Mother´s day is around the corner, and maybe you are still looking for a gift for an outdoorsy mum or caregiver. And don’t think it can only be something practical – it can also be something nice
You can either make something together with your kids or buy a mother´s day gift at the store – or even do both if you really want to make it a special occasion. I have put together our favorite ideas for mother´s day gifts – totally based on my own preferences and experiences as an outdoorsy mom…
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Handmade bookmarks from wildflowers
If you have small kids, you might want to craft something with them for mother´s day. There are many beautiful nature-themed crafts that you can do, but my favorite is handmade bookmarks from wildflowers. Just collect some beautiful wildflowers with your kids (you will get extra points if they are their favorites) and dry-press them. It will take some time for the flowers to totally dry, so you need to plan some time for this.
Once they are dry, you can stick them onto construction paper and cut them out. If you want to make them more durable, you can even laminate them – for this you have to use plastic, but the coating will make sure that this mother´s day gift for an outdoorsy mum will last longer.
Related: 10 gift ideas for outdoorsy kids (and families)
A nice day pack
I personally LOVE Deuter backpacks – I still have the one that I got almost 20 years ago when I started my first solo trip to South America. Except for the one little cut it got when I got stuck at a sharp piece of rock on the Everest Base camp Trek it is still perfect – and I still use it. Talking about durable…
This is the daypack model I have and adore if you want to check it out.
A Necklace or earrings
A pair of binoculars
In our article about gift ideas for outdoorsy kids, we also recommend binoculars – but they are also amazing for adults. There are so many things we cannot see – sometimes clearly, sometimes at all – when we don’t use binoculars, and we have made some spectacular discoveries with them. My favorite scene was two groundhogs that were fighting – but it looked like they were in a boxing match, standing upright on the hindlegs and hitting each other with their paws. I and my daughter were both able to see every detail through our binoculars, and we talk about that groundhog fistfight still…
I really like these binoculars (and they are currently on sale…), they are not super professional, but they do their job and I can hand them to my daughter without being scared she might drop them. Maybe one day I will get better ones, but for now, these simple ones work very well for me (and my wallet…).
Hiking socks
Good hiking socks are surprisingly expensive – but also a great asset for any outdoor activities. The good ones will keep feet warm, not provoke blisters and not smell after only a day out in boots, and they are definitely worth the investment. But they are also one of those things that we sometimes don’t buy for ourselves because it seems frivolous. So, they are the perfect mother´s day gift for outdoors mom– something that is useful but is also something many of us would not get for ourselves.
Falke is my absolute favorite brand for socks. Whenever I tried a cheaper brand, I came back to Falke full of regret and with battered feet… I always get these hiking socks, as my feet tend to get hot pretty quickly, but which model is a good fit just depends on the person.
A good book
There are many inspiring books about the outdoors, and sometimes reading about someone else’s adventure is exactly the push we need to get up and out ourselves. Giving a great book as a mother´s day gift for outdoorsy mom that like reading is a great way to show that you really know what they are interested in and how they like to spend their time. Pitch in a voucher for the extra free time to actually read a couple of pages undisturbed every day, and you will make a dream come true. Here are a couple of books I really love which would make a great mother´s day gift for an outdoorsy mum:
Guidebooks or maps
I am a geographer, so I love maps and guidebooks that help me plan our next trip. I can spend evenings just looking at them and thinking about how we could cover those distances and what the best way would be. If you are planning a trip to a particular destination in the near future or just know the places on your bucket list, a guidebook or a map of them is a great mother´s day gift – and it will give you the opportunity to plan and dream together.
A coffee (or tea) mug
A dry bag
My dry bag has saved the day more times than I can count – it has saved car keys, cameras, wallets, and mobile phones from getting wrecked by rain, splash water – and that one humiliating time my stupidity when I slipped and fell into the water. This is a little piece of extra equipment that I would not want to miss anymore and which I am sure would make a great mother´s day gift for an outdoorsy mom!