Celebrate Green Blog

May Day as a day of revelry and celebration has a somewhat checkered history, but you’d never have known that Friday at Corey’s children’s school.

Parents and kids made wonderful flower crowns and wore them for the festivities. The school does not allow family members to take photos, so you’re stuck with one of us in our May Day finery. The children were much more adorable, but you’ll get the idea:

If you’re sitting around on this Sunday wondering what to do, how about staging a welcome May celebration of your own?

You can choose one person to be the May Queen (or king if you prefer), who should be suitably dressed and seated in a “throne” preferably outside. Whomever walks by can bow or curtsy and issue an enthusiastic spring greeting! (Quoting Shakespeare or simply using “doth” and “thee” will add to the atmosphere.)

To make a flower crown, gather a bunch of greenery and flowers from your yard, or, with permission, from the neighbors. In addition you’ll need:

Raffia cut to 3′ lengths

Ribbons

Scissors

How-to:

Divide strands of raffia into groups of three. Tie at one end and braid. Tie the other end.

Cut stems of flowers and greenery and insert through holes in braid. Leave an inch or two of the stem. After you’ve inserted all the flowers you want, starting at one end, wind the ribbon around and around, holding the stems tight against the braid.

Fit the crown to the head, then tie ends of the raffia together. Add long ribbons at the back if you like.

(Be sure to compost any leftover flowers and greenery.)

If you happen to have a May pole in your back yard, commence dancing!

If not, try some games with ribbons, i.e. tied-together tag-tie two people together with ribbon around the waist-then play as you would any other tag game-or choose a craft like making ribbon flowers.

Taking a nature walk is a natural on a day when you want to welcome spring and the perfect way to celebrate green.

Do you have family ideas for celebrating an eco-friendly May celebration?