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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781466905474 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Trafford Publishing |
| Publication date: | 05/04/2012 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 108 |
| File size: | 153 KB |
Read an Excerpt
Holidays For KIDS
And Parents, Too!By Charles Pascalar
Trafford Publishing
Copyright © 2012 Jack AngelAll right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4669-0546-7
Chapter One
January
Many of us start the new year a little numb after going through all the holiday hoopla. We might consider just letting the kids play with the toys they just got while the grown-ups rest a little bit, right?
Wrong!
January Journey
January 1
Let's start with a little fun with the leftover Christmas wrapping paper.
Whereas Christmas offered presents under the tree, visible to everyone and easily identified by name tags or color paper, this time the kids will go on a journey through the house, looking for their treasure.
After the excessiveness of Christmas, this will be low-key. It involves one present, wrapped and hidden, someplace in the house. This activity is really for kids who are a little older, as they have more patience than little ones do; and they are able to move around the house easily without direct supervision.
How do the kids know what to look for? Give them samples of the wrapping paper that you used to wrap their gifts, and those will serve as their clues. The present could be a book, a gift card (great for preteens), a doll, or whatever you like, but the fun should be in the search. Putting a wrapped book on a book shelf with only the spine showing is clever but, as I learned, too hard to find. The key is to hide it in an age-appropriate, moderately hard place to find. The younger the child, the easier it should be to find.
This simple game helps to teach perseverance and a timeless life lesson: when you try hard and don't give up, there is a reward at the end of the journey. And if you time it right, it will give you plenty of time to watch the football games on TV.
Start the Year with Lots of Good Luck!
Many believe that there are several foods that will bring good luck and improve the odds that the coming year will be great. According to epicurious.com, in an article entitled "Lucky Foods for the New Year," by Lauren Salkeld, "Traditions vary from culture to culture, but there are strikingly similar foods consumed for good luck in different pockets of the world—grapes, leafy greens, fish, pork, legumes, and cakes."
The similarity of many beliefs has to do with certain numbers. Eating twelve of something (one of each month) or 365 (one for each day) would be the way to ensure good luck for the entire year. My favorite is cookies!
Lauren Salkeid continues that "Around the world, cakes and other baked goods are commonly served from Christmas Eve to New Year's Day, with a special emphasis placed on round or ring-shaped goods. In certain cultures, it's customary to hide a special trinket or coin inside the cake—the recipient of the piece containing the item will be lucky in the new year. In Mexico, the rosca de reyes is a ring-shaped cake decorated with candied fruit and baked with one or more surprises inside. In Greece, a special round cake called vasilopita is baked with a coin hidden inside. At midnight, or after the New Year's Day meal, the cake is cut, with the first piece going to St. Basil, and the rest being distributed to guests in order of age. Sweden and Norway have similar rituals in which they hide a whole almond in rice pudding—whoever gets the nut is guaranteed great fortune in the new year."
My variation of the above was the eating of twelve cookies. Since many of my traditions involved foods, and more importantly, my favorite foods, I tried to weave them into my holidays so my wife would always be willing to buy these for me. My favorite cookies were Nilla wafers and Oreos. The eating of the cookies started out with the Nilla wafers, as they looked like gold coins to me, and it made sense to tie these into good fortunes. As time went on and double-stuffed Oreo cookies caught my taste buds, I switched to those because, since there were three layers to each cookie, it made sense we would get three times the good luck if we ate those!
The rest of this section discusses some cool customs from around the world from the previously referenced article that are far healthier than cookies. I was not above trying to convince my kids that twelve corn kernels, twelve green beans, and twelve pieces of meat were also part of the tradition, but the cookies stuck! Of course, they routinely point out to me that cookies are for good luck, and so we need to really stockpile them in the pantry to make extra sure we get our share of good fortune.
Grapes
"New Year's Eve revelers in Spain consume twelve grapes at midnight—one grape for each stroke of the clock."
Leafy Greens
"Cooked greens, including cabbage, collards, kale, and chard, are consumed at New Year's celebrations in different countries for a simple reason—their green leaves look like folded money and are considered to be symbolic of economic fortune."
Legumes
"Legumes including beans, peas, and lentils are also symbolic of money. Because they are small and round, they are said to resemble coins which swell when cooked; so they are eaten with financial rewards in mind. In the southern United States, it's traditional to eat black-eyed peas, or cowpeas, and there are even those who believe in eating one pea for every day of the New Year. This all traces back to the legend that, during the Civil War, the town of Vicksburg, Mississippi, ran out of food while under attack. The residents fortunately discovered black-eyed peas, and the legume was thereafter considered lucky."
