Celebrate National Twins Day

Did you know that August 5 is celebrated as National Twins Day? More generally, the first weekend of the month of August is Twins Days, which is a festival held in Twinsburg, Ohio, each year to celebrate twins of all types. The event has taken place since 1976 and routinely attracts up to 2,000 pairs of twins. (Dressing alike is, apparently heavily encouraged but not required.)

If you want to celebrate twins at home or at school, check out some books about twins! This collection was gathered by Twin Mom and More, and includes a nice collection of picture books for twins and about twins. These would be great to give at a baby shower for a twin mom, if you happen to know one of those.

Maybe you’ll want to learn some fun facts about twins as well. About 3 percent of births are twins. Identical twins develop from a single egg and share all of the same DNA, while fraternal twins develop from two separate eggs, so they do not share all their DNA. Twins are more likely to be born premature, and they’re also more likely to be left handed (22 percent of twins compared to 10 percent of single babies are left handed).

I couldn’t find a lot in the way of activities for Twin Day, but of course lots of matching games would be appropriate. Childhood 101 and Activity Mom both have good collections of printable matching games if you don’t already have a collection of your own.

You could also practice doubling numbers or dividing things in half. Stories by Storie has some great ideas for games, songs and other activities for learning about doubling numbers that would be fun for your very own twin day.

Add in a little throwback TV and introduce your kids to “Rugrats” while you eat your Twin Pops and your twins day will be complete!

[Image by 1035352 from Pixabay]

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Bastille Day Activities for Kids

The celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is important throughout Mexico and other parts of the world. Her feast day is Dec. 12, and the celebrations honoring her appearance to Juan Diego in 1531 begin a few days before that.

Whether you celebrate yourself or just want to share about the celebration at home or in your classroom, Las Mañanitas: The Beautiful Celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a good place to start. The book, by Ernesto Joel Vega Rosales and Jeanette Gonzalez Seneviratne, with illustrations by Dana Sanmar, tells the story of a family’s celebration of the feast day in both English and Spanish.

They prepare with a novena, which is nine days of prayers and preparations. The children, Lucia and Pablo, are given special outfits made by their grandmother that look like what Juan Diego might have worn when he saw Our Lady. The book describes the prayers that are made each day, such as a prayer for respect for life, for families and for the indigenous people of the Americas, to name a few.

As told in the book, Juan Diego was a native Mexican born near modern day Mexico City. His given name was Cuaauhtlatoatzin, which means “He who speaks like an eagle.” When he converted to Christianity his name was changed to Juan Diego, and as he walked to church he passed a hill called Tepeyac. One day he heard the birds singing especially beautifully and a voice called him to go to the top of the hill.

There he saw Our Lady of Guadalupe, who asked him to tell the bishop she wanted a chapel built in her name at the foot of the hill. The bishop asked for a sign that Juan Diego really saw her, and later she had him collect flowers that she blessed and take them to the bishop. When Juan Diego dropped the flowers, an image of Our Lady could be seen on his cloak, which is still on display in her basilica to this day.

The feast day is celebrated as mañanitas, which includes singing, indigenous music and dancing, and children presenting flowers to Our Lady. Juan Diego is remembered today as being humble, brave and faithful, and was the first indigenous American made a saint.

The book is colorful and tells the story in a clear way, and it’s fun to have it both in English and Spanish if you teach Spanish or speak Spanish at home or in the classroom. It’s a great way to learn the basics of the celebration and the story of Juan Diego and why he is still remembered today.

About the book: 40 pages, paperback, published 2024 by Loyola Press. Suggested retail price $14.99.

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