Toddler friendly Mabon - share ideas here!

[Rhianna813]

Hi Folks,

** Hey I found my 2006 post and wanted to bring it back! Take a look at the thread and please add more ideas. Thanks!**

Well I am continuing my recent tradition of starting a thread for kid/toddler friendly Sabbat activities. They have been so very helpful and I love the posts from other parents.

I have been doing my Mabon/Autumn Equinox idea hunt in Circle Round and Mabon (by Krisen Madden). Some ideas definiely seem to intersect with Lughnasa and Samhain seasonal themes as well. I also might add that information on the net can be helpful but I usually access the internet from work and they have blocks on many Pagan sites.

Some ideas are making corn necklaces, corn dollies, filling horns of plenty with fresh garden offerings. Making applehead dolls, crushing grapes to make juice, making leaf crowns or masks (greenman). And of course recipes and feasting!

One thing I want to start doing as a family and to especially teach my child about sharing and giving is bring donations to a local food bank or shelter. My preference would be to see what I can give from my garden so the food is fresh and not canned goods. I would also ask for garden donations from friends and co workers. Being that my child is almost 3 he probably won't get what we are doing but still it's the start of a tradition and important memory for him.

I am thinking of activities like picking up fallen acorns, pine cones and leaves. And making some kind of Greenman crown to represent the God. Any other ideas that an almost 3 year old would like??

Rhianna

[Dragensong]

not sure where you are but here (in germany, as well as my home town in florida) there is ALOT of rain this time of year. As an adult who gets to stay up late and watch the weather (hint hint) it's fun to see my children's faces when the rain sticks they make bring clouds and rain later that day ot the next.

materials needed paper towen tube, knife (for adult) paper clips, tape, constuction paper, dried beans/peas, things to decorate with: crayons, markers glitter etc...

Take some paper towel tubes cover/close one end of the tube and cut small random 1/4 - 1/3 inch slits all the way around leaving about a 1/2 to 3/4 in. space on either end.. take paper clips and open them to an "L" shape, poke the wider end through the slit and secure the other end with tape on out side the tube. fill with about one or two toddler size handfulls of dried beans or peas. cover the open end with your hand and do a test run, add or remove paper clips as needed. cover the other end. and wrap with constructon paper and color/decorate. my kids each made thier 1st one at 2 yrs old, they only thing i had/have to do are cut the slits and do the test run..

[Ravenna Angellin]

not sure where you are but here (in germany, as well as my home town in florida) there is ALOT of rain this time of year. As an adult who gets to stay up late and watch the weather (hint hint) it's fun to see my children's faces when the rain sticks they make bring clouds and rain later that day ot the next.

That is such a great idea!! I may have to do that project with my boys!!

Where we're at, we're lucky enough to have a couple of pick-your-own apple orchards, so we like to go out and pick apples. Lots of apples. Then we make yummy foods with some of the apples, and art projects with the other apples. One year, I got an idea from Gingerbread Grandma's (http://www.fortunecity.com/millenium/sherwood/504/mabonlist.html) website to make apple print t-shirts. There are complete instructions there, and my oldest had a blast making his shirt.

We also got an idea somewhere to make dried apple slice wreaths. We sliced up a bunch of apples, dried the slices carefully in the oven, and then used an old wire hanger as the frame and placed the slices all around the hanger. We also added some ribbons and various other neat looking decorations that we found at our local fabric/craft store. It turned out really pretty, and it smelled really great for quite a while. Though if you want to keep it forever, it's a good idea to find some acrylic sealer or something similar to keep it from molding.

~ Ravenna

[AoibhellFaeryMoon]

Just a note on fresh veggies and food banks:

I know that NONE of the food banks in my city take any non-canned or boxed item. Everything has to be non-perishable, and not capable of being tampered with. They won't even take untouched leftovers from caterers or anything, anymore.

So just check with the food bank before gathering food, and see if they will take them!

[Rhianna813]

Just a note on fresh veggies and food banks:

I know that NONE of the food banks in my city take any non-canned or boxed item. Everything has to be non-perishable, and not capable of being tampered with. They won't even take untouched leftovers from caterers or anything, anymore.

So just check with the food bank before gathering food, and see if they will take them!

Yes I am going to call before bringing the food. I think the food banks in our town must be really open because they regularly pick up catered food from events at my work. And they will actually come to your house and pick fruit from your trees for donation. And their website said they receive donations from local farms. If this is all true - that rocks!

[AoibhellFaeryMoon]

Yes I am going to call before bringing the food. I think the food banks in our town must be really open because they regularly pick up catered food from events at my work. And they will actually come to your house and pick fruit from your trees for donation. And their website said they receive donations from local farms. If this is all true - that rocks!

yay! That's awesome! I wish the food banks here would do that, but alas, they do not. Health regulations and all that, I guess.

[Semele]

I like the apple wreath idea. I may have to try that out with the girls. I am thinking Trey would be more into making masks. Fun fun fun! thanks for the ideas!

