Easter
2-5 April

Over the Easter weekend there are always masses of fun local events planned for young families (see the diary), there are also lots of ideas and printable activities in the Tinies and Tikes Celebrate pages.  

For mums, I've prepared an Easter Egg Challenge game for you to print out, so your kids can spend a bit more time and effort finding their eggs on Sunday.  
The clues for the hunt are in picture form so that even the youngest can join in.  
This is something to do indoors, especially if the weather is unreliable. 

Easter Egg Hunt Challenge.
  
A few printable pages (below) form the basis of this simple Treasure Hunt.  You will give your children picture clues to help them find the pieces of a jigsaw. 

Click the link below for the picture of the Easter Bunny, divided into nine squares.  
Print out the picture (preferably onto card) and cut it into nine pieces to form a simple jigsaw.  Put this to one side for the moment. 

Bunny Jigsaw 

Now print out these pages of images of household objects.  
They are divided into four squares each. 
Print out each of these sheets and cut each into four pieces.  
You now keep these to hand as clue cards.

Easter Clues 1
Easter Clues 2
Easter Clues 3

You will only need to hide the pieces of the bunny jigsaw in nine of the places shown on the Easter Clue  pictures, so choose the nine pictures that best suit your home.  You can discard the other three.

Hide the jigsaw pieces in the places shown on your chosen clue cards.

Tell your children that the Easter Bunny has given them a challenge:  
They must find all the pieces of a jigsaw that the Bunny has hidden about the house, put them together and present this to mum and dad, who will then reward them by telling them where the Easter Bunny's has hidden their eggs.  

Now all you do is give your children the clues one and at time and get them to bring back each of the jigsaw pieces as they find them.  Once they have all nine pieces and have put together the jigsaw -  they have completed the challenge!  You can either tell the children where the eggs or hidden,  or you could produce a note from the Easter Bunny himself, giving their secret location.  

Of course, you can always go for the easy option of just hiding lots of little chocolate eggs around the house (or preferably one room.)  If you go to the right supermarkets you can usually pick up 3 foil covered fondant-filled chocolate eggs for about a pound and little packs of mini eggs for about the same amount.  Combinations of these are all you need for an Easter Egg Hunt.  It's usually best to keep the hunt to the confines of the house because this means you can set it up the night before, after the kids have gone to bed.  The British weather is a bit too unpredictable in the Spring, plus you don't really want the kids consuming too much mud along with their eggs!  Provide each child with a small bowl or, even better, a basket and let them take turns to hunt for the eggs.  In the interests of fairness it's worth putting all the found eggs into a pile at the end and dividing them up equally amongst the participants, just in case your eldest child has managed to find all the best ones.  Do try to be creative about where you hide the eggs.  You'll be amazed how beady eyed kids are when it comes to spotting sweets, so don't make it too easy for them.  It's also quite entertaining if not all the eggs are found immediately because then they appear a few days later - much to your children's surprise and delight.  If you do start this family tradition of egg hunting be prepared to keep it up for at least 10 years.  Teenagers seem to be quite happy to take part in something as uncool as egg hunting for many more years than their parents had ever anticipated!

www.kidscraftweekly.com

For those of you who are old enough to remember painting real hard boiled eggs and rolling them down a  hill, there are lovely ideas and suggestions at: www.kidscraftweekly.com/eggs2

For some more helpful hints on how to stage an Easter Egg Hunt outdoors try:
www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/easter

If you're brave enough to consider an Easter Party (or just want to have some fun with the kids), there are lots of ideas for games and activities at:
www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/easter/party

It's hard to keep small kids at the table for the duration of a special family dinner.  There are some nice ideas for keeping little ones from occupied at Hostesswiththemostess 

The Top 10 Easter Recipes (according to UKTV) can be found at:
http://uktv.co.uk/index.cfm/uktv/Food.homepage/sid/5894

If you fancy making craft items yourself (or with the kids), these really simple Jelly Bean Pots would make great, cheap centre-pieces for a table or little Easter gifts:
www.bhg.com/

Some Easter themed colour pictures to use when making your own cards or just as decorations:
http://a.familyfun.go.com/Resources

Those of you who can knit (an enviable skill!) must take a quick look at this pattern designer's adorable site.  There is even a free pattern for baby chicks in an eggshell:
www.alandart.co.uk

Have lots of fun rescuing Cadbury's Creme Eggs from Sir Eggbert Shelby's museum in the online game The Great Eggscape.  There are four levels and some brilliant graphics.  This is meant to be for the kids, but mums will enjoy the archive of old Creme Egg adverts (titled Goo On The Box).  It's a sobering experience to see how many Easters you've already enjoyed! 

