Activities to celebrate the Spring Equinox with children

Let’s learn about the seasons and celebrate the Spring Equinox with our children with this selection of spring lessons and crafts.

 

 

Activities to celebrate the Spring Equinox with children

Let’s connect our children with their planet, combining science, nature and arts and crafts as we learn about and celebrate the Spring Equinox.

 

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Save time and teach better!

For an all-planned-and-prepped-for-you complete guide to spring learning topics, with lesson plans and printables to make your teaching easy, click here to download your copy of the Seasons School Spring Curriculum.

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In these Spring Equinox lessons children can:

:: learn about the Sun and Earth’s relationship

:: learn why we have seasons

:: learn about the solstice and the equinox

:: celebrate the spring equinox with a range of lesson plans, crafts, and activities that you can use for a one-day celebration or a season long nature curriculum

You can download my complete Spring nature study curriculum here.

 

 

What is an equinox?

The way the Sun, Earth, and Moon move around in relation to each other gives us our day and night; our spring, summer, autumn, and winter; and the cycle of the natural year.

One important thing to know is that the Earth is tilted. As it moves around the sun it doesn’t sit straight upright with the North Pole exactly at the top and the South Pole exactly at the bottom. Instead, it leans to one side a little.

This tilt is very important, because it means at certain times of the year more of one part of the Earth is facing the sun than at other times. This tilt gives us our seasons.

In December the northern part of Earth is titled away from the sun, and this means we get the least hours of sunshine – giving us long nights and the shortest day of the year. It’s when people living in the northern part of Earth have winter.

By March, the Earth has moved further around the sun, and now the tilt means that the sun is facing right at the middle of the Earth. The rays of the sun are shining on the northern and southern parts of the Earth equally. This means we get about the same number of hours of day time and night time.

We call this time of year spring, and the day of the year when we have the most equal day and night is called the Spring Equinox.

After the Spring Equinox the tilt of the Earth means we will get more of the sun’s rays shining on our part of the world each day. The days will get longer, and the nights will get shorter, all the way through to the longest day of the year at the Summer Solstice in June. 

People living in the southern hemisphere have their seasons at the opposite time of year to us, so when we are having spring, they are having autumn.

(You can find children’s activities for the autumn equinox here.)

 

 

When is the Spring Equinox?

In 2022 the Spring Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere is on Sunday 2oth March.

 

 

Spring equinox activities for children

Here’s a fun selection of ideas you can use to learn about spring and celebrate the equinox with your children.

 

Learn why we have seasons with this lesson plan and printable.

Spring clean your classroom with these tips.

Set up a spring nature table.

Plan a spring feast using seasonal foods.

Make a spring wreath for your door.

Use these carrot number printables to add a spring-theme to your math lessons.

Stretch your body with this simple spring yoga routine.

Decorate with botanical egg decorations, paper plate birds and pretty daffodil crafts.

Start growing seeds for your garden.

Explore a spring sensory tub.

Download my complete Spring nature study curriculum here.