How to Celebrate the Winter Solstice in Your Homeschool
Celebrate the shortest day of the year by exploring the science of the seasons.
Celebrate the shortest day of the year by exploring the science of the seasons.
As part of a nature loving family, and with a child who loves science, I find the idea of celebrating the winter solstice appeals to me. What better way to honor the mystery and beauty of this earth than mark the changing of the seasons? The winter solstice marks the official beginning of winter. It is the day that the northern hemisphere has the shortest daylight hours, so the days following it get a little longer. Because of that, we can celebrate “the return of light.” I love that.
Last year I decided to try to institute what I hope will become a tradition in our house — celebrating the winter solstice. We also celebrate Christmas, so I didn’t want to make our solstice celebration something that would end up being a lot of extra work for me, and since at that time my boys didn't even know what the solstice was, I decided to use the occasion to teach them about it.
I discovered that there aren’t many books about the winter solstice that would appeal to my kids, but the one I did find was just right. I read The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice by Wendy Pfeffer to my seven-year-old. My younger son, who was four, lost interest in the book, but that was okay. We have many solstices ahead of us! (And I’ve already found a few new books to add to our list: The Return of the Light: Twelve Tales from Around the World for the Winter Solstice and The Shortest Day — Carson Ellis’s gorgeously illustrated version of Susan Cooper’s poem — are at the top of our list!)
The book did a good job of explaining how for thousands of years people all around the world have wondered about and celebrated the solstice. While the book does not get bogged down in details that young children might not care about, I wished there had been a few more details for my sake, but nevertheless, it was just fine for my seven-year-old.
For example, it tells about how ancient people became scared when the sun began to disappear and how they would hold long ceremonies to try to get their gods to bring the sun back, but it doesn't explain where or exactly when or where these people lived. It also tells of how some of the earliest astronomers measured the days and figured out which days would be the shortest and the longest, and it explains that many of our current customs stem from some of these old rituals held around the winter solstice. Illustrations help explain the story a little more.
The book has a good graphic showing the position of the earth at each solstice and equinox, and it has several suggestions for activities that you can do with your kids. I picked one where you use an orange and a lamp to demonstrate how the tilt of the earth stays the same as it travels around the sun. Only I used our globe and a lamp. This visual even helped me understand that as the North Pole tilts away from the sun, we have our winter and the Southern Hemisphere has its summer.
This coming winter solstice, I am hoping to add some more fun things to the day. Perhaps we will make peanut butter bagels dipped in birdseed and hang them in our trees to feed the birds. Maybe we’ll bake something special for us to eat as well. Maybe we’ll light some candles for a while. Or maybe we’ll go on another family hike that day.
I have also considered marking the summer solstice and the spring and fall equinox. But getting myself to remember to do one more thing when our calendar is already so busy is hard. This summer all I managed to do was to tell my boys that it was the summer solstice. When I told my four-year-old that it was the shortest night, he got excited. He thought that meant that he wouldn't have to sleep very long!
Creating new family traditions can be tricky sometimes, but I’m determined to at least celebrate the winter solstice, even if it ends up being something we do in a low-key, last-minute kind of way. Whatever ends up being our yearly solstice tradition, I hope it can be another way to inspire awe in my children for this earth, the universe and our abundant lives.
This column was originally published in the winter 2014 issue of HSL. (We’re Amazon affiliates, so if you purchase something through an Amazon link, we may receive a small percentage of the sale. Obviously this doesn’t influence what we recommend, and we link to places other than Amazon.)
The Lazy Homeschool Parent’s Guide to Holiday Cheer
It’s okay to scale way back if Pinterest-perfect holidays are making you stress more than you celebrate.
It’s okay to scale way back if Pinterest-perfect holidays are making you stress more than you celebrate.
Okay, let’s be clear: I’m not calling you lazy. You’re a mom or a dad, and I know you work hard every day, and I do, too. The fact is, when I see the effort so many families put into their holiday preparations on top of everything else they have to do, I feel lazy. Or maybe the more honest way to put it is I don’t want to do all that.
In my house, we celebrate Christmas, and I love Christmas. I love the decorations and twinkling lights, and I love the spirit of the season, but I hate doing the decorating, and I especially hate putting it all away at the end of the season. I’m not a crafty person, and I’m not a great cook either. So it’s easy to let myself feel more pressure than holiday cheer.
I hope I’m not alone and there are a few other moms out there that feel the same way. If there are, I put this list together with you in mind, but please consider it simply a brainstorm on some possible ways to make the holidays less stressful. If you have better ideas, go with that!
