Celebrate National Lollipop Day

I’m all for celebrating silly holidays any time of year, but I think it’s especially fun to note these days in the summer, even more so when they are food related.

For reasons I’m unsure of, July 20 is National Lollipop Day, so let’s celebrate with some sweet science and a few printables (not to mention some lollies to eat).

Want to make lollipops from scratch? Steam Powered Family has the recipe, just be aware you might need some special equipment like a lollipop mold and a good candy thermometer. Also be really careful with this one and little kids because hot sugar can burn.

Rock candy is sort of lollipop adjacent, though they take a few days to make while the crystals grow. Get the how to from Happiness is Homemade.

With or without a mold you can also make your own lollipops out of Jolly Ranchers or another hard sugary candy, which is a lot easier and faster to do with littles (and safer, too, because you can melt them in the oven). One Little Project has the lowdown on how to make these.

Whether you make them yourself or buy them, you can also do some experiments with lollipops. Make predictions and observe how lollipops dissolve with this experiment from Fantastic Fun and Learning, or paint with lollies with this idea from No Time for Flash Cards.

How about some lollipop themed crafts? I love this simple lollipop ornament project from Happy Hooligans. They’re so colorful and easy to make and would be great for your holiday tree, or use them in a pretend play sweet shop.

Or cut our a paper spiral and use it to decorate a paper lollipop, as in this one from 10 Minutes of Quality Time (the spiral printable is included). I also love the perler bead lollies from One Crazy Mom. You can make these a solid color or stripes, or use all those mixed up beads to make a totally random design.

Round out your day of lollipops with some printables. I found lollipop coloring pages at The Art Kit Blog and Twisty Noodle (that one’s a color by number) and dot coloring pages at Free Preschool Coloring Pages. You can also do a lollipop color matching activity with this cut and paste printable from Mama’s Reflections.

Lots of Americans seem to think that May 5 is Mexican Independence Day, but that holiday actually falls on Sept. 16.

May 5 is the celebration of the Battle of Puebla, in which the Mexicans defeated the French in 1862. Independence Day marks the beginning of their fight for independence from Spain in 1810. That was the day of what’s known as El Grito de Dolores, or the cry of Dolores, for when the Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rang the church bells at his church in Dolores and declared that Mexico should be free from Spanish rule.

They would fight for their freedom until 1821 when they finally gained independence.

Fabulous Classroom has a little of the history and ideas for celebrating the holiday for all age groups. There’s also a link to a good video in that post about the real story of Mexican Independence Day.

Twinkl also has a good tops about the history and different activities, discussion ideas, crafts and foods that can be incorporated into lessons at school or used at home.

I also found a few pins that no longer link to a website but include good information on Mexican Independence Day, including some questions for students to answer based on the reading. You can find more printables and questions for kids from TX Homeschool Mama on Etsy (also available in Spanish).

You can find a lot more paid resources about Mexican Independence Day at Teachers Pay Teachers.

Mexican flag crafts are a fun option for celebrating Mexican Independence Day (though the current iteration of their flag has only been in use since 1968). Kids Activities Blog has a free Mexican flag printable and a few different ideas for decorating it including dot markers and torn tissue paper.

You can also find some great Mexican crafts at Red Ted Art. The post includes all sorts of Mexican inspired projects including Day of the Dead crafts, Frida Kahlo pinatas and upcycled musical instruments. I love the giant paper flowers they shared from Honestly WTF.

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