Springtime
For those of you who can't wait until the May Bank Holiday Weekend to celebrate the arrival of Spring, I've found a whole page of inspirational ideas at Amazing Moms.  There are ideas for a proper Spring Party with friends or just a fun time in the garden with your own kids.

Midsummer's Day
24 June

If you would like to celebrate Midsummer, you could have a picnic of traditional summer foods, such as gooseberry fool, strawberries and raspberries.  You could even bake some little round biscuits or cakes and decorate them with smiley sun faces.  Then you might like to either dress up as fairies and pixies or hunt in your garden to see if you can find any hiding there on this special day.  In the evening you could have a bonfire to dance around, just like our ancestors did. 

If you like the fairy hunt idea, I've made a sheet of printable fairies for you to cut out and hide.  To do this click here.

You could then go back to the Mums Organize page and also print off the beautiful fairy gazebo from the link there.  Again, you simply print this off, cut it out and glue it together.  Once made, it can be a fairy resting place.  This was originally put it for Tooth Fairies, but it works just as well for midsummer fairies!

Lammas  - 
Celtic Festival of the first fruits & the ripening corn.  
1 August.

"Lammas" is a Saxon word meaning "loaf festival" as it celebrated the harvesting of the first corn for baking into bread.  It was traditionally a time when communities would gather together to celebrate their harvest with lots of feasting and drinking.  It was also one of the four ancient Celtic Fire Festivals.

If you'd like to celebrate Lammas, the nicest way to do it would be to invite friends and family for a picnic and bonfire.  The food should reflect the season and feature lots of fresh local fruits and, of course, the all-important bread.  (You could prepare for the picnic by picking your own fruit at somewhere like Sharnfold Farm.)  If you want to be really authentic, you will need to find a genuine corn dolly to take pride of place on the table (or picnic rug) where she can represent the spirit of the harvest.  Truly pagan types can then keep her until the Spring, when they should plant her in the garden to ensure a bountiful supply of good things next year.

Keep an eye on the weather over the next few days, too.  There is an old country saying:  "If the first week of August be warm, then the winter will be white and long".

National Sandcastle Day.
17 August

You can get tips on how to build a better castle at this BBC H2G2 page
You can design your castle before you go by visiting this Castle Builder website 
Or you can check out the Amazing Sand Sculptures like the one below at Travelburner


Copyright Steve Machell @ Sandology.com

Roald Dahl's Birthday 
(otherwise known as Roald Dahl Day).  
13 September

If you skip over to the Tinies Celebrate or Tikes Celebrate pages, you'll find everything you need to celebrate this in style.

International Talk Like A Pirate Day.  
19 September

This is the official website for Talk Like a Pirate Day - it's adult oriented, so not really for kids:  www.talklikeapirate.com
You'll find lots of helpful advice on how to enjoy the day, plus pirate fun and games to waste your time on.

If your children love playing at pirates they now have an excuse to do it all day long.  I've added some links and ideas for how to celebrate this wacky event on the Tinies Celebrate and Tikes Celebrate pages.  Enjoy!

For mums who have a Facebook page: you can turn the whole page into pirate speak for the day!  Simply click on the 'languages' section and choose it from the options.

Autumn Equinox
21-23 September

Equinox is a Latin word meaning " equal-night".
The Autumn Equinox (which is on 23 September this year) is the day on which there are exactly 12 hours each of day and of night.  This is the last moment before the nights start to lengthen into winter, so was traditionally a time to celebrate the year's harvest (it is sometimes called Harvest Home) and to reflect on the joy of summer months.  

In astrology, this is the date on which the sun enters Libra, whose image is a set of scales, to represent the balance of night and day.