Do what you want to do and know that’s enough. Your kids want a cheerful mom this holiday season, not a stressed mom. So make a list of the things you enjoy doing during the holiday season, stick to that, and stop feeling like you need to do more.
Don’t look at Pinterest. Just don’t even go there. If you feel like you can go there and make it out alive, then okay, but don’t go there, if you know it’s not good for you.
Take the pressure off making Christmas cards this year by picking the most recent, doable snapshot of your kids, and using a template at your favorite card maker. You don’t have to have a designer look every year. No one will remember it by next year anyway.
If your kids like crafts, the easiest craft is making snowflakes. You can use them for ornaments or hang them from doorways. They’ll really brighten up your house. Here’s a good tutorial for making snowflakes.
Turn on some holiday music. Music does wonders for the soul, and it’s sure to put everyone into the holiday spirit. And it’s as easy as plugging your iPod into some speakers.
When it’s time to decorate, pull all those boxes out of the attic, open them, and tell the kids to have fun. Even if things aren’t exactly “properly placed,” you’ll have fun seeing what they come up with, it’ll make a great memory, and it takes the pressure off of you.
Cooking is not my favorite pastime, but my kids enjoy helping me bake. Instead of feeling like I have to bake lots of items for gifts, I pick one or two treats to do with my kids and that’s it.
I’m also not a crafty person. Hearing about all the families who make their gifts for each other makes me feel a bit guilty, but that’s just not me, and it doesn’t have to be you either, if you aren’t into it. So remember that giving with your heart doesn’t have to equal giving with your hands.
Play games. The purpose of the holiday season is to spend more time with loved ones, right? Pull out some games and have fun together!
Get outside. Bundle up and spend some time in nature. It’s a great way to spend time together and studies show that it’s great for lowering your stress levels, which most people need this time of year!
What do you do to simplify the holiday season?
Easy, Thoughtful Holiday Gifts to Make with the Kids
Homemade gifts you can actually make with your kids that your friends will actually be happy to get.
We’ve rounded up a bunch of easy DIY gifts that are simple enough to make with your kids (obviously you know their abilities best) but nice enough to make your friends feel like they ended up on your family’s NICE list this year.
Now’s the time of year when I start thinking, “Oh, crud, what the heck am I going to make for the holidays this year?” I like my friends, so I want to make them something awesome — but my time and budget are always limited. Maybe you’re in the same boat? We’ve rounded up a bunch of easy DIY gifts that are simple enough to make with your kids (obviously you know their abilities best) but nice enough to make your friends feel like they ended up on your family’s NICE list this year.
Reusable produce bags: Little drawstring bags stash neatly in a market tote and keep broccoli and kale organized and out of plastic bags. Package them in bundles of three with a tag including laundry instructions.
Shibori scarves: Mixing up dye is a messy project, so pick a sunny day to do this outside — it’s really just a fancy version of a basic tie-dye, but the end result is surprisingly elegant. If you wanted, you could use the same technique to dress up simple tote bags.
Recycled vases: Paint glass jars that would end up in the recycling bin with multi-surface acrylic craft paint. For the sleekest finish, tape off sections to paint one solid color, then let kids paint decorations on the solid sections with contrasting colors. Give them in a set of three with fresh flowers or evergreen stems.
Travel checker set: I think this duct tape travel checker set is one of the simplest, most appreciated friend gifts we’ve ever made. There are obviously all kinds of ways you could fancy it up if you wanted to.
Love jar: This one’s for someone you know well: Jot down your favorite things about someone on scraps of paper. You may include characteristics, memories, or just thoughts like “I love spending time with you.” Fill a mason jar with all these loving affirmations, and tie a bow on it. Boom! A gift almost guaranteed to make grandparents tear up.
Custom candles. Use tissue paper and a little heat to transform dollar store pillar candles into something special. Patterns are easy for little kids to help create; older kids can make simple images or initials to personalize candles.
Cat cord keepers. Cord keepers are one of those handy things you use all the time, and this easy felt version is super cute. If you’re crafty, you could change it up by making different animals.
Chai tea mix: Honestly, making this will make your kitchen smell so good that it’s like giving yourself a present, too.
Fort kit. If you have a little relative, a bag full of everything you need to make a pillow fort makes a great gift. Fill a drawstring bag with a couple of flat sheets, clothespins, clothesline, a flashlight, and a KEEP OUT sign.
Pinecone fire starters: The Farmer’s Almanac is predicting another shivery winter this year, and these pretty pinecone fire starters seem like the perfect accessory for a snow day.
Homemade soap: Does anybody ever have too much fancy soap for the downstairs bathroom? These grapefruit-lavender and coconut-mint bars would be so pretty molded into fancy shapes like these, but plain rectangles work, too.
