It’s a bit of a weird Beltane this year. Normally we would be in a tent and having a stall, joining in workshops and ritual, and celebrating with lots of other Pagans at Thornborough Henge. Obviously that is not happening this year, so what to do instead?
One of the main themes for Beltane is fertility but at 2 and a half I think my little dilophosaurus is a bit young to grasp that. Fertility though is about the creation of the new, be it plant or animal, concept or idea; and creativity, on the other hand, is something we can definitely explore. Let’s face it; toddlers are good at creating a mess!
The greenman is associated with this festival and I’ve got some paper plates in my craft box so we’re going to make a greenman, or wildling of the wood in our case, mask. Cut the paper plate in half and cut out some eye holes. Paint or colour it green and stick leaves on. These could be leaves you’ve picked up if you’ve been able to get out in the garden, allotment or for a walk, or you could cut out leaf shapes from green paper, or even draw and colour the leaves to cut out. Staple some elastic to it so it can be worn and hey presto, a mini green wildling. I’ll probably try and find their greenest outfit too to go with it.
Another creative activity we’ve already started is collecting flowers from our allotment and pressing them. The plan is to laminate them once pressed to create a Beltane Butterfly. Draw the shape you want on the laminating pouch, place the pressed flowers within the lines, laminate and cut out. Makes a beautiful seasonal decoration.
I’ll hopefully be able to make some jack-in-the-green biscuits. These are just gingerbread men but decorated with green icing. I have some icing writing pens that I can let my little dilophosaurus have a go with; I’ll draw leaves on my one.
Faeries are also associated with Beltane. I plan on looking through our bookcase and pulling out all the faerie stories to read, and maybe have a go at retelling them with our small world play characters (that’s toy animals and pictures of woodland sprites cut out, laminated and bluetacked to duplo bricks so they stand up).
Whatever you do and however you celebrate, I hope you have a blessed and safe Beltane.
Krys