The spring equinox marks the arrival of spring when the light is equal to the dark -- a time to welcome back life after the cold, dark winter. You can incorporate spring colors, rabbits and eggs, newly planted bulbs and seedlings into a spring display.
We of course have a few crafts we like to make! And we also make a floral lemonade, which Elodie says tastes like spring. See our recipe below!
Springtime Bunnies
Materials:
Large paper
Egg carton with egg cups separated
Tempura paints
Markers and/or colored pencils
Tiny pom poms
Hot glue (to layer the egg cups to make blossoms)
Elmer's glue (to attach the flowers to the paper)
Easter stickers
Materials:
Peg doll
Acrylic paints
Paint pens
Felt
Pom pom
Hot glue
This is a simple peg doll bunny that came out so adorable -- a decoration for years to come.
Springtime Lemonade
We like to make a flowery lemonade to celebrate. My daughter says it tastes like nature! We got some blankets and sat in the fresh air while we enjoyed our spring-y concoction.
3 cups of water, heated in a sauce pan Add 2T honey and sugar to taste, stir until dissolved Add 1/2 tsp lavender blossoms Let water cool
Strain liquid into large mason jar Add juice of 4 lemons and ice Shake until mixed Add a splash of rose water and serve with cute paper straws and garnish of your choice
**for pink lemonade, we throw in a few raspberries and put it in the blender until totally liquid.
It's also a nice ritual to spend some time outside and celebrate the subtle changes happening in nature. We get so excited when we see our crocuses re-emerge -- and so far they have always been right on time for the spring equinox. I love these passages from The Bible:
See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone.
Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves is heard in our land. The fig tree forms its early fruit;
the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me.
Song of Songs 2:11-13
3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.
4 They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams.
Isaiah 44:1-4
Poetry is also one of our favorite ways to pause and appreciate the little joys of life. One of our favorite spring poems:
Cold Spring
by Lawrence Raab
The last few gray sheets of snow are gone, winter’s scraps and leavings lowered to a common level. A sudden jolt of weather pushed us outside, and now this larger world once again belongs to us. I stand at the edge of it, beside the house, listening to the stream we haven’t heard since fall, and I imagine one day thinking back to this hour and blaming myself for my worries, my foolishness, today’s choices having become the accomplished facts of change, accepted or forgotten. The woods are a mangle of lines, yet delicate, yet precise, when I take the time to look closely. If I’m not happy it must be my own fault. At the edge of the lawn my wife bends down to uncover a flower, then another. The first splurge of crocuses. And for a moment the sweep and shudder of the wind seems indistinguishable from the steady furl of water just beyond her.
When the crocuses are blooming and we see our first honey bee of the season, both kids kneel down and watch him collect pollen. Spring is such a great opportunity to celebrate the little things, as new life appears in the yard almost daily.
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