Felted sweater tote: A thrift store run can yield enough cheap wool sweaters to make these cute totes for all your friends.
Door organizer: These door pockets are the kind of thing that you don’t know you need until you have one, and then you find a million uses for it.
Felt coasters: I feel like we never have enough coasters, and these sweet embroidered felt ones are festive for the holidays.
Infused sugar: Vanilla sugar makes baked goods extra yummy, gives your morning coffee a little something extra, and looks pretty in a mason jar.
Herbed almonds: Perfect for holiday munchies, these herb-spiked almonds feel virtuous and decadent—the perfect combo. They keep well in an air-tight canister.
Holiday Gift Guide: Our Favorite Homeschool Board Games
Be a magical librarian, choose your own adventure, get your Shakespeare on, and more games we want to give and get and (mostly) play this holiday season. These are our favorite homeschool board games.
Board games are an essential part of our holidays, and while we will be playing many old favorites over the break (Adventure Time Munchkin, The Battle for Hogwarts, Castle Panic, Gloom, and King of Tokyo are stacked in the middle of our dining room table right now), we’re also excited to add some new games to our collection (and to the Junior High’s game closet at Jason’s school). The games that made this list are still frequently played in our homeschool, but we’ve updated the list with some new games we can’t wait to play, too.
Trekking Through History
I’m probably not outing us as history nerds since if you read this blog, you already know that we get Very Excited about studying history. But this game, which takes players on a three-day tour of the past where the goal is to visit momentous historical events in chronological order, is definitely for people who get a little too enthusiastic about planning their history curriculum. In fact, if you’ve got some reluctant historians in your homeschool, you may want to see if this is that little boost of fun your secular history curriculum needs.
Ark Nova
My kids would have loved this zoo-building game when they were elementary age homeschoolers: Up to four players compete to acquire the most interesting animals from around the world, build enclosures, and support projects to protect animal habitats. If you have kids who want to learn everything about animals, this game can be a lot of fun.
Planted
OK, sometimes the world is a difficult place, and you just want a soothing game with low stakes and lots of eye candy. Enter Planted, a game that’s all about growing the best collection of houseplants. That’s it. That’s perfect. And if you’re like me and struggle to keep your real life houseplants alive, this game is pure wish fulfillment fantasy. (Maybe 2022 is the Year of Houseplant Board Games because I also enjoyed Verdant.)
Forgotten Waters
I love the choose-your-own-adventure vibe of Forgotten Waters: You (and two to six other players) are pirates on a mission. You each have your own goals and priorities, but you work together on the main quest. It’s lazy, open-ended gaming fun perfect for sleepy winter weekends — and if the five scenarios included with the base game start to get old, you can download a new scenario and more than 100 new events to keep things interesting.
Chameleon
If your homeschool crew loves word games like Codenames or Taboo, you may love Chameleon, too. In this game, one player becomes the Chameleon; every other player gets clued into a “secret word.” The players move around the circle, saying words that relate to the secret word, and the Chameleon has to try to blend in by making educated guesses about what the secret word is when her turn rolls around. It’s quick and fun.
Wingspan
Bird nerds: This is for you! This gorgeous bird game is all about attracting and discovering the best birds for your wildlife preserve. It's also a sneaky way to learn to identify different bird species if your homeschool is doing a birds unit study any time soon.
Get on Board
You're going to have to trust me on this: A game about building bus routes (in Manhattan or London) does not exactly sound exciting, but this little game is totally addictive. You've got objectives, both public and private, to meet, but you have to be careful not to circle back on your route at any point.
** My favorite game of 2022, though, is Cat in the Box. Yes, it's based on Schrödinger’s famous thought experiment, and yes, that's all I’m going to tell you about it. I wouldn’t want to accidentally cause any paradoxes.
Bring Your Own Book
I actually picked this up to perk up my son’s reading log — he gets bored with narrations and mini book reports, and this is a really fun way to mix things up. With a stack of books on the table, you flip through a volume to find rhymes for a rap, dating advice, tabloid headlines, and more based on the requirements of the card you’ve drawn. (It sounds dorky, but it’s a ton of fun.) We’ve enjoyed playing it as a twosome, but it’s even more fun with bigger groups.
Genius Games Cytosis: a Cell Biology Game Board
This game started out as a Kickstarter project and it’s an obvious fun addition to your biology curriculum, but you don't have to be into science to enjoy this fast-paced strategy game. You’re in charge of a human cell, so you’ve got to figure out how to create resources with your available organelles and use those resources to keep your cell healthy. It’s surprisingly addictive.
