A guest post by Emilie Moore, Washington Revels Teaching Artist.
As a Washington Revels Teaching Artist having grown up in Revels, passing on Revels traditions to kids feels quite natural to me. Each workshop explores cultures and traditions through movement, song, and story– we get to play while we learn, and we grow and change along with the changes of the season. Revels emphasizes the significance of each season and its rituals, and as a Teaching Artist, I get to turn my focus to these things too.
As autumn arrives and summer bids us adieu, our Revels Kids workshops will be a journey– we will usher in the harvest and start to say goodbye to the sun. We’ll visit France, Germany, Poland and Russia before making our way westward to end in Ireland and Britain, experiencing Samhain in Ireland, St. Martin’s Day in Germany and Bonfire Night in Britain, among many other holidays and traditions.
I’m excited to relive things I did as a child: constructing lanterns, pumpkin-carving, making “thankful heart” felt hand-warmers, creating harvest-inspired nature tables, and crafting watercolor stars and sun-catchers — just a few of the crafts that we will use to celebrate and honor autumn in many cultures. I’m just as excited for our weekly nature walks– they help us reconnect with mother earth.
I love experiencing traditions that I learned about as a child in Washington Revels through my Revels Kids eyes; I love witnessing that fascination and that thirst first hand. We sing songs and play games that were brought into my life because of Revels, and sharing these gifts with them brings me immense joy.