[Palantari]

Stringing popcorn and hanging on the hedges/ trees is always fun too...you if you are adventurious and have some old clothes berries are good - but messy and peanut butter balls (peanut butter mixed with seeds and nuts and left to dry) are good offerings and the bird love them...and the kids love to get covered in them!

[Rhianna813]

Oooooooh the peanut butter seed bird feeder idea is great! I've never made them before but it sounds like you can't really do it wrong.

Thanks!

Tina

[MajorTal]

I like the apple wreath idea. I may have to try that out with the girls. I am thinking Trey would be more into making masks. Fun fun fun! thanks for the ideas!

From personal experience with making apple wreaths, always soak your apple pieces in lemon juice over night before you bake them/dehydrate them. It will keep them whiter longer!!

Cheers!
***Tal***

[Ravenna Angellin]

From personal experience with making apple wreaths, always soak your apple pieces in lemon juice over night before you bake them/dehydrate them. It will keep them whiter longer!!

Cheers!
***Tal***


Ahh, yes! Thanks! I totally forgot to mention the lemon juice. It does keep the apples from browning.

Actually... lemon juice keeps a lot of things from browning too soon.

~ Ravenna

[ladyalpha]

I think we are going to do this ritual this year. http://www.tryskelion.com/mabon3.htm (Sorry, don't know how to link it in words here).

I am also going to try to find the right kind of leaves to make crowns for everyone this year too. When I did this in the past my girls really liked it. If I can't, then perhaps I will find some material and glue some on it to make the Greenman mask. Hmm..thinking my husband might do well with the mask and the crowns on the rest of us..
ladyalpha

[Dragensong]

I forgot to mention as my son pointed out to me, the rain sticks work well for snow too as snow is just frozen rain. Last year we got our 1st snow on thanksgiving night. That morning the kids were shaking thier rain sticks to make the 1st snow come.. That was the greatest b/c we had lived in Florida thier entirelives till we came here it truely was thier 1st snow.

Elizabeth

[Rhianna813]

I think we are going to do this ritual this year. http://www.tryskelion.com/mabon3.htm (Sorry, don't know how to link it in words here).

I am also going to try to find the right kind of leaves to make crowns for everyone this year too. When I did this in the past my girls really liked it. If I can't, then perhaps I will find some material and glue some on it to make the Greenman mask. Hmm..thinking my husband might do well with the mask and the crowns on the rest of us..
ladyalpha

I think I am going to premake some paper leaves so Brendan (who is 2 and 3/4th hehehe) can help glue them on the paper headband. This is for maximum fun and participation. Down the road it would be awesome to make crowns are out real leaves and wire or something.

Rhianna

[ladyalpha]

Rhianna, paper definitly lasts longer. Well unless he is as destructive as my 3 year old son. lol
I think I posted somewhere here how to make the crowns with the leaves, but it may have been at a different site. My cold I am fighting off has made me a bit muddled to say the least.
I have been trying to figure out a way to make them last, so we don't have to keep making them each time (although the experience is great fun and gives plenty of time to chat). But, if you do them with real leaves sometime make sure to use ones that have a long flexible stem. Then just tie the stems together in a knot until you get the right size. I am thinking shalacking (sp?) them might keep them from drying completely and will keep them together forever. Or possibly using floral tape.
Nature, though, I have found is the only thing I like to be creative with. I am not a usual crafty person or mom. So when I have the right material (sticks, leaves, etc.) and get the urge my kids grab on because they know as soon as I have made it, I'm done. lol And we know to enjoy it, because it isn't going to last forever. Kinda makes the point of birth/death/rebirth cycle easier for them to understand though.
At some point, not sure if we are going to try to do it for Mabon or Samhain, my girls want to make a natural wreath for the door. They saw one in Wal-Mart and I explained how to do it themselves. It is free and means more if you do it yourself, rather than just nail one up. So now they have that in their minds. lol
ladyalpha

[Tanya]

we pick berries and make jam together. also we gathered apples last year and she put them on the food dryer while I cut, then we made apple dollies, which she loves still we sewed her a dress and Vivi covered her dress with flowers and bits of lavender.

We always have a big feast for Mabon

[Rhianna813]

This is a thread I started for Mabon 2006 but wanted to bring it back for 2007. Please share your ideas :-)

:ringaroun

Rhianna

[Willow Rosette]

Well Im a bit late for this but here is what we ended up doing.

http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/canada/color/maples90.gif

We took those leaves and she cut them out and colored them. Then glued them to paper and made curly ques for wind...it was called dancing leaves and she had a blast.

Then we made home made apple juice (well umm she is taking all the credit) and made a homemade soup.

It was great

[ladyalpha]

Oh what a cute idea. I am keeping that in my notes. lol This year we all spiral danced before the ritual. I ended up running out of breath before we were all done and had to stand at the altar and drum out the beat while singing. It is so fun to watch the kids dance though.
I made home made wheat bread this year. I was so glad it turned out right, it was the first time I have ever made bread by scratch and was the first time I had tried that recipe. It was enough to make a regular loaf and a circle loaf, so we used the circle in the rite. Seemed appropriate for the season/rite.