Category: Holidays and Celebrations

Spring is a great time to invite children to explore nature. Let them experience planting seeds, watching how a caterpillar turns into a beautiful butterfly or take a walk in the park to see, hear and smell the birds, the flowers, and the green grass. Talk to them about  cute young animals that make their appearance at this time of year. There is a variety of themes and picture books that can help you get organized for Spring. We hope you will find something that inspires you in our teaching resources!

Here is an example of a beautiful poem in English and Spanish that you can find in our Teacher’s Guides.

Enjoy!!!

The Caterpillar

A caterpillar crawled to the top of a tree,
I think I will take a nap, said he.
so under a leaf, he began to creep
spun his cocoon and then
went to sleep
For many weeks it slept quietly,
Until one warm day the sun came out and said,
Wake up sleepy head!
Time to get out of bed!
So, it opened its eyes,

And LOOK! It was a butterfly!

It opened its wings and flew away in that beautiful sunny day!

La Pequeña oruga

La pequeña oruga trepó a lo más alto del árbol,
Creo que tomaré una siesta dijo
Entonces debajo de una hoja se acomodó
Hiló su capullo y después
se fue a dormir
Por muchas semanas durmió y durmió,
Hasta que un día salió el sol y le dijo,
¡Levántate dormilona!
¡Es hora de salir de la cama!
Entonces abrió sus ojos,
Y ¡MIRA! ¡Era una mariposa hermosa!
Abrió sus alas y voló contenta en ese día tan soleado

It’s a week of special celebrations for families from different parts of the world. Take note of the special days we are about to celebrate!

Monday the 8th is Chinese New Year Day
Chinese people celebrate the New Year. 2016 is the Year of the Monkey in their calendar. They believe what they do on the first day of the lunar year affects their luck in that year.

Families reunite and do a lot of preparations for Chinese New Year. Some either visit their relatives or friends, or wait for their relatives’ or friends’ visits. These visits bring kids many opportunities to enjoy trips with their parents and have fun with other kids.

During New Year families love to go shopping, decorating their houses, and preparing special foods that include New Year cake, glutinous rice dumplings, biscuits, and desserts.

As the clock strikes 12:00, cities and towns are filled with a spectacle of colorful and sparkling lights and the bang of fireworks bursting in the air.

For kids this celebration is lots of fun because it comes with the long winter vacation that lasts about a month. Kids enjoy being with their parents and receiving many lucky red envelopes with money from family and friends. They get to wear their new clothes and participate in the decoration of their houses with red lanterns and red scrolls on their windows and doors.

Chinese wish each other good luck and happiness in the New Year by saying “gongxi” (恭喜 /gong-sshee/, which means ‘greetings’ or ‘best wishes’.

Tuesday the 9th is Mardi Gras or Carnival Day

Mardi Gras or Carnival is an annual festival celebrated mostly in American and European communities with colorful parades, dancing in the street, costumes and masked balls.
It is said that the colors of Mardi Gras are:
Purple for Justice
Green for Faith
Gold for Power

Wednesday the 10th is Teddy Bear’s Day.
Here is a beautiful Picture Book about Teddy Bear that you can read to children in Spanish or English.

Thursday the 11th is Make a New Friend Day.
Go around and make a new friend just like BEARY (OSI) in this colorful and sweet tender Picture Book.

Saturday the 12th is Hug Day.
Smile and give little or big hugs to everyone. Remember that a HUG makes everything better than a 1000 words…
One of the best feelings in the world is when you hug someone you love and they hug you back even tighter.

Saturday the 13th is Kiss Day.
Here is a beautiful poem in English and and some verses in Spanish from author Carmen Gil.

HUGS AND KISSES
Our hugs and kisses we should share,
To show others that we care.
Hugs and kisses
Hugs and kisses I’d like to send,
To my dear and great friends.
With hopes and prayers that you have
A wonderful and great day!

