CELEBRATE THE PAGAN HOLIDAY LITHA – THE SUMMER SOLSTICE 2013
Celebrate Litha With These Small Children Activities
Litha is a Pagan Sabbat honoring the Goddess as the Mother, the God as the Father, and t
heir children or the child in all of us. Here are some activities to help Pagan Parents include their small children in the celebration. Head out into the back yard and enjoy the day!
Earth Puppets
Materials: Use natural items found in the yard, tape, and glue.
The easiest kind of puppets can be made from a twig. Select a twig that forks. You now have 2 arms and a handle to hold the puppet with. Find a fallen flower, and tape the stem to the handle for the head. You can also tape the stem of a fallen leaf to the handle for the head. For cloth
ing, wrap a leaf around the handle, and your puppet has natural summer wear.
Another puppet can be made with a pine cone. Glue the pine cone to the forked twig, for the head. Dried and fresh grass make loads of hair styles, beards, and mustaches. Use seeds or small rocks for eyes, nose, and mouth. Make clothing out of leaves and bonnets out of flower petals or acorn caps. Use a large box or table for the stage, and enjoy the show.
Vegetable Tray Puppets
Materials: Large carrots, popsicle sticks, cream cheese, raisins or olives, celery, parsley, green beans, radishes, cauliflower buds, broccoli buds, cucumber spears, any other desired vegetable, and cheese slices.
Having trouble getting the younger children to eat their vegetables? Let them play with their food! Peel several large carrots and cut off both ends. With a paring knife (adults only) cut a slit in the bottom of the larger end. Place several carrots on a plate. On a serving tray, in the middle place a small bowl of cream cheese, and surround with “garnishing vegetables”. Cut cheese slices lengthwise to strips of hair. Insert popsicle stick in the slit in a carrot. Using the cream cheese as glue, attach raisins or olives as eyes, and other assorted vegetables as arms, legs, hair, etc. Let the child(ren) put on a mealtime play before eating the characters. Lots of fun for the whole family!
Treasure Boxes
Materials: Sturdy cardboard box, natural items for d
ecoration, white glue, med-size paint brush.
This little box is for the youngster to collect “treasured” memories from summer. Start with a large shoe box and lid. Let the child collect some items from the yard, the park, and/or the beach. Glue flat items to the box, and place the non-flat items inside. To give the box a more durable finish, brush on a coat of white glue diluted with water. Encourage the child to tell stories of where the different items came from, or make up stories about the contents.
Wheelbarrow Planter
Materials: 1 plastic detergent scoop, 2 large brightly colored buttons, white glue, 1 cup potting soil, seeds.
Take the plastic detergent scoop and poke a couple of small holes in the bottom (adults only!) with a nail or a needle. Let each child pick out two brightly colored buttons for the wheels. Glue wheels onto the sides of the scoop so that it sits at an angle. Once the glue has dried, let the child pour 1/2 cup of potting soil in the scoop, place in a couple of seeds around the sides of the scoop, and pour in the rest of the soil. Slowly add water to the soil until soaked through. Place on small dish in sunny spot. Watch the new life grow from the seeds and spring forth from the soil just as life springs forth from the Goddess.
Litha Spiral Candles
Materials: Decorating wax strips or preprinted wax logs, plain ball or short pillar candle(s), craft or butter knife.
Have your child choose a couple of colored wax strip combinations. Cut each strip into 2 pieces 2 3/4″ long and on piece that is 2″ long. Lay a short length of one color over a longer length of another color and roll them into a tight spiral log, 1/2″ in diameter by 11/2″ long. When you’ve got eight logs use the knife (adults or older children) to cut each log into as many slices as you can. Firmly press the wax slices all around the outside of the candle, starting at the base and working up. Continue placing the slices as close together as possible until the whole candle is covered.
Stained Glass Sun Catchers
Materials:Wax paper, crayon shavings
, colored string, yarn, or thread, lace, leaves, flower petals.
To begin, have the child empty crayon shavings from their sharpener, or (adults only!) use a paring knife to create shavings. A cheese grater works great for large crayons. Arrange shavings, and any of the accessory items the child chooses and sandwich between two sheets of wax paper. Iron (adults, of course) the whole package on low setting, just until the shavings melt. Cut the “stained glass” into shapes and hang them with string
, in a sunny window.
Fairies’ Feathered Friend Feeder
Materials: An empty milk carton, nontoxic paint, glitter, white glue, popsicle sticks, 10″ wooden dowel w/ 1/4″ diameter, wire hanger (cut bottom of hanger for inserting into milk carton), birdseed.
Rinse out milk carton thoroughly. Do not completely open top, rather glue open spout b
ack together. Cut 3″ wide by 4″ long arched openings on “spout” side and opposite side of carton, with base of opening approx. 3″ from bottom of carton. Let the child paint the outside of the carton in Litha colors of red, yellow, orange, white, green. Before the paint dries let child sprinkle colored glitter all over the carton, (birds are attracted to shiny objects). Let carton dry. Glue painted or non-painted popsicle stick shingles onto the top of the carton as a roof. For the pe
rches, poke holes in the carton just below the openings, and slip the wooden dowel through the holes. Poke two holes in the top of the carton just under the roof, insert one end of the cut hanger into each hole. Fill the bottom of the carton with wild birdseed. Hang in a spot that is easy to view, but far enough away from fences or other objects to thwart predators. Tell child how fairies, brownies, and sprites ride on the backs of birds to get from one place to another if it is too far to walk.
Excerpts from: Akasha Ap, The Celtic Connection
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n’t be able to do it, whether it’s making something artistic, getting better grades in school, or doing something you have never done before. To learn and to grow you have to try new things, even if you don’t think you can do them well. You have to stretch yourself and reach a little beyond what you think you can do. That’s sometimes the only way you can find out what you can do.”
h I can never do this’, then you won’t even try. Or if you do try, you won’t put all your effort into it. Like the little engine that could, just believe that you can do it and keep trying until you accomplish what you set out to do. When you tackle something that seems difficult or challenging, it will also help to ask for my help, and I will be there in spirit. Make a list of all the things you have accomplished in the past year and as you do, notice how you feel!”
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