winter solstice traditions – Page 4

01Nov 2023 by catbird

Stargaze on the Longest Night

Play, Winter, Winter Solstice, Wolf Moon

Winter Solstice is the longest night, so why not take advantage of all that darkness and do some stargazing? You will find a "Stargazing Picnic tutorial" in my Winter Solstice book, or you can just grab some blankets and look at the sky. The stars are easier to see in the winter because there is less humidity and haze and several iconic constellations make their debut in the winter months. If you are in the Northern hemisphere look for: Auriga (the charioteer) Canis Major (greater dog) Canis Minor (lesser dog) Orion (the hunter) Taurus (the bull) Ursa Major (greater bear/ big dipper) Ursa Minor (lesser bear/ little dipper) Draco (the dragon) Cassiopeia (the queen) Perseus (the hero) Different cultures have different names for constellations which can be really fun to research!

01Nov 2023 by catbird

Hot Chocolate Hike

Hibernation Celebration, Hike Ideas, Recipes, Winter, Winter Solstice

There is nothing more exciting them packing up a thermos of hot chocolate and going on a winter hike. I like to choose routes that I know will have a place to sit down partway through, because while we usually have no problems sitting on the ground, in winter that can be too cold. We always bring these handy collapsible cups to make serving easier. (And they are infinitely entertaining on their own.) You can find some of our favorite cocoa recipes here: regular hot chocolate, Yule hot cocoa, and crockpot hot chocolate for a crowd!

30Oct 2023 by catbird

Cinnamon Birds

Craft Project, Winter, Winter Solstice

These are a classic holiday craft-- I remember making them as a kid and I now make them with my kids. I love the birds strung on a garland and paired with dried orange slices, they look and smell amazing. They are also super easy to make with kids and are basically play dough until you dry them. Use cheap bulk cinnamon for these not the nice stiff you use in baking. This is a rare case of quantity over quality. When I made these as a kid I always added glue, and I do think it makes them a little sturdier, but they work fine without it and leaving it out makes them compostable which is nice. You can paint or decorate these but I never do because I…

01Sep 2023 by catbird

Hunt for Animal Tracks

Hike Ideas, Midwinter, Play, Winter, Winter Solstice

Whether you have snow or mud, winter is a great time to hunt for animal tracks. The lack of underbrush makes them much easier to spot. Younger friends will likley just be excited to find and identify some tracks, but older friends might enjoy tracking the paths the prints take and trying to reconstruct what the animal might have been doing and or where it is living. We spent literally hours following those raccoon tracks around the forest and mapped out what we hypothesized was a whole community of raccoons. They went to the water, they went to different trees that appeared to have dwellings in them, it was pretty fascinating. Another fun step would be to draw and illustration or write a story about what you found, in our…

12Dec 2022 by catbird

Festive Mushroom Ornaments

Craft Project, Nature Art, Play, Winter, Winter Solstice

I don't think its any secret that I love mushrooms, foraging and eating them, making art with them and generally just finding and observing them. They seem to me having a moment right now too. At the same time I am slowly becoming one of those crazy old ladies who has a tree in every room of her house with a different theme. I’m at three now. (Is there a threshold for when it becomes crazy? Like cats?) The family tree is in the living room and has all of our special ornaments, there is a sunny solstice tree and last is this tree. I live in an old Victorian house with a tower… so it clearly needed a tree. And obviously that tree needed to be a mushroom tree.…

07Dec 2022 by catbird

Pine Needle Tea

Campfire, Folklore, Foraging, Recipes, Winter, Winter Solstice

Pine needle tea is a fun and easy winter beverage hat is is oh so wintery! Its a fantastic source of nutrients, particularly vitamin C, which was used to supplement people's diets in the days before you could go to the store and buy a bag of oranges without a thought. Allegedly, Frenchman Jacques Cartier and his crew were cured of scurvy by an Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) tribe in 1543 and they wrote an account of it. All edible species of pine contain vitamin C-- purportedly have three to five times more than an orange, depending on what source you read. Vitamin C is an immune booster (and a cure for scurvy!) Pine needles also contain vitamin A which improves red blood cell production. Pine needle tea can also soothe sore…

04Nov 2022 by catbird

Make Twig Stars

Craft Project, Nature Art, Play, Winter Solstice

Make some easy stick stars one of two ways. Big ones can be used to decorate the house and small ones can be ornaments or gift toppers. You cab leave them plain or dress them up with other natural materials. Twig stars are an easy nature craft for all ages that look rustic and elegant. Twig Stars Materials: twigs twine pretty greens and other natural materials (optional) Method: Cut or break your things into 5 pieces of approximately the same length. Lay them out in a 5 pointed star shape and tie the joints with twine. Add a loop of twine to the top if using as an ornament. Add greens or dried flowers for decoration as desired. Willow Stars These will really only work with willow branches, you bend…

03Nov 2022 by catbird

Naturally Scented Cinnamon Pine Cones

Craft Project, Winter, Winter Solstice

I always look forward to those cinnamon pine cones that find their way to grocery store checkouts and craft stores this time of year. Even though they are extremely artificial, I kind of love them. So I decided to make my own with natural essential oils and ground cinnamon. They smell even better and are simple to make. Use teh recipe below to make a big batch or just sprinkle some essential oil on a few! I actually used to sell these back in the day. Materials: pinecones cinnamon essential oil clove essential oil cheap ground cinnamon water freezer bag Method: Place your pinecones in a freezer bag and pour in just enough water to cover/ soak them. Start sprinkling in the essential oils-- I don't measure, just enough that…

01Nov 2022 by catbird

Winter Nature Table

Craft Project, Nature Art, Nature Collection, Nature Table, Play, Seasonal Nature Table, Winter, Winter Solstice

Nature tables are the perfect place to store and display all those nature finds that we "just had to bring home." Honestly I am almost as bad as the kids about this... Ours is on our porch so that things can be easily added and subtracted at will and we change it out for each season. (And it substantially reduces the stray sticks in the house..) In winter, we add obvious things like holly and evergreens, but also sticks covered in lichen, crystal-y rocks, found bits of nuts, pinecones and a prized deer antler. Log slices and old shelves and add some height and you can use vases to hold the greens. The kids are always tinkering with the arrangement and moving things around which is great. This is actually…

30Oct 2022 by catbird

Yule Tea– Guest Blogger!

Recipes, Winter, Winter Solstice

A huge thank you to Anna Reisz for today's guest post!! Check out her beautiful site The Herbology Faerie and her IG feed here. She is sharing her recipe for Winter Solstice Tea with us-- take it away Anna! The last festival on the wheel of the year, Yule, takes place on the winter solstice. This marks what is also called the Longest Night, when the hours of darkness exceed the light. We feel drawn to twinkle lights, candles, cozy fires, and warming festive spices to help keep the darkness at bay and remind ourselves that the warmth of the sun will cycle back as it does each turn of the Earth. Celebrate this occasion with Yule Tea, a cozy and warming mix of rooibos, cacao nibs, orange peel, cinnamon,…

Tag: winter solstice traditions