BESOS
Hay besos de caramelo,
dulces como una sonrisa.
Y están los besos con prisa,
que hay que cogerlos al vuelo.
Los besos de mariposa
rozándote las mejillas
¡pueden hacerte cosquillas!
y son de color de rosa.
El beso con achuchón,
tan calentito y tan tierno
como una manta en invierno,
¡es un beso de algodón!

Sunday the 14th is Valentine’s Day.

For Valentine’s Day you can teach kids these popular poems I learned when I was little.
Los zapatitos me aprietan,
Las medias me dan calor,
El beso que me dio mi madre,
Lo llevo en el corazón.
Roses are red
Violets are blue
Sugar is sweet
And so are you!
Look for more ideas in our Pinterest Boards

Celebrating International Day was one of my favorite traditions at the schools I used to work for. It was a special day where students celebrated their different cultures by introducing food, customs, music, dance and many other elements from their culture or country of origin.
Below are a few photos of this celebration in schools I have worked for.
As a former IB/PYP educator I firmly support the IB Learner’s Profile:

“-We work together, take risks and inquire into our own and other cultures.
-We think about, and gain knowledge about, the world around us.
-We find ways to communicate our cultural learning.
-We are open minded, reflective and caring about all cultures.
-We strive to become truly balanced and principled global citizens.

I always valued the similarities and differences each person’s cultural heritage brought to our lives. I celebrated and shared our diversity on a daily basis both inside and outside the classroom in order to enrich the learning experience for my students and the whole school community.

This yearly celebration was a wonderful opportunity for my school communities to acknowledge and celebrate their diversity and it was the inspiration for my Picture Book “International Day”.

With this colorful and engaging book and the after reading activities that may develop I want to emphasize the importance of being open-minded to others and remind children, parents and teachers of the great number of commonalities and differences that make all of us, interesting, unique and special.

Happy Father’s Day to all!!!
Feliz día del Padre para todos!!!

Father’s Day is celebrated worldwide to recognize the contribution that fathers and male figures make to the lives of children. Although it is celebrated on a variety of dates worldwide, many countries observe this day on the third Sunday in June. Among these countries are: Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, Argentina, Canada, France, Greece, India, Ireland, Mexico, Pakistan, Singapore, South Africa, and Venezuela.

There are many ways you can celebrate, but the best of all is by giving him a big hug and a kiss with the same love and devotion that he gives you. You can buy him a gift or prepare him a beautiful card, or you can make something with your own hands that he will always cherish. You can entertain your dad or you can invite him to the movies but, the most important thing is to make him feel how special he is for you and how grateful you are to have him in your life.

Below are the different ways of saying Happy Father’s Day and I love you daddy d in many languages around the world.

Feliz día del Padre (spanish) – Te quiero Papá
Feliç Dia del Pare (catalan)-T’estimo Papa
Happy Father’s Day (inglés)- I love you daddy
Feliz Dia do Pai ( portuguese)- Eu te amo Papai
Un jour heureux du père (french)- je t’aime Papa
Padre di Happy Day (italian)-Ti amo Papa
Happy Fars dag (danish)- Jeg elsker dig far
Happy Ημέρα του Πατέρα (greek)- Σ ‘αγαπώ μπαμπά
Gelukkige Vaderdag (german)- Ich liebe dich Papa
Счастливый День отца (russian)- Я люблю тебя папа
سعيد عيد الأب (arab)- أحبك أبي
快乐父亲节 (chinese)- 我愛你，爸爸
幸せな父の日 (japanese)- 愛してるよ、お父さん
해피 아버지의 날 (korean)- 나는 당신에게 아빠를 사랑

Today we celebrate the European Day of Languages.

Our planet has over 7 billion people who speak between 6 000 and 7 000 different languages. A few languages are spoken by hundreds of millions of speakers, such as English or Chinese, but most are spoken by only a few thousand, or just a handful of speakers.

Check out the following website for info and activities for celebrating the languages we speak around the world:

EUROPEAN DAY OF LANGUAGES

A creative idea and a song for SPRING!