For our pagan ancestors, this was a time to rest after all the hard work of bringing in the harvest, to be grateful for all the food they had gathered and to consider what they had achieved in the last few months.  Corn dollies would be made out of the last sheaf of corn to be harvested.  The dollies were then kept inside the house to bring good luck to the families over the winter.  People would gather together in the evening and honour the Green Man (who was their god of the woods) by pouring cider or ale at the base of a tree.  (It was a way of thanking the tree for it's goodness by sharing a drink with it!)  The equinox was also known, in England, as The Feast of Avalon because it coincides with the apple harvest and Avalon means "the land of apples".

In medieval times, the church turned the pagan festival into the Christian feast of St Michael and All Angels or Michaelmas (pronounced 'mickelmas').  Michael was the archangel who threw Lucifer (the devil) out of heaven.  There is a legend that when the devil fell to earth he landed on a blackberry bush, which he cursed for its prickliness!  

This year Michaelmas is on 29 September.  Some schools and colleges still call the first term of a new school year the Michaelmas term.  Old superstitions say that it is unlucky to pick blackberries after Michaelmas, but if you  eat goose on this day you will be lucky for the rest of the year.  The Victorians believed that a tree planted on Michaelmas Day would grow really well.  So why not plant an apple tree this year?  It will be well established by next year, when you will be able to celebrate the equinox in the pagan fashion by gathering around and sharing a drink with it!

Diwali  - Festival Of Lights  
17 October

www.diwalifestival.org

Diwali celebrates the Hindu New Year.  In preparation for this, people spring clean their homes and open windows to let in Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth.  To light the goddess' way, little lamps are lit all over the house.  This is a real family party time, as delicious food is prepared and fireworks are set off to ward off evil spirits - a bit like our Halloween.  On the last day of Diwali, sisters cook for their brothers, who give 
them presents in return.

There is a nice printable picture of the goddess Lakshmi for the kids to colour here:
www.balagokulam.org/images

There is a really yummy Diwali pudding recipe at this BBC webpage:
www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database

British Summertime Ends
25 October

Spring forward and Fall back.  So tonight you need to put the clocks back one hour.  This is the best bit, you get a whole extra hour in bed (or an extra hour added onto your weekend - however you want to look at it!)

Wear It Pink Day
30 October

If you are fed up with Halloween related activities already (and black isn't really your colour) you may prefer something more cheerful.  Friday 30 October is also Wear It Pink Day, an awareness day for the Breast Cancer Campaign. To show your solidarity you should wear something pink (the more outrageous the better) all day, whether it's to work or just at home with the kids and your friends. Perhaps organise an informal get-together or coffee morning with other mums where you all come dressed in pink and donate £2 each to Breast Cancer.  You could even have fun in between making little pink fairy cakes and dotting Barbie dolls and their accessories about the house!  There are lots of ideas on the official Wearitpink website.  You'll also find there a Pink Blast online game and a Dare to Wear it Pink fun online quiz to see just how daring you are.  Something to share with daughters and girlfriends.

Halloween
31 October

Just like the Hindus, the Celts used to celebrate their new year at the end of October.  They believed that at the beginning of this season of long dark nights the spirits of the dead would return to earth, so they lit bonfires to frighten them away.  Once Christianity came to Britain, the 1st of November became "All Saints" or "All Hallows Day", (Hallow is an old word for saint) so the last night of October was the eve of All Hallows or Hallowe'en.  This was a time to remember all the Christians who had died for their faith.

Adult Parties

Ideas for an adults only Hallowe'en party can be found at ivillage.com

There are some good adult halloween party games at partygameideas.com/halloween-games-adults
The site is very American, but the ideas are all perfectly adaptable.

There also some great ideas for organising a last minute party on howstuffworks.com

My family's favourite Halloween Party Game is the "Feely Game".  

It needs a small amount of preparation, but is well worth the effort.  You need to prepare a number of items and place them on a table either hidden inside shoe boxes (with a hand hole cut in the side) or simply under separate tea towels.  All the party guests stand outside the door and are brought into the (darkened) room one-by-one to feel the items on the table and guess what they could be.  The most effective items are as follows:

2 hard boiled and shelled eggs (these will feel like eyeballs).
1 rubber glove (preferably the thin transparent kind) filled with flour and secured at the arm end with a 
rubber band.  
(This feels remarkably like a human hand, if you put enough flour inside.)
1 old wig (feels horrible in the dark)
plate of cold cooked spaghetti
a piece of pumpkin cut into the shape of an ear
1 raw sausage (you'll obviously need to wash your hands after this.)

