May Day is on Monday May 6th this year. It’s typically celebrated with dancing and music, with the centerpiece of the festivities being the Maypole. Kids dance around it while streaming colorful ribbons in their wake. Here’s how you can celebrate May Day this year with your children, whether in school or at home.
Make a Flower Crown
Kids and adults alike can become springtime gods and goddesses when adorning their heads in flowers. The best earth-friendly way to make such a crown is to use what you can find in nature. Try twisting some thin flexible branches or vines to make a circle. Weeping willows make great branches for this thanks to their flexibility. Pick real flowers and poke them here and there into the crown.
Give a Flower Basket
Share the joys of springtime with flower baskets that you can secretly deliver to friends, family, and neighbors. This is a great way to teach your kids about the importance of generosity and kindness. Just put a small bouquet of colorful flowers in an aluminum can, mason jar, or paper cone.
Plant Spring Flowers
Nothing says spring like getting your hands dirty and planting some flowers with your kids. Buy seeds or seedlings from a local plant nursery, such as:
- Pansies
- Sunflowers
- Marigolds
- Daisies
- Poppies
- Zinnias
- Sweet peas
- Nasturtiums
Dance Around the Maypole
Find a long wooden stick and decorate it with ribbons and garlands of flowers at the top. Weave colorful ribbons around the pole bit by bit and lead everyone in a fun dance. This ancient springtime ritual is particularly popular in Europe. You can make your own miniature Maypole craft with these items:
- Paper towel roll
- Empty cereal box
- Colored paper
- Ball of aluminum foil
- Artificial flowers
- Ribbon
- Hot glue and glue gun (parents only)
- Scissors
Directions:
- Cover the paper towel roll in paper, securing with hot glue (for adults only).
- Cut out one side of a cereal box, covering it with colored paper to make the maypole base. Hot glue the paper towel roll to the base.
- Glue ribbons at the top of the pole, gluing the ball of aluminum foil onto the top of the pole.
- Glue flowers to the ball.
Have a May Day Picnic
May Day is a great excuse to spend time together as a family outside, as you explore a new trail, play at the park, or visit a garden. Whatever you do, bring along a picnic with the following items:
- Make a salad in a jar.
- Fill a flask with warm soup and sandwiches.
- Bring a bowl of cut-up fruit, veggies, and cheese.
- Bring sweet strawberries for dessert, perhaps topped with whipped cream.
Build a Bonfire
In some places, people celebrate May Day around the fire. Beltane is a Gaelic springtime festival, and it’s celebrated around a huge bonfire, as is the celebration of Walpurgis Eve in Germany, Sweden, and Finland. Chase away winter and welcome spring with your own bonfire.
Do a May Day Dance
It wouldn’t be May Day without dancing, whether you do a jig around the Maypole, around the yard, in the backyard, or through the neighborhood. Get your sillies out with a good ‘ole fashioned family dance party.
Go on a Nature Walk or Hike
Enjoy spring time by taking the kids on a nature walk. Pull on your boots (if the ground is till muddy from spring rains), and explore the neighborhood, your local park, or a nature trail. Together you can:
- Search for signs of spring.
- Pick a few spring flowers.
- Dig in the dirt and find worms.
- Jump in puddles.
- Go on a spring scavenger hunt.
Read a Book About May Day
Learn more about this holiday with books such as Kalei’s May Day in Hawai’i Nei. Written by Keilani Akoi Clark and illustrated by Nadia Tagaloa, this interactive rhyming book teaches your little one about Polynesian words and dance moves as you travel through some Pacific Island villages. Your guide is a little Hawaiian girl and her ocean buddy, and it explores May Day: one of Hawai’i’s most revered traditions.
Schedule a Tour of Country Home Learning Center Now
We enjoy celebrating traditional holidays like May Day here at Country Home Learning Center. Whether with arts and crafts or dancing, we make it a day to remember. To see what else we do, come take a tour of our many locations in San Antonio and surrounding areas. Just contact us today to schedule your tour.