Naturally Educational » 5-6 (Kindergarten), 5-6 (Kindergarten), 6-8 (Early Elementary), 6-8 (Early Elementary), Featured, History and Culture, Home Arts, Science, Summer, Visual-Spacial, Weather » Weaving the Sun
Today is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. We have the most hours of sunlight and the fewest of darkness. Today marks the first day of summer for the Western calendar.
For ancient people, this was midsummer (as in A Midsummer Night’s Dream) and St. John’s Day and was celebrated on June 24th. Summer began on May Day.
Today we welcome the sun as our hemisphere tilts closest to our star. Hopefully you are having a lovely day to enjoy the extra minutes of sunlight!
Did you ever make a “God’s Eye” at camp? We make a giant one to resemble the sun.
First, I cut strips of orange and yellow fabric and tied them together in a long strip.
Next, we needed sticks. Instead of two sticks, like the God’s Eye, we gathered five.
The weaving technique for a God’s Eye is a little more complicated than I wanted for my four year old. So, I modified this to have an odd number of spokes. This way she could do a simple over-under-over-under pattern.
If you are using the God’s Eye style, just gather four sticks and tie them in the middle to form eight spokes.
We tied the four sticks (forming eight spokes) to the top of the fifth stick, so there were now nine spokes. With the odd number, we can weave our fabric over, under, over, under.
You could easily do this with Popsicle sticks and yarn, too, to bring a mini sun indoors.
- Science / Astronomy: Why are some days longer and others shorter? With some friends, role play the earth’s journey around the sun.
- Geography: Where on the Earth is the day the longest? What happens in the Southern Hemisphere? What happens on the equator?
- History / Culture: How do other cultures (ancient and modern)celebrate the solstice? How was St. John’s Day celebrated in Europe?
- Literature / Theater: Read a Midsummer Night’s Dream (or just one scene for younger children) and act out a scene or two. In what ways does the world turn upside down in Shakespeare’s Play? Why would this be associated with Midsummer?
- Arts: Watch the sunset and paint it.
Filed under: 5-6 (Kindergarten), 5-6 (Kindergarten), 6-8 (Early Elementary), 6-8 (Early Elementary), Featured, History and Culture, Home Arts, Science, Summer, Visual-Spacial, Weather · Tags: Nature Art, Summer, Summer Solstice, Sun, Weaving