Munchkin Shakespeare Deluxe
Screw your courage to the sticking place, and get ready for this Bard-themed edition of Munchkin. We are big Munchkin fans here, so this one was a must-get for us. I am looking forward to some treachery, backstabbing, and serious punning in the weeks ahead.
Mysterium
I think I’ve had this on my wish list for a couple of years in a row, but telling me that a game plays like a mash-up of Dixit (still my number-one game recommendation for middle school literature classes!) and Clue will pretty much always have me shouting “Take my money.” And we tend to dig cooperative rather than competitive games, so this one is right up our alley.
Rock Me Archimedes
This critical thinking game is surprisingly challenging: You have to get four marbles to your end of the teeter-totter board without tipping it over.
Modern Art
Yes, please, I would like to run an art museum! I love the idea of this game — it’s a lot like those strategy city-building games, only instead of dealing in crops and fortresses, you’re buying and selling modern art. I think I’m going to DIY some cards for other modern artists and call the time we spend playing this game “art appreciation.”
Zooloretto
If you’d rather run a zoo than an art museum (see above), this is the game for you. (For some reason it’s super expensive on Amazon right now, so I would definitely wait for the price to drop again!) My kids used to play “zoo” with their Littlest Pet Shop collection, so I think they might love this one.
Bohnanza
A friend brought this game over for a party earlier this year, and I thought, “Really? Bean trading?” But oh gosh, it’s so much fun — very fast-paced and action-packed as you decide what beans to plant and where and what beans to trade with other players. This is the game my kids both put on their wish lists. Don’t let the weird art put you off trying it.
Anomia
I love word games and am always trying to get people to play with me, but I am kind of a bad winner, so it’s hard to do. This year I am pinning my hopes on this word game because my kids really, really love it when I blank on a word, and there seem to be lots of opportunities to do that. I’m also thinking of snagging an extra copy for the school.
Timeline
I promise this isn’t edutainment! It’s really fun. Players have cards depicting various historical events that they have to put — as the name suggests — into chronological order. It’s challenging —was chewing gum invented before or after the sinking of the Titanic? — but also friendly, since there are plenty of opportunities where a little reasoning and critical thinking will carry you over a card you aren’t sure about.
Sagrada
The point of this game is to create gorgeous stained glass window — which gets challenging as your windows get more and more complex because of the game’s restrictions on what pieces can and can’t go together. It’s like a beautiful puzzle that changes every time you play it.
Magic Maze
Also more complicated than it initially seems, Magic Maze lets players team up for a heist at a labyrinthine shopping mall. Each character has to nab the weapon that matches his color — the catch is that you can move every character but only in specific ways (like, you might be able to open doors or move south), and you can’t talk to the other players while the game is going. It gets pretty intense really fast.
Near and Far
If you were as hooked on Choose Your Own Adventure novels as I was, you will appreciate the fact that this game plays like a Choose Your Own Adventure story — the story is where the action happens. You and your game mates set off on adventure in the mystical land of Arzium, where you run into major choice points that will significantly affect the rest of your gameplay. It’s really fun.
Thames and Kosmos Exit : The Polar Station
Rebecca introduced me to Thames and Kosmos science kits, but apparently they have board games, too! This one hops onto the “escape room” trend — you play as a bunch of climate change researchers locked in an Arctic lab who must solve a series of coded puzzles to get out before you freeze.
Photosynthesis
I promise: This game is as fun as it is scientific — it’s not one of those learning-is-fun games that make the kids groan every tim you pull them out. You’ll need to use your critical thinking and strategic planning skills to plant, grow, and harvest your trees, and the game play is more like chess than Candyland. (I’m giving this one as a gift this year because the board and pieces are so pretty.)
Ex Libris
I feel like all I need to say about this game is that it lets you pretend you are the Grand Librarian of a magical library. I am pretty much all in for that, any time. (I would play this just for the book titles.)
(We’re Amazon affiliates, so if you purchase something through an Amazon link, we may receive a small percentage of the sale. Obviously this doesn’t influence what we recommend, and we link to places other than Amazon.)
Spooky Science for Halloween
I’m not really into theme science projects — I think they tend to distract kids from the science that’s happening — but like any good mad scientist, I make an exception for Halloween.
Dry ice and sublimation make an eerie party prop.
I’m not really into theme science projects — I think they tend to distract kids from the science that’s happening — but like any good mad scientist, I make an exception for Halloween. Every year, we host a Halloween pre-trick-or-treating party for our neighborhood, and every year, the kids insist we fill the garage with bouncing smoke bubbles. I pulled this experiment out on a whim the first year we did this, thinking it would be a cool way to fill up our witch’s cauldron. It’s become an essential piece of our Halloween tradition. The costumes have changed from dinosaurs and Harry Potter to Avengers and anime characters, but the “smoke bubbles” stay the same.