Spring song:
Do you see a sign of spring,
(point at your eyes)
A sign of spring, a sign of spring?
Do you see a sign of spring?
Tell us what you see.
I can see the sun that shines,
(open and shut fingers)
The sun that shines, the sun that shines,
I can see the sun that shines,
All around town.
Do you smell a sign of spring,
(point at your nose)
A sign of spring, a sign of spring?
Do you smell a sign of spring?
Tell us what you smell.
I can smell the flowers scent,
(close hands in front of you and then open them to the sides)
The flowers scent, the flowers scent
I can smell the flowers scent,
Do you hear a sign of spring,
(point at your ears)
A sign of spring, a sign of spring?
Do you hear a sign of spring?
Tell us what you hear.
I can hear the birds sing,
(fly like a bird)
The birds sing, the birds sing,
I can hear the birds sing,
All around town.

For the song go to https://www.facebook.com/languages4kidz
For the creative idea with toilet rolls go to http://krokotak.com/2013/03/toilet-roll-spring-flower/

St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated by the Irish, as well as many other Americans with the wearing of green, songs, dances, parties, and parades. People wear something green and if not they are pinched. There are many symbols to this holiday, although children tend to associate the color green, shamrock and leprechauns with this celebration. The Irish love folktales about imaginary fairies. The most famous of these “wee folk” are leprechauns, who are shoemakers for all the other fairies. A leprechaun looks like a tiny old man. They are tricky and mischievous. Legend says if you catch one, he is forced to reveal the location of his pot of gold.

Keep St. Patrick’s Day facts simple and relevant to children’s’ age, and this can be a fun, informative theme to celebrate with your little ones. They may not be ready for in depth tales about St. Patrick and his experiences and travels, but you can be sure they’ll love learning about the color green, rainbows, shamrocks, and leprechauns.
Here are some ideas for celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with young learners.

The Leprechaun Says

Play this game as you would play the traditional Simon Says, but instead of saying Simon says you will say The leprechaun says… You or one of the children becomes the “leprechaun” and will give instructions using action words. For example you may say, “The leprechaun says to wave your hands.” The children must wave their hands. Then say, “Stop” Children must keep waving their hands until you say, “The Leprechaun says stop.” Repeat with other commands such as clap your hands, touch your head, turn around, or sit down. Sometimes the leprechaun will say, “The leprechaun says… ” and sometimes he won’t. This game helps young children develop their listening skills while having fun! Keep in mind that young children and English language learners should keep playing so that they can improve through play.

Leprechaun Gold

Cut out many gold paper circles, and write or draw simple directions on each. Hide the coins around the room, prior to the beginning of your class. Use a black witch’s cauldron from Halloween as a leprechaun’s pot.

Invite children to go on a treasure hunt and set a limit on how many coins they can find. Then after they have found theirs, the children can help others to find gold coins. Everyone drops his/her coins inside “the pot.”

Then invite children to sit in a circle, pull out and read the coins and have them act out the directions on them. For example coins may say, “Turn around three times and sit down.” “Clap your hands twice and shake your neighbor’s hand.” “Touch your heads and jump up and down three times.”

For very young learners:

Give each child a magnifying glass and hide gold coins, small toys, “lucky shamrock” stickers, gold rocks, or any other item you want to hide. Invite children to find the hidden “gold” pieces and count them. You can also do a sorting activity. Let each child take home one or two pieces of gold at the end of the class.

Song:
Sing this song to the tune of “I’m a Little Teapot”
I’m a lucky leprechaun
Dressed in green.
The smallest man
That you’ve ever seen.
If you can catch me, it is told,
I’ll have to give you my pot of gold!
(Author Unknown)

What can children read during the Holidays?
An article from ABC Spain that recommends the books from Wise Foxes.

https://www.abc.es/cultura/libros/abci-lecturas-infantiles-para-verano-201207140000_noticia.html