The Vernal Equinox marks the changing season as the earth travels around the sun. It’s one of two days in the year when the Earth’s axis tilts neither away from nor towards the sun, and the sun’s rays shine perpendicular to the equator. Day and night are in perfect balance as the hours of daylight and darkness are (nearly) exactly equal.
Following cold Winter’s low sun the days will finally begin to grow warmer and longer.
As I continue to explore and embrace seasonal living I’m moved to celebrate the start of Spring as it returns to us. It’s time to wake up from our sleepy hibernation and reacquaint ourselves with the joy and beauty of nature as it presents itself in Spring.
Here are a few simple welcoming rituals for you and your littles, to connect with each other and with nature, as the season turns to more light and new life and promise for what is to come.
- Take a short nature hike, rain or shine, to observe together the seasonal changes. Collect signs of Spring or other interesting finds. Don’t forget to bring a little bucket or tote to carry your goodies home. Display them in a special place or use them to decorate a Naturescape.
- Create a Spring Naturescape. Use colorful felt, fabric, or tissue paper to create a backdrop and add in any found nature items, pretend animals, bugs, or figures you have on hand—anything that makes you or your kids happy and reminds you of springtime.
- Watch the sun rise together. With the time change you may be up anyway! Check out Time and Date to find out what time the sun will rise in your neighborhood.
- Get outside to enjoy the sunshine. Enjoy a meal or snack porch-side to soak up the rays and talk about your hopes and plans for Spring.
- Dust off your helmets and go for a bike ride.
- Challenge your kids to an indoor or outdoor color scavenger hunt. They can work alone or as a team, and you can play too.
- Make colors! Use the primary paint colors blue, red, and yellow to mix secondary colors purple, orange, and green. Use white to play with different tints, and black paint to change the shade.
- Make natural dyes with your kids from foods and spices in your own pantry or backyard, and use them to dye eggs together. For a little twist you can write words or good wishes on them and let each person in your family choose an egg at random to find out what good Spring will bring.
- Start your seeds: we saved a mango and avocado seed to sprout in the windowsill. You could start garden seedlings inside, involve your kids in your plans for yard plantings, or pot some plants for the porch.
- Buy flowers or pick some greenery to bring Spring inside.
- Wear spring colors to feel cheerful and in the season.
- Brighten up the yard: paint rocks, sticks, or tree trunks; use colorful chalk on the sidewalks or patio to draw flowers and chicks and other signs of Spring.
- Make a bird nest basket by filling a produce clamshell tied and hung with string, or suet bird feeder, with loose yarn, thread, hair from a hairbrush, shredded paper, cotton balls, or twine. You can also create little piles in nooks and crannies, or drape them around the yard.
