“In modern life, the days, weeks, months, and seasons hurtle past us at breakneck speed. Do we even pause to acknowledge autumn’s arrival in crimson and gold, winter’s first snowflake, the sprouting of spring daffodils, or the return of lemonade leisure with the first hot summer afternoon? These simple pleasures should be savored and celebrated...”
~Sarah Ban Breathnach, Mrs. Sharp’s Traditions
~Sarah Ban Breathnach, Mrs. Sharp’s Traditions
Celebration
Order your days with celebration. Simple, joyful celebrations can give our children a chance to embody the true, good and beautiful.
Let us celebrate the order that God has created, the order in our world. God gave us the seasons in a year. He gave us the sun to shine by day and the stars and moon at night. Let us set apart time to express joy and find comfort in this beautifully ordered world.
Through celebration, we are giving our children a great gift. We are giving them a chance to see, hear, smell, taste, and touch truth, beauty, and goodness. Truth, beauty, and goodness are not tangible and concrete, they are more abstract ideas. These ideas must be given a tangible or visible form. Our children must experience them through their senses. Through celebration, we are giving them this and much more. We are giving them an ordered education.
What Do We Celebrate?
Let us find any reason at all to celebrate each and every day. In our home, we celebrate the every day things that many people might just as easily look past. But, if you intentionally celebrate even the little things, they do not seem so small after all. They seem big and real and important.
We celebrate with the changing of the seasons, the natural world, the church year, historically significant days, patriotic holidays, and good, old-fashioned traditions and pastimes.
Let us celebrate the order that God has created, the order in our world. God gave us the seasons in a year. He gave us the sun to shine by day and the stars and moon at night. Let us set apart time to express joy and find comfort in this beautifully ordered world.
Through celebration, we are giving our children a great gift. We are giving them a chance to see, hear, smell, taste, and touch truth, beauty, and goodness. Truth, beauty, and goodness are not tangible and concrete, they are more abstract ideas. These ideas must be given a tangible or visible form. Our children must experience them through their senses. Through celebration, we are giving them this and much more. We are giving them an ordered education.
What Do We Celebrate?
Let us find any reason at all to celebrate each and every day. In our home, we celebrate the every day things that many people might just as easily look past. But, if you intentionally celebrate even the little things, they do not seem so small after all. They seem big and real and important.
We celebrate with the changing of the seasons, the natural world, the church year, historically significant days, patriotic holidays, and good, old-fashioned traditions and pastimes.
Celebrations through the year
Ideas by Month for Celebrating
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January
New Year First Snow Snowflakes Snowmen Ice Skating Sledding Snow Walks Evergreen Trees and Cones Animals in Winter |
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February
Candlemas Day Cupid's Tea Party Love and Valentine's Day Valentine's Day Fancy Dinner Party Abraham Lincoln's Birthday George Washington's Birthday |
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March
Clouds Rain and Puddles Rainbows Luck and St. Patrick's Day First Day of Spring |
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April
Good Friday Easter Rabbits Bunny Tea Party Easter Egg Roll Birds Eggs and Nests |
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May
May Day Seeds Flowers Gardening Caterpillars and Butterflies Mother's Day Memorial Day |
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June
Picking Strawberries and a Strawberry Regale Blueberry Festival Ice Cream Social Father's Day First Day of Summer Midsummer Day Bees and Honey |
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July
Independence Day Backyard Campout and Campfire Water (Ponds and Streams) Ducks Frogs Fish |
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August
Insects Stars and Stargazing Rocks and Minerals Trees Preserving the Summer First Day of School |
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September
Hummingbird Festival Visit to the Apple Orchard Apple Festival First Day of Fall Michaelmas Day and Feast (Bravery, Dragons) |
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October
Night Animals (Owls, Bats, Raccoons) Spiders Visit to the Pumpkin Patch Pumpkin Festival Pumpkin Carving Party All Hallow's Eve Home Frolic Halloween |
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November
Leaves with a Leaf Hunt, Leaf Raking, and Leaf Pile Jumping Squirrels and Nuts with a Nutting Party Martinmas Day, Feast, and Lantern Walk Remembering the First Thanksgiving Thanksgiving |
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December
Advent St. Nicholas Day St. Lucia Day Reindeer Gingerbread Party Christmas Eve Christmas |
Order your weeks with celebration
In our home, most of our celebrations are small and simple.
Our Celebrations often include:
Many celebrations are a one day special event. But many more are celebrated for days. This means that we have more time to really experience that which we are celebrating. We have more time to enjoy the celebration without rushing through it. We can take the time to share in the celebration as a family.
Our weeks are ordered around celebration. I give each week its own celebration. This means I pick one celebration theme for each week. For example, the first week of September is apples. So all week long we read books, sing songs, and recite poems about apples. We make special food and drink with apples. We do art, handicrafts, and nature experiences involving apples. It may sound a little crazy, but it is actually simple. All I have to do is write each celebration down on the corresponding week in my calendar. I already have the books, songs, poems, food and drink recipes, art, handicraft, and nature experiences ready to go.
Our Celebrations often include:
- Read Aloud Stories
- Songs
- Poems
- Special Food and Drink, Feasts
- Simple Art or Handicrafts
- Nature Experiences
Many celebrations are a one day special event. But many more are celebrated for days. This means that we have more time to really experience that which we are celebrating. We have more time to enjoy the celebration without rushing through it. We can take the time to share in the celebration as a family.
Our weeks are ordered around celebration. I give each week its own celebration. This means I pick one celebration theme for each week. For example, the first week of September is apples. So all week long we read books, sing songs, and recite poems about apples. We make special food and drink with apples. We do art, handicrafts, and nature experiences involving apples. It may sound a little crazy, but it is actually simple. All I have to do is write each celebration down on the corresponding week in my calendar. I already have the books, songs, poems, food and drink recipes, art, handicraft, and nature experiences ready to go.
Keep it simple, effective, and Joyful!
Pick a week, pick a celebration, and enjoy!
Check out my BLOG for details about our celebrations.
Check out my BLOG for details about our celebrations.