The “smoke” is actually carbon dioxide made with dry ice, and the hardest part of this project is making the machine that does this. (See the instructions below.) Dry ice is pretty cool because it sublimates — it turns directly into a gas with no liquid stage in between. Give yourself plenty of time for a few practice runs. (And remind yourself that failure is part of the process!) It’s not hard, but you may need a few tries to get it just right.
This year, I’m planning to push the science a little further: I’ve bought a bunch of winter gloves, and I’m going to see if we can play some smoke bubble catch. I expect things to get a little messy and rambunctious — and frankly, I’m looking forward to it!
How to Build a Dry Ice Bubble Maker
WHAT YOU NEED:
Safety glasses
Knit gloves
Gallon-sized plastic jar with a lid
3-foot piece of rubber
tubing
Duct tape
Liquid soap (Dawn works best) X Small plastic container
Dish soap
Dry ice
Thick gloves
Bath towel
What to do:
Drill a hole near the top of the jar, and attach the plastic tubing to the jar with duct tape. (Basically, you’re making a place for the carbon dioxide to blow out of the jar, through the tube, and into your balloons.) Leave the lid off.
Put on your gloves and safety glasses. (You should never skip this step, but especially don’t skip it this time.)
Break up your dry ice into pieces that will fit into your jar. (I use a hammer for this.)
Fill the open jar half-full with warm water.
Drop a few chunks of dry ice into the water. You’ll see fog immediately, so experiment with using the lid to direct the flow of fog through the tube. (You probably won’t need to actually twist the lid onto the jar to get the flow you want.)
Don’t ever seal the jar and the tube/vent at the same time! If you do, the pressure will build up, and the jar could explode.
Now you’re ready to make your bubbles: Add a generous squirt of dish soap to a cup, and mix thoroughly with about 4 ounces of water. Dip the loose end of your tubing into the soap, just as you would a bubble wand. Slowly remove the tubing from the soap mixture, and adjust the lid of your jar to form a bubble with the gas. (You’ll probably want to practice this a few times to get the hang of it, but once you get a rhythm down, it’s pretty fun.)
When the bubble is the size you want, gently shake it off the tubing. It will be heavier than a normal bubble and fall right to the floor, setting off a cool fog explosion, so be prepared.
Misty Heaslet is a middle school science teacher turned homeschool mom. She lives in western North Carolina. This column originally appeared in the fall 2019 issue of HSL.
Celebrate the Chinese Moon Festival with a Great Readaloud
Reading together is a favorite way for many Chinese families to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival in China — also known as the Moon Festival.
Reading together is a favorite way for many Chinese families to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival in China — also known as the Moon Festival.
Marking the end of the harvest season and the full moon, the Mid-Autumn Festival is a little like a Chinese Thanksgiving, focused on celebrating family and friends. So snuggle up, do a little moon gazing, and learn more about the Chinese Moon Festival with one of these readalouds.
Thanking the Moon by Grace Lin
A Chinese American family celebrates the Mid-Autumn Festival with a moonlight picnic in this picture book introduction.
Lin Yi’s Lantern by Brenda Williams
Little Lin Yi has a big job: He’s in charge of doing all the shopping for his family’s Moon Festival celebration. And if he can bargain well enough, he might also be able to buy the red rabbit lantern he yearns for.
Mooncakes by Loretta Seto
On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, a little girls listens to her parents tell stories about the brave moon goddess, a magical tree that can never be cut down, and the Jade Rabbit who lives on the moon.
The Moon Lady by Amy Tan
I love that this readaloud (a chapter from the novel The Joy Luck Club) is as engaging for teens as for preschoolers. Nai-Nai tells her three granddaughters the story of the Moon Lady and how she grants secret wishes when she’s asked.
A Full Moon Is Rising by Marilyn Singer
The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of several festivals that celebrate the moon, and Singer’s book is a cheerful poetry collection about all the ways that people around the world come together to honor the moon.
Holiday Gift Guide: Something to Wear
As I’ve said before, we follow the “something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read” guide for holiday giving, and nerdy t-shirts are our favorites for something to wear. All of these witty tees made my short list this year.
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As I’ve said before, we follow the “something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read” guide for holiday giving, and nerdy t-shirts are our favorites for something to wear. All of these witty tees made my short list this year.
SHELLI BOND PABIS is home | school | life magazine’s senior editor. She writes about her family’s homeschooling journey at www.mamaofletters.com.