Learn about Time for Daylight Saving Time

Daylight Saving Time is coming for a lot of North America and Europe in March, so it’s a fine time to talk about time! If you’re wondering, Wikipedia has a post all about which countries (or parts of countries) observe DST and when, as well as a timeline of when different countries the formerly observed it abolished the practice.

Of course if you’re talking about time, you need a clock, so first you can make a paper plate clock with this tutorial from Mum in the Madhouse. (Aside: is it true some kids aren’t taught how to read an analog clock anymore? It seems so foundational to how we teach time I can’t imagine it’s true, but I’ve heard people on the Internet say so.)

While you’ve got the paper plates out you can make your own sundial with these instructions from Krokotak. So fun!

Happy Homeschool Nest has a bunch of great free printables to do with telling time, including sheets on how to tell time, parts of a clock, matching time on an analog and a digital clock and more. You can grab these printables by signing up for email updates on their site (scroll all the way down).

Play with time and learn how to read a clock and write the time with these clock playdough mats from This Reading Mama.

And if you want to read about time, what it is, how it’s different on Earth and other planets, how people have tracked time through history, what philosophers have thought about time and more, check out The Book of Time by Clive Gifford. This information-packed book also includes information on how different clocks work, the history of alarm clocks, how accurately measuring time allows GPS to work, and of course time zones and Daylight Saving Time.

It also covers geologic time, how we measure the age of very old things like trees and fossils, life spans of various creatures on earth, body clocks and what happens in your body through the day and through a lifetime, animals’ concepts of time, and how often certain natural occurrences happen.

There’s also some information about space time, if time travel is possible, paradoxes and the future of time. It’s a fun book for kids who are interested in time and to get them (and maybe you, too) thinking about time in different ways.

About the book: 96 pages, hardcover, published 2023 by words & pictures, suggested retail price $24.99.

Telling Time with Apple Clocks

Make an Easy Clock for Teaching Time

Teach Kids to Tell Time with Books

Georgia is a state in the United States, of course, but Georgia is also the name of a country that was formerly part of the Soviet Union and now is considered part of Europe. Let’s learn more about the country of Georgia.

Georgia Basics

Georgia is situated on the Black Sea and bordered by Russia, Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan. It is home to almost 4 million people, most of whom live in the capital, Tbilisi.

The country is 26,900 square miles, or 69,700 square kilometers.

People have lived in the area now known as Georgia since prehistoric times. It requested support from Russia to defend against hostile neighbors in the early 1800s, which led to Russia slowly annexing their land. Though they were briefly free after the Russian Revolution, the country was part of the Soviet Union until 1991. Russia invaded Georgia in 2008 and still occupies regions of the country.

The word Georgia referring to the region was first seen on an Italian map in 1320, but there’s a lot of debate as to where the word came from.

The majority of people living in Georgia today are Georgians, and they speak Georgian, an indigenous language that is apparently unrelated to any other language family in the world. Most people there practice Georgian Orthodox Christianity.

Georgia is a representative democracy with a president and prime minister, as well as a parliament.

Georgia National Symbols

The Georgian flag has a white background with a large red cross and a smaller red cross in each quadrant made by the big cross. It’s also known as the Five Cross Flag and was a symbol of the Kingdom of Georgia that was repopularized in the late 20th century, though it didn’t become the official national flag until 2004.

The national anthem is “Tavisupleba” or “Freedom,” which was also approved in 2004. The music was adapted from two Georgian operas.

The coat of arms features a lion on each side of a shield with an image of St. George, with a crown above that. The ribbon includes the national motto, which, translated to English, is “Strength is in unity.”

St George is the patron saint of Georgia. (Check out crafts and activities for St. George’s Day.)

Georgia Learning Activities

Twinkl has more about the history of Georgia and facts about the country.

Learn about the giant head sculptures of Sno in this post form Atlas Obscura. They also have a good post about Prometheus Cave, which locals claim is where Prometheus was chained as punishment for stealing fire from the gods.

Check out the giant plane tree in Telavi, an ancient tree that stands 150 feet (or 46 meters) tall and is the largest tree in Georgia.

This one is for the parents, but you might want to learn more about the history of wine making in Georgia, which is considered the birthplace of wine making. Evidence of grapes and grape seeds in the region dates back to 6000 BCE.

Georgia is so proud of its wine making history the the famous Mother of Georgia statue in Tbilisi holds a sword in one hand and a cup of wine in the other.

Check out this tour of Tbilisi from a local.

It’s a little tricky to search for Georgia specific activities and get the nation, not the state, but this list from Teachers Pay Teachers is pretty good after the first one.

Khachapuri, a Georgian cheese bread, is a popular dish that kids should love. Try this recipe from the Kitchn.

Have you read?

Georgia Basics

Georgia National Symbols

Georgia Learning Activities

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