There are lots of other things that you can do.  It's most fun to pretend people are feeling various body parts - especially as it's Halloween.  The best way to play this game is by encouraging the most hysterical guest to play first.  Their shrieks only add to the tension felt by those waiting outside the door!  

Another good game is Nelson's Eye.  

    

Only one person needs to be the "victim" as everyone else gets to watch.  It is probably best to choose the person with the strongest stomach!  The person who has been nominated / who's volunteered waits outside the door while the scene is set.  One person is going to be Nelson and another is the story's narrator.  The rest are simply the audience.  

The person who is going to be Nelson needs to be dressed appropriately in a heavy jacket.  He needs to put only one arm into the jacket and have the other sleeve hanging empty.  A pirate patch is also a vital prop.  Your last prop is a soft boiled egg with the top cut off.

The volunteer needs to be blind folded before coming into the room.  Stand the volunteer in front of "Nelson" and tell them that you are going to introduce them to Admiral Horatio Nelson.  Ask them to shake Nelson's left hand.  Explain that he cannot shake hands with his right hand because he lost that arm in battle, then let the volunteer feel the empty sleeve.  Tell the volunteer how brave Nelson was and how he won the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805, directing the fighting from his famous ship "The Victory".  Tell how Nelson had not only lost his arm, but also his right eye in another battle, then let the volunteer feel the eye patch on Nelson's face.  Explain that he has to wear an eye patch to cover his lost eye because it is so hideous. Now tell the audience that Nelson is going to show them what his face looks like without the patch, but the volunteer must not look.  
(At which point all the other guests must scream horribly!)  

Now tell the volunteer that although they can't see Nelson's missing eye, you are going to let them feel it instead.  At this point you guide the volunteer's finger to the soft boiled egg and poke it into it.  The audience can then enjoy the volunteer's reaction!

Costumes

www.marthastewart.com

There are some amazing ideas for costumes over at Martha Stewart's Halloween Central.  Be warned: This site is only for domestic divas.  There is so much there, the average frazzled mother is likely to become completely overwhelmed!

Invitations and Cards

I've created some pages of ideas for Halloween cards and party invitations.  It's always difficult to print straight onto card, so I suggest you print off the page you want, cut out the relevant picture and glue it to an A5 card folded in half.  You can then write your own message inside.

Halloween page 1
Halloween page 2
Halloween page 3
Halloween page 4

Pumpkin Carving

There is a very good tutorial to be found at Halloween Pumpkins
They have also generously included a number of free templates like the one below.

Copyright www.halloweenpumpkins.be

Recipes

As usual the BBC has come up with the best recipes, this time from their Good Food magazine website.  You'll find spooky spider cakes and that essential pumpkin pie recipe:  www.bbcgoodfood.com

There are also some good recipes, including a very simple Gingerbread Skeletons & Ghosts one at the baking goods company Supercook's website: www.supercook.co.uk/find-recipe-ideas/

The Pond Water Jelly recipe on the same site is so impressive it's almost too good for kids!
www.supercook.co.uk/find-recipe-ideas/pond-water-jelly-recipe

Wanda's Halloween Cookbook doesn't take itself too seriously and it has some really lovely recipes for Pumpkin Pie and easy Marshmallow Ghosts. 

The BBC website has lots of great recipe ideas for Halloween celebrations, the chocolate brownie one looks particularly delicious!  bbc.co.uk/food

If your kids are a bit worried about ghosts you'll find out everything you need to prove they're not real at:  science.howstuffworks.com             

Bonfire Night
5 November

Due to the fact that Lewes Bonfire Night is famous all over the world, as Sussex residents, we have an obligation to celebrate November 5th in style.  If you're reading this, your kids are undoubtedly too small for the anarchy that prevails in Lewes, so our Tinies and Tikes Celebrate pages have loads of ideas for how to celebrate Bonfire Night in your own home (and garden!).  There are also facts, quizzes and free printables about Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot for junior-school aged kids, links to Bonfire Night colouring pages and all sorts of other fun stuff, so do take a look.

