Children danced around wearing handmade crowns and waving handmade wands, May 7, as they celebrated the coming of spring with a Maypole Festival.
The colourful celebration was organized by Wildflowers Childcare and Wild Roots Playschool and featured the musical stylings of Val Fleming, who lead the group in songs about spring.
“The kids loved it,” said Cristin Murphy, owner of Wild Roots Playschool. “It was really special for them, they knew that it was a festival.”
Prior to the festival, the students spent time learning about spring and looking for signs of the season of rebirth, as well as practising the songs they would sing around the maypole.
Maypole festivals are annual events held to welcome spring. They centre around a tall wooden post adorned with ribbons in various colours. At the top of the playschool’s maypole—created by Jasperite Harry Harkema three years ago—is a bicycle wheel that the ribbons adhere to, allowing the ribbons to rotate around the pole.
“It was really cute to see the kids grabbing the ribbons and circling around,” said Murphy.
This is the second time Wildflowers Childcare has hosted a Maypole Festival. Murphy said the hope is for Wildflowers and Wild Roots to host one every year, making it into an annual event for the kids.
Nicole Veerman
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