Pork
"The custom of eating pork on New Year's is based on the idea that pigs symbolize progress. The animal pushes forward, rooting itself in the ground before moving."
Fish
"Fish is a very logical choice for the New Year's table." According to Mark Kurlansky, author of Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World, "cod has been a popular feast food since the Middle Ages.
He compares it to turkey on Thanksgiving. The reason? Long before refrigeration and modern transportation, cod could be preserved and transported, allowing it to reach the Mediterranean and even as far as North Africa and the Caribbean. Herring, another frequently preserved fish, is consumed at midnight in Poland and Germany—Germans also enjoy carp and have been known to place a few fish scales in their wallets for good luck. The Swedish New Year feast is usually a smorgasbord with a variety of fish dishes such as seafood salad. In Japan, herring roe is consumed for fertility, shrimp for long life, and dried sardines for a good harvest (sardines were once used to fertilize rice fields)."
And there were some foods to avoid so you wouldn't encourage bad luck for the new year. "Lobster, for instance, is a bad idea because they move backward and could therefore lead to setbacks. Chicken is also discouraged because the bird scratches backward, which could cause regret or dwelling on the past. Another theory warns against eating any winged fowl because good luck could fly away."
Resolutions
One of the most popular things to do for New Year's is something I gave up years ago. I confess that I really didn't want to lose weight, exercise, or eat better. Considering that I was eating twelve cookies for good luck, it goes without saying that starting a resolution at the same time was a bit of a problem. I did encourage my kids to make resolutions and try and work on something they should be better at, like homework, or being nicer to each other, or even helping Mom with some chores, but lack of willpower evidently runs in our family. Truthfully, after many years of failing to see my resolutions through, I started looking at things in a whole new way. So, like most of us, upon suffering agony after working out early in the new year and then giving up, I decided my resolutions were going to be things I wanted to do that year—read a particular book, learn to play the piano, take a vacation someplace special, write a book (Guess what my resolution was this year?), try all the top ten restaurants listed in my city's local magazine, paint a picture, or come up with a new holiday for my kids to enjoy.
Just think about what you've always wanted to do and make that your resolution. If your family does well with traditional resolutions, then stay the course and enjoy how well adjusted you are and be proud of your ability and perseverance.
Dreamer Day
The third Monday in January is a holiday recognizing the importance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. His efforts sparked a turning point in history and are still considered to be a triumph in the pursuit of civil rights. When I was in the seventh grade, I was one of two children who delivered a short speech on Dr. King, over the loudspeaker from the principal's office at Brockport Middle School, identifying and acknowledging his accomplishments. I remember how proud I felt when the principal congratulated me on being one of the two selected, and afterward I felt a little closer to Dr. King and this cause.
Dreamer Day is, of course, based on Dr. King's famous speech, "I Have a Dream," which he delivered on August 28, 1963, in Washington, DC. And the pride I felt upon being recognized when I was in the seventh grade is the foundation for this holiday. Dreamer Day is a day to encourage your kids to write about their own hopes and dreams and to recognize them for what they feel and how they voice those feelings.
This is for almost any age group, but certainly for school-age children. You might ask a few simple questions, if they need help getting started, such as:
What is the perfect world?
What makes you happiest?
What is the best way to help other people?
What do you dream about?
What do you want to be when you grow up?
Who would be the perfect person to marry?
What would you name your children?
You can add to the list yourself, and then be prepared for a whole range of things to be thrown back at you. The point, though, is that this is your child's idea of what he or she thinks is interesting. Don't be alarmed if your child writes about eating donuts every day, having his or her bed made automatically, staying up late, or having Grandma live with you. The subject of this project will change every year, and you will have the history of your children's thoughts, dreams, and ideas.
So, once your kids have written everything they want to say, it's important to take time to recognize their work. This is all about making a celebration of their accomplishments. Make sure they sign it!
Take them to the local store and have them choose frames for their works. Frame their pieces and put them in a place of prominence—not the refrigerator—such as a wall or countertop. It should be someplace they do not have to share, and it should be where the piece can remain until the following year. This helps them to know that their work is appreciated and that their ideas are acknowledged. The importance of what they think and believe helps set the stage for self-confidence! Each year, remove the previous document and replace it with the new one. But do keep the old one(s), and give them all back to your child when appropriate. You will see how this fits in with special birthdays later in the book.
As your children get older, and you want to show them the true spirit of Dr. King's words, you can volunteer to help the community. Reading his actual speech, and understanding it, can help your children develop a true appreciation of his dream. If you ever get a chance to visit Memphis, Tennessee, you must try to reserve a few hours for visiting the National Civil Rights Museum. It is part of the Lorraine Motel on Mulberry Street, the site of the assassination, and it chronicles the struggle for civil rights from the past to the present.