If you're celebrating Bonfire Night at home, don't forget to stock up with sausages, baking potatoes, soup and marshmallows to toast on sticks - it wouldn't be a true Bonfire Party without those!  

Recipes

If you want to follow the American example for camp fire parties you could try 'Smores.  They get their name from the fact that everyone always wants some more!

You'll need:
A packet of Digestive biscuits
One large bar of chocolate
A large pack of old fashioned marshmallows (not the new fluffy kind)
Some kebab sticks

All you do is melt the marshmallows on a kebab stick in the fire, then sandwich them between 2 Digestive biscuits.  If you squeeze a square of chocolate in there too, it melts and goes a bit squishy as well.  Can't imagine why everyone always wants more! 

You can make easy Chocolate Sparklers by dipping chocolate finger biscuits into warm water for a second and then into a dish of and hundreds and thousands. The kids can help make them biscuits and they're bound to be a success!

For some more elaborate recipe ideas try:
www.hookerycookery.com/bfire-menu.htm   
www.fireworks.co.uk/party/recipes.html

Both of these have a recipe for Parkins, which are synonymous with Bonfire Night in the North of England.  They're full of oats and Golden Syrup, so they're always well-received.  The second link also has a recipe for Cointreau Hot Chocolate, which should ensure the grown ups have as much fun as the kids! 

BBC Good Food has lots of yummy recipes:  www.bbcgoodfood.com

There is also a nice simple Bonfire Warmer Soup recipe to be found here:
www.greatbritishkitchen.co.uk/recipebook
You should have most of the ingredients in your cupboards.

For filling vegetarian jacket potatoes try the recipe at:
www.vegsoc.org/cordonvert/recipes

Here are 10 Things You Didn't Know About Bonfire Night:
www.icons.org.uk/theicons/collection/bonfire-night

Just to be on the safe side, you may wish to download a copy of the Fireworks Safety Code:
www.berr.gov.uk/fireworks

Remembrance Sunday and Remembrance Day. 
8 & 11 November

I've made an entry in the Tikes Celebrate page (although it is obviously not a celebration).  This will, I hope, explain all about Poppy Day to youngsters.  I've only put it in the Tikes page, as it's too difficult for under 5s to understand.  Now when your kids have a 2 minute silence, or see stories on the news, I hope they will understand the relevance.

Stir Up Sunday 
Last Sunday before Advent

Stir up Sunday is the last Sunday before Advent.  To get a head start on Christmas preparations, this was traditionally the day when families prepared their Christmas pudding.  According to a recent survey, two thirds of British children have never stirred a Christmas pudding mix, so maybe it's time we revived the practice of making a Christmas pudding instead of just buying it.  There are lots of fun customs associated with Christmas pudding-making, such as making wishes. You'll find all these on the Tinies and Tikes Celebrate pages (along with links to good recipes).  Most people are likely to be cutting back on their spending this year, so perhaps this is a way of proving to ourselves that all the things we remember most fondly about our own childhood Christmases actually cost very little.

Thanksgiving
26 November

Once Halloween and Bonfire Night are over there seems very little to celebrate.  As November is such a depressing month, I've decided to start celebrating Thanksgiving (like they do in America).  This is really only a harvest festival-type celebration, something we British seem to have lost along the way.  It's an excuse to get together with your loved ones, eat a huge meal and be thankful for the wonderful things the year has brought.  (Without the commercialism and frantic present buying that make Christmas so stressful.)  I've found loads of fun Thanksgiving activities and recipes, which you'll find as usual on the Tinies and Tikes Celebrate pages.  I think we should forget our worries, just once in a while, and concentrate on all the good things we take for granted.  Anyway, who can resist the excuse to eat sweet potatoes with a marshmallow topping!!

