May Day, Tuesday, May 1st

May Day

May Day is historically a pagan celebration, a welcoming in of spring and a festival of flowers.  You have probably heard of the May Pole, just one of the many traditions of May Day.  You may hesitate to celebrate a day that is so completely pagan in origins that it is not even recognized in most Christian circles.  I, however, see no reason to shy away from a May Day celebration full of flowers.  After all, flowers are such a beautiful part of God’s glorious creation.  Take a day to celebrate and thank God for making such a wonderful array of color to cheer your spring and summer days.  Try these traditions in your home this May Day.

·         The first thing you are supposed to do, bright and early the morning of May Day, is secretly take some flowers to a neighbor or friend’s house and leave them on the front door.  You could, perhaps make the traditional cone of paper filled with flowers cut from your own garden.  Or, you could buy a seasonal bouquet from a florist shop.  For very close friends, add some flower-scented candles.

·         A May Pole is probably a little too involved for most families to attempt.  So, try other May Day flower traditions like daisy crowns.  If real daisies are not readily available, make paper daisies and glue them to a paper crown.

·         Garden!  This would be a perfect day to plant a Bible garden or Mary garden with your children.

·         Wrap up your May Day with a flowery treat!  You can bake a sheet cake, ice it green, and decorate with flower sprinkles, or you can bake some flower shaped cookies and decorate them.  We like to make rice crispy treats.  We add food coloring while the marshmallows are melting.  After the sheet of gooey crispy mass has firmed, we cut out flower shapes then add yellow candies to the centers.

My kids have been hounding me about gardening lately (since mid-winter, really), and I can’t wait to finally indulge them in some flower planting.  I think we will be decorating a pot a piece and filling them with the flowers of our choosing.  For more information on the history of May Day and ideas for more May Day traditions, check out the following links:

• May Day Baskets (directions on making paper cones) at Parents Talk
• May Day Memories (includes ideas and recipes) at Old Fashioned Living
• May Day at Catholic Culture