Dr. Seuss Day! (March 2nd)

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It was on this glorious day (March 2nd) in 1904 that Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, (even though not a real doctor!) was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. It was then certain that from that day on the Cat in the Hat, Thing One and Thing Two, the Fox in Sox, Horton who hears a Who, the Grinch, Sam I Am, Thidwick, the Lorax and many many other whimsical characters, would brighten the minds and hearts of countless children, younger (or young at heart, like…myself!) or older.

If Juliet wonders ‘what’s in a name’ in reference to Romeo’s house, with Dr. Seuss, everything’s in a name! Biffer-Baum Birds. The Long-Legger Kwong. Brown Bar-ba-loots. Sneetches.  Wockets and Nizzards—all names which have become an iconic part of childhood… and parenthood.

Undoubtedly, he was born to stand out! In his own words:

‘Why fit in when you were born to stand out?’

Dr. Suess (a.k.a. Dr. Theophrastus Seuss, a.k.a. Theo Le Sieg, a.k.a. Theodor Seuss Geisel) is best known as a prolific children’s author (he released forty-six books during his lifetime!)  who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1984.  Apart from being a cartoonist and a poet he was also an illustrator for many advertising campaigns and was a political cartoonist during World War II. He was also a true perfectionist, known to discard 95% of his material before settling on a theme for a new book, sometimes spending up to a year writing a single story, and preferring payment upon completion, rather than in advance.

One of his posters advertising Flit

Having made an incredible impact on numerous generations he died in 1991 at the age of 87. His famous children’s books have been translated into over 20 languages and are still enjoyed in homes, schools, and communities all over the world. Many of his books continue to inspire people today, with a number of his books being turned into films and his stories continuing to sell well today.

What better way to celebrate Dr. Seuss Day than by reading one of his books?

 

Fun fact: His all-time best-selling book was created on a bet. Dr. Seuss’ editor Bennett Cerf bet him he couldn’t write a book using 50 or fewer words. The result is 1960’s ‘Green Eggs and Ham.’ The story of Sam-I-Am trying to convince an unknown character to eat green eggs and ham has sold more than eight million copies since publication!

Find some other Dr Seuss facts and quotes here:

Dr. Seuss Facts and Quotes for Kids

For a host of celebration activities have a look here:

Dr. Seuss’s Birthday

Which Dr. Seuss character are you? Find out here:

Which Dr. Seuss Character Are You?

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Pancake Day

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Pancake Day, or Shrove Tuesday, is the day before the start of Lent (Σαρακοστή)* on Ash Wednesday. It always falls 47 days before Easter Sunday, so the date varies from year to year and falls between February 3 and March 9.

Why is it called Pancake Day?

Shrove Tuesday was named after the custom of Christians to be “shriven” before the start of Lent. In the United Kingdom, Ireland and parts of the Commonwealth, Shrove Tuesday is also known as Pancake Day or Pancake Tuesday, as it became a traditional custom to eat pancakes as a meal. It is also called Fat Tuesday (‘Mardi Gras’ is French) as it was the last night of eating rich, fatty foods before fasting of the Lenten season. The tradition dates back to 600 A.D., when all animal products, not just meat, were banned during Lent. Christians made pancakes on Fat Tuesday to use up their supply of butter, milk, and eggs before Lent.

Pancakes are thin, flat cakes, made of batter and fried in a frying pan. A traditional English pancake is very thin and is served immediately. Golden syrup or lemon juice and caster sugar are the usual toppings for pancakes.

The fun part of Shrove Tuesday celebrations includes pancake races! Large numbers of people, often in fancy dress, race down streets tossing pancakes. The object of the race is to get to the finishing line first, carrying at the same time a frying pan with a cooked pancake in it and flipping the pancake as you run! Other traditional activities are ‘Mob Football’ games in many towns throughout England, or skipping on one rope.

Pancake races

Mob Football

Skipping the rope

Skipping rope (Photo by Miss Diane)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Find delicious recipes for the day here:

Pancake Day

 

*Lent (Σαρακοστή) is a period of fasting for 40 days before Easter Sunday (in commemoration of the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert during which he endured temptation by Satan). Lent is mostly observed by the Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian and Anglican denominations, and also by Roman Catholics. Eastern Orthodox churches observe Lent or Great Lent, during the 6 weeks or 40 days preceding Palm Sunday with fasting continuing during the Holy Week of Orthodox Easter.

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St. Valentine’s Day

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Every year, on 14 of February, people all over the world celebrate St. Valentine’s Day: they show their affection or love for their beloved ones or sweethearts by giving gifts, chocolates, flowers, or cards with messages of love.

The day gets its name from a famous saint. But who was he?

There are several stories of who he was. The popular belief about St Valentine is that he was a priest from Rome in the third century AD. Emperor Claudius II had banned marriage because he thought married men were bad soldiers. Valentine felt this was unfair, so he broke the rules and arranged marriages in secret. When Claudius found out, Valentine was thrown in jail and sentenced to death. There, he fell in love with the jailer’s daughter and when he was taken to be killed on 14 February he sent her a love letter signed “from your Valentine”. (“From your Valentine,” an expression that is still in use today.)

Have a look at this video: Valentine’s Day.

Follow the story of Valentine’s Day on Google Earth ! 

The tradition of celebrating love, though, already existed.  The Romans had a festival called Lupercalia in the middle of February – officially the start of their springtime. Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus. As part of the celebrations, boys drew names of girls from a box. They’d be boyfriend and girlfriend during the festival and sometimes they’d get married.