Tree Dressing Weekend 
6 December

Copyright /www.commonground.org.uk/

A kind lady in our street (who has a very large tree in her front garden) invites all her friends and neighbours to add a decoration (preferably homemade) to her tree at this time each year.  Everyone then has a chat and a hot drink while they admire the now-very-festive tree.  This is a wonderful tradition that encourages creativity and community-spirit whilst also cheering up the local environment.  It might inspire you to start your own local tree dressing event.   www.commonground.org.uk

Christmas
25 December

Download your own FREE desktop Christmas tree to sit on your screen and sparkle festively!
www.get-xmas.com/

Take a digital photo of your child's face and this site will turn it into an animated elf.  
Alternatively you can select a random face instead.  You can then send it  to a friend, for whom the elf will do a little dance!  www.elfyourself.com 

For a quick nostalgia fix to get you in a Christmassy mood click on this link for the poem
"The Night Before Christmas"
www.christmas-tree.com/stories/nightbeforechristmas.html
There's a lovely spoof version here:  
Politically Correct Christmas Story

Make gorgeous origami decorations using the templates or by watching the animated instructions on:
origami-club.com

http://origami-club.com/en/

Anyone should be able to make a Christmas tree gift bag from these instructions at Familyfun.com

If you need to make any last minute Christmas cards, or your children have school projects to do over the holidays, this website is just perfect:
www.dorlingkindersley-uk.co.uk/static/cs/uk/11/clipart/home.html
Those lovely people at Dorling Kindersley have decided to make their beautiful photographic images available to all as clipart for home or school use.  The images are filed in categories (Christmas, history, animals etc),  so you can find the image you need and copy it.  Homework will be looking very professional from now on!

New Year's Eve
31 December

Hallmark has some free ecards for New Year at:
www.hallmark.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet

If you're hosting a party for adults or family with older kids, the old parlour game "Who is it?" always goes down well.  If you remember the sports quiz "They Think It's All Over", this is the last game that was played in every episode of the show.  You can buy (quite expensive) card games to play this, or you can just print off the following 6 pages, cut out each of the names, pop them all in a box or bag and play a more traditional version of the game!

Who is it?1 
Who is it?2 
Who is it?3 
Who is it?4 
Who is it?5 
Who is it?6

The easiest way to play is to divide your guests into two teams. One of the players takes names out of the box one at a time and describes, to the rest of his team, the person whose name appears.  They can use words, catch phrases or even charades to get the meaning across as quickly as possible.  Keep going for one minute and, at the end of the minute, the team keeps all the names they guessed correctly.  Those that they couldn't guess are returned to the box.  If the reader doesn't think he can describe a name he can "pass" and return it to the box, but he can only pass twice on his turn.  Repeat for the opposing team.  Make sure each member of both teams has a turn to be the reader.  Carry on playing until you run out of names or enthusiasm.  The team that guesses the most names wins.

Here's a lovely idea for frazzled parents on New Year's Eve, it's a Pyjama Party and sleepover which instantly solves the problem of guests not being able to drink and drive.  The details are to be found at: http://home.ivillage.com/holiday/0,,8jmf72x5-2,00.html
The author of this article is not really thinking of including kids, but if you got together with just a few families you get on well with and adapted it a bit, it could be great fun!

An interesting activity for kids would be to give each of them a smallish candle and ask them to push a pin through it.  Apparently the phrase "you could hear a pin drop" comes from the tradition of pushing  a pin through a candle, which when burned down, dropped out at midnight.  See whose pin drops out closest to the time (and see if you can hear it) - this might be one way of getting a quiet moment! 

There were some great ideas in an American magazine called "Family Fun".  These included getting the kids to make big cardboard placards with each of the numbers 1-10 on them to hold up one after the other at the countdown until midnight.  Just before the countdown, play Hunt the Clock  (if the clock has a nice loud tick it adds a whole new dimension to the game).  You can make your own New Year's Balloons by filling balloons with homemade confetti (colored paper cut out with a hole punch) before blowing them up and tying them.  These can then be burst at midnight for a colourful explosion of confetti.  The last idea was a very clever one.  Encourage the kids to write a New Year's resolution on a piece of paper, then put each of these into the appropriate Christmas stocking before storing them.  This way they will not be seen again until almost 12 months have gone by, plus they will be something else to enjoy in the run up to Christmas.

Play End of the Year Charades by compiling a list of important events, songs, movies or books from 2008 and getting your guests to act them out.  Most of the newspapers have already started printing such lists, so you shouldn't be short of ideas.

When the time comes to all link hands and sing "Auld Lang Syne" be prepared by printing off the lyrics from this website:  http://www.rampantscotland.com/songs/blsongs_syne.htm
There is even an MP3 version of the song sung by Kenneth McKellar - now there's a blast from the past!