Popcorn Day
January 19
January 19 is National Popcorn Day. We all love the taste of popcorn, especially when we have it at the movie theater. But there are some fun ways to make this day about more than popping a bag into the microwave and heating for a few minutes. Great recipes for a variety of popcorn treats are on the Popcorn Board's website at www.popcorn. org. My favorite is the recipe for cheesy popcorn because I love cheese. Tins of popcorn, available for purchase, that have caramel, cheese, and butter-flavor popcorn are always a hit, if you don't want to go to the trouble of making your own. But making your own popcorn is most of the fun—especially when each child gets to help in the selection and creation of the final product.
According to the Popcorn Board, the first ears of popcorn were found over four thousand years ago. And while I always believed that buttered popcorn tasted better the next day, four thousand-year-old popcorn just doesn't appeal to my taste buds.
According to the Pop Quiz at popcorn.org, "Popcorn pops when the moisture inside the kernel is heated to about 347 degrees and expands to make the delicacy we all love. Popped corn takes up to thirty-seven times more space than unpopped corn. The Popcorn Board's website states that if you covered the state of Oregon with a layer of unpopped kernels, you would have enough popcorn, when popped, to cover the entire United States of America."
So what other fun things can be done with popcorn, besides eating it? We all know about popcorn strings, for decorating a Christmas tree, but I made up a contest to see who could guess the number of kernels, both popped and unpopped, that were inside a jar. I started by having my kids count out the number of unpopped kernels that would fit inside a small glass jar. Then, they had to count the number of popped kernels that fit inside a different, much larger jar. The kids made up a contest to see who in the family could guess the closest to both jars. This game had many benefits. First, it got them to count to numbers that they weren't used to, and, second, it put them in charge of organizing the game and coming up with a small present for the winner. (Sometimes, we parents need to win a prize, too.) Of course, the kids frequently asked for advice on what the prize should be, and I always wanted hugs and kisses equal to the difference of my guess and the correct answer. Shameless on my part, huh? It should come as no surprise that my wife and I purposely guessed a much lesser number than what we really thought it would be. My kids' friends really enjoyed this simple game also, and once they found out the size difference between popped and unpopped corn, they dedicated themselves to finding jars that were proportionally accurate to balance the numbers. It does have a fun effect on adults when they are shown two dramatically different-sized jars, and they need to guess the amounts inside. It comes as a big surprise when the numbers are almost equal.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Holidays For KIDS by Charles Pascalar Copyright © 2012 by Jack Angel . Excerpted by permission of Trafford Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Preface: Holidays for Kids....................xiJanuary....................1
January Journey....................1
Start the Year with Lots of Good Luck!....................2
Resolutions....................4
Dreamer Day....................5
Popcorn Day....................6
February....................8
Go Fly a Kite Day....................8
Valentine's Day....................10
Presidents' Day or "Presents Day"(If You Say It Fast Enough)....................11
Pistachio Nut Day....................14
One Day Fun Day....................14
March....................16
Clean Up Your Room Day....................16
Pi(e) Day....................17
St. Patrick's Day....................18
Goof-Off Day....................20
April....................21
April Foolishness....................21
Easter....................24
Cloud Day....................27
Juggler's Day....................28
Jelly Bean Day....................29
May....................30
May Day Play Day....................30
Mother's Day....................31
Memorial Day....................32
Hamburger Day....................33
June....................35
Opposite Day....................35
Father's Day....................36
Ice-Cream Soda....................37
Toothbrush Day....................37
July....................39
Independence Day....................39
Macaroni Day....................51
Slurpee Day....................52
Lollipop Day....................52
Parents' Day....................53
August....................54
Favorite Day....................54
Awesome August Adventure Day....................54
Marshmallow Day....................57
September....................58
Labor Day....................58
Opposite Day (Part 2)....................58
Teddy Bear Day....................59
September Search....................59
October....................61
Oktoberfest....................61
Dictionary Day....................61
Magic Day....................62
Halloween....................62
November....................68
Veterans Day....................68
Pizza Day....................68
Thanksgiving....................70
Hookey Day....................71
December....................72
Christmas....................72
Stay Up as Late as You Want Day (New Year's Eve)....................80
Other Special Days....................82
Birthdays....................82
Moving Day....................84
Daddy/Daughter Dinner and Father/Son Soiree....................85
Picnic Days....................86
Kids in the Kitchen Day....................86
Daddy Donut Day....................87
Bedtimes....................87
Good Night and Good Morning Songs....................88
Daddy Diet Day....................89
Epilogue....................91