KS1 or KS2 pupils, should be inclusive to other types of caregivers, whether this is a grandmother, father, foster mum, or any other support figure.
The language in your Mother’s Day assembly’s script should be designed to include everyone – not just mothers. For example, instead of saying ‘Happy Mother’s Day to all the mums here today!’, you could try, ‘Happy Mother’s Day to everyone who loves and cares for us!’. Phrases like this acknowledge that love and care can come from many sources and that children without a mother can still access and celebrate this support.
Mother’s Day Assembly Ideas for Primary Schools
1. Create Some Objectives for Your Assembly for Mother’s Day
First, before getting into the details of your Mother’s Day assembly, you need to think of some goals you’d like to work towards. Some common objectives could include:
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Expressing respect and love towards mothers or female role models
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Reflecting on and appreciating the contributions mothers have made
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Learning about the importance of caring and kindness
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Celebrating other types of caregivers, including aunties, grandparents, adoptive guardians, and foster parents
Once you know what you’re working towards, you can create a Mother’s Day assembly that your pupils can learn valuable lessons from!
2. Activities to Cover in Your Mother’s Day Assembly
There are plenty of things you could discuss in your assembly for Mother’s Day, so depending on the time available, you can choose as many (or as few!) as you think is suitable for your class.
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Reflection
The most obvious activity you can carry out in your Mother’s Day assembly for KS1 or KS2 students is a reflection. Any student who wishes to could share what qualities their mother or caregiver has that they are thankful for.
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Poetry recital
Not only does poetry offer an engaging and entertaining performance, but it can also improve your students’ literacy skills. Tasking your class to come up with a poem about their mums or other special caregivers can be a fun, collaborative task!
To keep it even for all students, you could invite them to do an acrostic based on the caregiver they would like to celebrate – this allows for naming or linguistic variations like Mummy, Mama, Maman, Umma etc, but also widens the field to any other caregivers as well.
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Make a song of it
If your school class is musical, you can always take things one step further than a poem and make a song and dance of it. Any children who play an instrument could show off their talents as the whole class recites a Mother's Day song.
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Make a video
A heartwarming video always goes down a treat in Mother’s Day assemblies for KS1 and KS2 students. From gathering a collection of slideshow images of the children with their mothers to compiling short video clips from students thanking their caregivers, there are plenty of creative ways to engage your audience.
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Get arty
If you have a creative group, your students may like to paint a portrait of their mum or another caregiver and put them on display during the assembly. This can be a great way to showcase appreciation for mothers, especially as artwork can be treasured for years to come.
3. Going Out with a Bang!
Don't forget to go out in style after covering one or a few of the above ideas for your Mother’s Day assembly! Here are some of our favourite ways to end assemblies:
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Summarise what you’ve learned
Assemblies are all about teaching pupils a valuable lesson, so why not reflect on the most important things in a brief conclusion? One of your more confident speakers could recite a short speech or paragraph to round things up nicely, urging the audience to take away what they’ve learned and put it into action.
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End on a song
Lift everyone’s spirits with a final song! If you really want to raise the roof, try incorporating a simple dance routine to match and encourage the children to show off how much they love their support figures!
Explore our KS1 and KS2 assembly songs for some inspiration.
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Conclude with a group chant
Gather your class for a closing group chant of appreciation. For example, this could be a simple ‘thank you’ to all mums and caregivers watching, tying up the assembly with powerful impact.
Performing a Musical for Mother’s Day
If you’re looking for an alternative to Mother’s Day assemblies for KS1 or KS2 students, why not try out one of our primary school musicals? Some of our school musical scripts include some memorable maternal figures which you can help the children reflect on.
As a popular school musical for both KS1 and KS2 students, Pantastic is a truly fantastic choice. Within the musical, Mrs Darling is the loving mother of Wendy, John, and Michael, showing acts of care by reading her children a bedtime story and tucking them into bed. While Mrs Darling isn’t a main character, her support is integral in empowering her children to embark on adventures – even those very far away from home!
In this play, Luna’s Mum listens to her daughter’s ideas and understands the importance of the rocket project to Luna. This character even allows Luna to pursue the rocket project after losing her dad, recognising, with emotional support, that it was something her father would have wanted as well. This plot may be particularly impactful for students who have faced losses.
This musical shows a slightly different mother figure in Habiba, Aladdin’s mum. While Habiba shows care and concern for her son’s future, she also displays disappointment in Aladdin’s laziness. From this, children can learn that tough love and setting high expectations can often come from a place of care.
In Who's Your Mummy?, Pharaoh’s mother conspires with his sister to prevent his relationship with Nafrini. Instead of supporting her son, the mother goes as far as plotting Nafrini’s death, being more concerned with power than her son’s happiness. From this, students can learn that being selfish can harm those around them, and they should always think about other people’s well-being in their decisions.
Alternative Familial Structures in Musicals
For children who find Mother’s Day difficult, you may want to explore a school musical with different familial structures.
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For example, in The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy is raised by her aunt and uncle, which may be relatable to some students in your class.
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Alternatively, in Oliver with a Twist, we follow the story of an orphan boy who longs for a family and eventually gets adopted by Mr Brownlow.
Musicals like these can show children they are not alone in their struggles on Mother’s Day, even if they may feel this way.
Ready to Create Your Mother’s Day Assembly?
There are plenty of ways to help students celebrate Mother’s Day this year, even if some find this to be a challenging date. If you need help creating an assembly for Mother’s Day or choosing one of our most popular school musicals, please contact us. A member of our friendly team will always be happy to lend a hand and make Mother’s Day memorable for your class! Here at The School Musicals Company, we also have plenty of spring assembly songs to help the whole school celebrate the time of year.