Later on, the church wanted to turn this festival into a Christian celebration and decided to use it to remember St Valentine too. Over the years, St Valentine’s name started to be used by people to express their feelings to those they loved. Nowadays it is a fully commercialised celebration, with all things lovey!

How do animals celebrate the day? Have a look! Animals in love

What about special Valentine’s food?

Have a look at this Valentine’s Day story with Nature Cat (with an environmental twist!)

Here’s a host of acivities you can find here: Holiday: Valentine’s Day

Other love figures / saints

In Ancient Greece people celebrated the god of love, Eros, son of Aphrodite and Ares. He had a special power which allowed him to make two people fall in love with each other: Eros could point his bow and arrow at someone and they would fall in love with the next person they saw. This power worked with both mortals (another name for humans, who could die) and gods!

There are a lot of myths about him. The most famous one is Eros and Psyche. 

Cupid and Psyche by Antonio Canova

Their story inspired so many artists! Have a look at this famous statue above. 

Later on, in Roman mythology Eros became the Roman god Cupid, who is often shown as a naked chubby child throwing his arrows to unsuspecting lovers!

The Orthodox church celebrates the saints Priscilla and Aquila on 13 February. 

Sts. Aquila and Priscilla

Priscilla and Aquila were friends of the apostle Paul. They set an example of hospitality, seen in opening their home to Paul and using their house as a meeting place for the church. Priscilla and Aquila are a fascinating study in men and women working together for the good of the church. 

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Groundhog Day (Η μέρα της Μαρμότας)

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Groundhog Day is celebrated on February 2 in the United States and Canada (having originated in the town of Punxsatawney, Pennsylvania).

It is the day when people look to the groundhog (also known as woodchucks, or marmots) to predict the weather for the next six weeks. Folklore says that if the sun is shining when the ground hog comes out of his burrow(λαγούμι, φωλιά), then the groundhog will go back into its burrow and we will have winter for six more weeks. However, if it is cloudy, then spring will come early that year.

The origins of Groundhog Day can be traced to German settlers (άποικοι) in Pennsylvania. These settlers celebrated February 2nd as Candlemas Day. On this day if the sun came out then there would be six more weeks of wintry weather. In 1886 the Punxsutawney newspaper declared February 2nd as Groundhog Day and named the local groundhog as Punxsutawney Phil.

There are a number of celebrations throughout the United States. The largest celebration takes place in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania where the famous groundhog Punxsutawney Phil has predicted the weather each year since 1886. Large crowds of well over 10,000 people gather here to see Phil come out of his burrow at around 7:30am. Punxsutawney Phil normally lives in a nice climate controlled home in the local library throughout most of the year. He is moved up to Gobbler’s Knob on February 2nd, where he makes his annual (ετήσιος) weather prediction. Phil was named after King Phillip.

How accurate (ακριβείς)  the predictions of the groundhogs are is up for debate. People who organize the day say that they are very accurate. However, others say it’s just luck.

The 1993 movie Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray took place in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania and made the holiday even more popular.

adapted from: https://www.ducksters.com/holidays/groundhog_day.php

Have a look at this short video:

https://video.link/w/4fhPb

Let’s make these simple crafts:

CUPCAKE LINER GROUNDHOG DAY CRAFT

EASY GROUNDHOG PAPER PLATE KIDS CRAFT

 

Thanksgiving

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Every year (the fourth Thursday in November) people in the USA and (on the second Monday in October) in Canada, celebrate Thanksgiving Day .

It’s a big family holiday in North America, with rural origins (αγροτική προέλευση).

It started when the first European settlers (άποικοι) in North America wanted to thank God for their safe arrival (άφιξη) in the New World, but also for the good harvests (σοδειές) he gave them. So one day of the year they established (καθιέρωσαν) a meal in honor of (προς τιμήν) the Creator (Δημιουργός, δηλ. Θεός) with all the members of the family. Dinner traditionally (παραδοσιακά) begins with everyone saying a word for which they are grateful (ευγνώμων), followed by a prayer (προσευχή), during which those sitting at the table usually hold hands.

The turkey (γαλοπούλα) takes centre stage (είναι το επίκεντρο), followed by the filling (γέμιση), and the sauces (σάλτσες) cranberry sauce and gravy that accompany (συνοδεύουν) the turkey, with the almost never missing from the table. The side dishes (συνοδευτικά) are mashed potatoes (πουρές), sweet potatoes, green beans, Brussels sprouts (λαχανάκια Βρυξελλών) and pumpkin, which is either grilled, or soup or pie filling. “Thanksgiving” without pies or tarts is not possible. The 3 most popular, which complete the festive table in the sweetest way, are tart with pumpkin filling, apple pie and pecan pie.

See the foods here:

Turkey with stuffing

 

 

Christmas

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Christmas is Britain’s most popular holiday. 

At Christmas people decorate their houses, children sing carols and wait for Santa Claus to put presents in their stockings!

On Christmas Day all the family gather round for the Christmas dinner. 

The Christmas dinner is the main Christmas meal and is traditionally eaten at midday or early afternoon on Christmas Day.

Traditionally each family has roast turkey or goose, Brussels sprouts, roast potatoes, cranberry sauce, rich nutty stuffing, tiny sausages wrapped in bacon (pigs in a blanket) and hot gravy. 

A tradition associated with turkey for Christmas Dinner is the pulling of the wishbone by two people. The person who gets the larger part of the wishbone can then make a wish and wait for it to come true.

Here are some pics from the Christmas Dinner!

Apart from Santa Claus, people also believe in the existence of little creatures, Santa Claus’s helpers, the elves!