After all the midnight celebrations, make sure you have someone tall, dark and handsome to "First Foot" your house (by going out and coming in again!)  According to Scottish Hogmanay tradition, your first visitor of the year will determine how lucky you will be.  The most luck is brought by a tall, dark handsome man bringing a gift of either a loaf of bread or a lump of coal.  (That way you can be sure of being warm and well fed throughout the New Year).   

Burns' Night
25 January

This year is the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns, so if you've ever fancied having a Burns Night Party - now is the time to do it.  As parties go, it is one of the easiest to organize because there is a long established format to follow.  You don't need a piper to herald the arrival of the haggis and you certainly don't need to be Scottish - all you need is a Scottish themed meal and a bunch of friends who are willing to try something new.

As it's a special year Homecoming Scotland are inviting everyone to take part in the global celebration and they've produced a downloadable pack with all the menus, invitations, poems, toasts and advice that you should need.  Just register here: www.burnssupper2009.com

You should also look at this BBC page, which is packed full of ideas and info.  The link is www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/history/burnsnight/suppers
You'll find everything you need to know, from info about Robert Burns to how to cook haggis and how to 
address it (to find out what addressing the haggis means, you'll need to look at the website!)

Valentine's Day
14 February

You probably know by now that Valentine's day is on February 14 and the day is named after a 3rd Century Roman priest called Valentine.  He became the patron saint of lovers and it is customary to you send something anonymously to your sweetheart on this day.  Look in the Celebrate pages that relate to the ages of your children for ideas and activities to do on this day.  

For yourself:

For some nice ideas for how to celebrate Valentine's day on a budget try:
http://www.holidays.net/amore/budget.htm

Girls, in case your man needs a nudge in the right direction - the website vouchercodes has 25% off selected Valentines products at Thorntons you just print off the voucher from this page:
www.vouchercodes.co.uk/printable-vouchers

Shrove Tuesday - Pancake Day!
16 February

Shrove Tuesday in the Christian calendar is the last day before Lent.  (Lent is the 40 days before Easter).  

As Lent was a time of abstinence and fasting, Shrove Tuesday became the day when all the fats, cream and sugar needed to be used up.  (In France, Shrove Tuesday is called Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday).  This is why we traditionally eat pancakes on this day.  

In Scarborough they celebrate Shrove Tuesday by skipping (with skipping ropes) for a mile along the seafront - maybe we should introduce this custom to Eastbourne!  You can watch a video of this event on this Scarborough Evening News page (just click on the green video arrow):  www.scarborougheveningnews.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk/food

You'll find a classic Delia Smith recipe for pancakes at:  www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/

There is also Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Banana and Toffee variation at:
www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/

St Patrick's Day
17 March

St Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland and the 17 March is his national day.  St Patrick was captured by pirates when he was a boy and spent six years as a slave before he was able to escape.  He trained as a missionary and went to Ireland to convert the Irish to Christianity.  Ireland is famous for not having any snakes on the island and the Irish believe that it was St Patrick who drove them all away.

Although St Patrick's Day isn't generally celebrated in England it is a great day to tell stories about leprechauns and to make crafts around the themes of rainbows and pots of gold, so it's a lovely themed event for small kids.  If you're feeling inspired you could even have a family party to celebrate.  You'll find lots of themed activities on our Tinies and Tikes Celebrate pages and you can make it as simple or as elaborate as you like.  You never know, you might have so much fun it becomes an annual tradition.

St Patrick's Day Party (there isn't much else to celebrate in March, to be honest.)  Invitations, crafts and games, can be found at: http://party.kaboose.com

A very simple game would be to hide chocolate gold coins around the house and let your guests hunt for them.  You could call it a Leprechaun's Treasure Hunt and perhaps tell a little story about the leprechaun who lost it.  

For a recipe to make St Patrick's day cookies visit:
www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland

The simplest St Patrick's Day dinner is of course Irish Stew and the simplest recipes to follow are always Delia Smith's, so here's the link:
www.deliaonline.com/recipes

Don't forget to share with your guests this lovely Irish drinking toast:

"May your glass be ever full.
May the roof over your head be always strong.
And may you be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you're dead."

Have fun!  

