Creative gifts and quality time: top gift ideas for Mother’s Day

With three speciality retail stores and a free exhibition at NGV Australia exploring representations of motherhood, we’re got some easy peasy ways you can show your mama (or maternal figure) how wonderful you think she is.

Check out our top picks.

Could there be a more perfect experience to share with mum than wandering through an exhibition about motherhood? Mother is a free exhibition now open at NGV Australia that presents more than 200 works from across the NGV Collection, showcasing the enduring power of the depiction of mother and child throughout art history.

From exploring depictions of the body, through pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding – through to socially constructed ideas of ‘bad’ mothers and ‘supermums’ and what a mother’s love is and can (or should) be, Mother explores both universal and culturally specific experiences of motherhood.

The exhibition features works by contemporary and historical Australian and First Nations artists, as well as international artists, such as Patricia Piccinini, Francisco Goya y Lucientes and Lena Yarinkura.

MOTHER: Stories from the NGV Collection is on display until 12 July 2026 at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia

shopKHT’s range of Trawlwoolway artist Bronwyn David’s earrings are lightweight and stylish, and perfect for a mother or mother-figure who loves rocking statement earrings. We’d recommend checking out the store in person, as there are heaps more options of shapes, styles, colours and sizes (with different price points) available, with regular stock updates.

David’s ‘Interchangeable connections’ range feature three different leather pieces, all with distinct and different patterns and colours – so they’re a great pair of earring to collect, as the pieces can be mixed and matched. If you’re in the mood to splurge, why not buy mum a couple of pairs so she can change them up depending on her outfit? Fun!

Earrings by Bronwyn David, from $45 – available online or in-store.    

This super cute acrylic wall clock by Brooklyn-based textile and homewares brand Dusen Dusen is sure to brighten up mum’s day. ACMI’s range of Dusen Dusen’s products include bright, colourful and strikingly patterned everyday objects, like salt and pepper grinders, umbrellas, kitchen timers and tissue boxes – as well as this gorgeous clock.  

If you’re doing the mother’s day gifting for smaller kids, and are looking for something a little lower in price point that is both personal AND practical, you can go past their Keyring Shrink Kit.

It’s something you can do with little kids as an activity – draw or create a personalised message to mum with the pencils provided in the kit, then pop the keyring into the oven and watch it shrink, like magic!

Dusen Dusen: Everybody Clock, $214.50 – available online or in-store. Keyring Shrink Kit, $23.50.      

The NGV design store has an exclusive new range of products featuring some of the stunning botanical illustrations by artist Fanny Anne Charsley’s The Wildflowers around Melbourne series. The range features wearables and homewares, from silk scarves and tea towels to soaps and frangrances.

We think this folding fan is a real winner – and will add a pop of colour to mum’s wardrobe. Constructed from a lightweight bamboo frame and silk leaf fabric, it’s sure to be a handbag staple come summertime.

Folding Fan – Botanicals, $27.95. Available at the NGV design store at Fed Square on online.