Indholdsfortegnelse for April 2022 i Faces People, Places, and World Culture for Kids and Children

The sun is rising in the east early on the morning of the first day of spring at Teotihuacan, Mexico. Many people have climbed to the top of the Mayan Pyramid of the Sun. Some are dressed in white with red scarves. Now they stand with their arms outstretched, hoping to receive spiritual energy from the rising sun. Some chant, some dance, and others light incense. As the sun finally rises from behind the Apan Mountains to the east, its red rays flood the pyramid and color the area and the people with a reddish glow. Why have people come to Teotihuacan on this specific day? It is a celebration of the vernal equinox. Also called the spring equinox, it happens when the sun shines directly on the equator and…

Easter is a holiday that is celebrated all over the world as a religious and secular holiday. In the United States, Easter often means chocolate bunnies, decorated eggs, and the Easter Bunny, as well as dressing up in new clothes and going to church services. But other parts of the world have their own unique traditions for celebrating Easter. Guatemala: La Semana Santa Semana Santa, which means “Holy Week,” is celebrated in many Spanish-speaking countries. It includes many special traditions, such as Las alfombras, which means “carpets” in English. These are beautiful, patterned pathways created on the streets, and they look like carpets, but they are made from colored sawdust, fruits, vegetables, flowers, and sand. Some can be a half mile long, while others are just a few feet. These…

Easter and Passover are two religious holidays celebrated in the spring. Kylie and Ben talked about family traditions surrounding both of them. Dear Ben, Hi! My name is Kylie. I’m a junior in high school and a writer for FACES. Can you believe our moms have been friends since they were in sixth grade? Thank you for pen paling with me. For this month's issue on spring traditions, I am so excited to learn more about the Jewish holiday of Passover from you and about your family's traditions that come with it. To begin, I know Passover takes place in the spring. Is there a set date each year, or does it rotate? If the Kylie date changes every year, how is it determined? My family celebrates both Easter and…

Have you ever seen a street lined with cherry trees in full bloom? It is one of the first signs of spring. If a slight breeze picks up, the trees let go of their pale pink blossoms and cover the ground with them. For centuries, cherry blossoms have inspired artists around the world. Vincent Van Gogh painted almond blossoms, which are not quite cherries, but are very similar. Cherry blossoms are a major theme in Japanese art. Washington, D.C., holds a National Cherry Blossom Festival every year. Here’s how to make your own beautiful cherry blossom painting. STEP 1—Paint the Sky The sky is the background of the painting. It can be painted a variety of ways, but perhaps the simplest is a sky blue. Mix a small amount of…

People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.”—Rogers Hornsby, Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Winter may seem darker, colder, and bleaker if you are a baseball fan. For four long months, fans dream of warm summer nights at the ballpark cheering on their favorite team. And finally, when it feels like winter will never end, fans hear the two words that instill hope in even the most casual fan—spring training. Every team shows up undefeated at spring training and all of them still have a shot at reaching the World Series. The sun is shining, players are relaxed, and for baseball fans, winter is over. It’s time to play ball.…

Eggs have been a symbol of fertility since ancient times, when they represented the rebirth of new life during the spring equinox and the arrival of a new season after a long dark winter. In the Christian religion, eggs symbolize Jesus and his resurrection. Because eggs are such an important symbol of Easter, it’s natural that many Easter traditions around the world have something to do with eggs. In the city of Zenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina, there is a special celebration known as Cimburijada, which marks both the Easter holiday and the beginning of spring. But what this festival is may surprise you. Cimburijada is also known as the Festival of Scrambled Eggs! This festival takes place every spring in a park on the Bosnia River. Thousands of people,…

"There are few animals which have played so important a part in the history of the world than the earthworm.” —Charles Darwin Earthworms signal the coming of warmer, longer days. Each year in the spring as the soil thaws down to level of the resting worms, their bodies start to work again. The worms begin to eat and make their way to the surface. On cool, moist days, robins pluck the wriggling redworms from the ground, and life explodes into action. Alhough not high on the “cute and cuddly” meter, earthworms help our ecosystem stay healthy. The reddish-gray earthworm originally came from Europe but is now common in North America and western Asia. Alhough some may describe the simple soil-dweller as slimy, the small ring-like segments, called annuli, which make…

Japan is a land of tradition, and families both in the countryside and in the city celebrate the festivals of Girls’ Day and Boys’ Day (Children’s Day) each year. Girls’ Day, better known as Hina Matsuri (Doll Festival), began more than 300 years ago and takes place on March 3. Boys’ Day, more recently called Children’s Day (Kodomo no Hi), is observed on May 5 and is considered a national holiday. For hundreds of years, Japanese parents have used these days to ask the Shinto kami (gods) to bless their children with good health, happiness, and success. Parents with sons also ask that their boys grow up strong. Several weeks before Boys’ Day, parents attach colorful carp (fish) windsocks to a pole outside the house. The wide mouth of each…

» LEMCO Park (formerly McKechnie Field) in Bradenton, Florida, is the oldest spring training ballpark still in use. Built in 1923, it has been the spring home of the Pittsburg Pirates since 1969. » The longest homerun ever recorded (587 feet) was hit by Babe Ruth during a spring training game in 1919. » Delayed! At the time of printing, spring training 2022 had been delayed due to ongoing negotiations between owners and the players association. The new tentative start date is March 5.…

Characters: Storyteller Chief Red Jacket Bright Sun: The chief’s sun Black Raven: a hunter Otter Tooth: a hunter Shaking Snow: a hunter Robin Storyteller: Hanoi. Come, gather ’round my campfire. Sit on warm skins and listen to the tale of a brave young boy and a friendly robin. Chief: The leaves are falling from the trees. It is time to go north to look for moose. Shaking Snow, Black Raven, and Otter Tooth, you are experienced hunters. You will take my son, Bright Sun, on his first overnight hunt. Storyteller: The four hunters set off. After several days, they came to a small lake. Black Raven: It is getting colder. Let us build a lodge to keep out the cold wind. Bright Sun, find some sticks and reeds to strap…

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