Mother's Day
14 March

I'm sure you're hoping for breakfast in bed and funny little hand-made gifts from the kids, but don't forget your own mother - it's her day too!

It's taken a massive credit crunch to bring people to their senses and to the understanding that thoughtful, meaningful gifts are infinitely more valuable than expensive ones.  The two gifts which my mum has loved the most cost me a bit of imagination and time, but very little money.

The first sounds very easy but takes a lot of careful thought.  
Let's call it a Happy Thoughts Jar.  

      
It's simply an empty jam jar filled with your mum's favourite sweets, interspersed with lots of little pieces of folded paper.  The sweets bit should be easy.  It's the bits of paper that will require thought.  Each of the pieces of paper should have the words "I love you because ..." written on them.  After that it's up to you to come up with as many personal and quirky habits that your mother has, which endear her to you.  It could be the fact that she is always cheerful in the mornings, or that she never minded you leaving your wet towel on the bed, or that she always ruins the punch line when she tells a joke.  In between the mundane things, try to slip a few really significant thoughts like "you never let me down when I needed you" or "you always made me feel special" or "you showed me how to work hard and be successful".  It's difficult to think of a number of truly personal things to say in one go, so put the project to the back of your mind for a few days.  Every now and again a new idea will pop up and you can note it down.  If you want a really big pile of paper slips, enlist the help of any brothers and sisters who are happy to join in.  

When you give this gift to your mum, tell her that whenever she feels low, she should take a sweet out of the jar and read one of the little slips of paper.  It's best if she can look at the little slips only one at a time, as that has a far more satisfying impact than reading them all at once.  My mum managed to make hers last for months (I have two sisters who helped me write the slips).  When she had read them all, she put them back in the jar and started all over again!  

The interesting thing about this project is that, although we are well aware our mothers are far from perfect, it's surprising just how special they are to us, especially when we really think about them.  Life's too busy to do this very often, so I can guarantee that this present  brings as much joy to the giver as the recipient.

The second meaningful gift is an Emergency Rations Box. 

This is more of a light-hearted present and, again, it's for lifting the spirits.  Find a nice big brown box, the sides should be about A4 paper sized.  Next try to think of all the occasions when your mum might be feeling low, such as a 'Bad Hair Day' or 'A Long Walk Home in the Rain' or 'The Mid-Week Blues' or "Waiting in for the Plumber" or simply 'Pining for her Childhood Days'.  Then think of which tiny gift would cheer her up most in these moments.  On a bad hair day, she would enjoy an expensive shampoo sample or hair treatment; after a walk home in the rain, she'd need some nice bubble bath and maybe a sachet of her favourite hot chocolate drink (plus some tiny marshmallows!); for the mid-week blues a cinema voucher would cheer her up; whilst waiting for the plumber she might enjoy a magazine and a bar of chocolate.  Old-fashioned sweets and a favourite comic should remind her of her childhood.  You know your own mum best, so try to think up some really personal little treats and a name for the occasions when she would most enjoy them.  Then all you need to do is wrap each gift in brown paper.  On each of the parcels stick a label saying "Only to be opened in the event of ...." and pop it into the box.  You then need to seal the box with parcel tape and write on the top:  "Emergency Rations: Only to be Opened In Moments of Direst Need" (or words to that effect).   This can be a big (quite expensive) present or a small fun one depending upon the occasion.  It makes a great birthday present if you really take time over it and fill the box to the brim.  Again, my mum managed to make hers last for almost a year and said the best part was handling the parcels and trying to guess what was in each one before the occasion arose when she could open it.  (Mums are really not that different to your kids - it's the little things that bring the greatest joy!)

If you are a creative sort of person (and have a bit of time - or love your mother very much) have a look at the Martha Stewart website for some beautiful things to make and do.
www.marthastewart.com/mothers-day
Those of us who are still a bit frazzled around the edges can at least look and dream about the day when we'll have time to do such exquisite things!

Every mother would be grateful for this gift - especially as it's home-made.  Find out how to make these lovely (and simple to make) truffles as the Disney website:
http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/mothers-day-truffles-683780/
(Heavy cream is just the American way of saying double cream, by the way.)

British Summer Time begins
28 March

Remember it's: Spring forward and Fall back.  So put your clocks forward before you go to bed (early because you are losing an hour somewhere!)