May Day Crafts

Guests at May Day festivities are often "wreathed" -- sometimes wearing crowns of green leaves. Here's how to make a Glorious Garland.

What You'll Need:

Leaves

Stems

Flowers

Go on a leaf hunt. Look for a bunch of the same kind of leaves with strong stems. Break off the stems, but hold on to them. Overlap the leaves and push the broken-off stems through the leaves as if they were pins to hold them together.

Make a chain of leaves. When your leaf chain is long enough to fit around your head, fasten the final leaf to the first one. Add flowers by slipping their stems under the stem-pins on the top side of the leaves.

(Warning! If you live in an area where poison ivy or poison oak grow, make sure you know what they look like before you go leaf hunting. They could give you a terrible rash.)

May Day is a special holiday to honor the return of spring. Check out the next page to learn how to create and decorate May Day baskets to leave as surprise gifts for your neighbors.

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This May Day consider making May Day baskets and giving them to neighbors as gifts. Here's how to make a May Day basket for your neighbor.

What You'll Need:

Poster board

Pencil

Ruler

Wallpaper with spring pattern

White paste

Stapler

Fresh flowers

Draw a circle 5 inches across and a strip 10x1 inches on the poster board. Cut them out. Use the poster board circle and strip as a pattern. Lay them on the back of the wallpaper. Trace around them.

You will need two wallpaper circles and two wallpaper strips for each basket. Cover one side of your poster board circle with glue, and glue a wallpaper circle to it with the pretty side up.

Cover one side of your poster board strip with glue, and glue a wallpaper strip to it, pretty side up. Turn the strip over, and glue the other wallpaper strip to the other side.

Lay your circle on the table wallpaper-side-down. Center the strip, and glue it across the middle of the circle. Glue the last wallpaper circle pretty-side-up on top of the strip. Turn it over.

Pull the ends of the strip together to make a handle. (The sides of your basket will curl up.) Staple the handle together at the top.

May Day is a special holiday to honor the return of spring. Explore the next page to learn how to create and decorate Robin Hood hats to wear to a May Day celebration.

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May Day crafts are fun for kids to create, and these easy-to-make Robin Hood hats set them off on a game of make-believe in the back yard.

What You'll Need:

Measuring tape

Pencil

Paper

Green felt

Scissors

Needle

Green thread

Feather

Small safety pin

Using the measuring tape, measure around your head and add one inch. On a piece of paper, draw a line half as long as your measurement.

From the middle of your line, measure up nine inches, and make a dot. Draw a semicircle (half circle) from the end of the line, through the top dot, to the end of the other side of the line. This half circle is your hat pattern.

Stack two pieces of green felt, and pin your pattern to them. Cut along the pattern. Stitch or staple 1/2-inch in from the edge -- only along the half circle.

Turn up a one-inch brim. Pin a feather to the side of your Robin Hood hat. Gather all your merry friends, and head for Sherwood Forest.

May Day is a special holiday to honor the return of spring. Explore the next page to learn how to create and organize hoop races for your May Day celebration.

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In the past, children used to celebrate May Day by having hoop races -- now you can, too. Read on to learn how to make May Day hoops, and then invite your friends and family over to join the races.

What You'll Need:

Plastic hoop (hula hoop)

Ribbon

Small bells

12-inch wooden dowel

Use a plastic hoop and decorate it the way children did hundreds of years ago.

Cut 6-inch lengths of thin ribbon. Tie as many ribbons as you can to the hoop, all the way around. Make sure the knots are on the inside of the hoop so they won't get in the way when the hoop rolls.

Tie a tiny bell to the end of every third or fourth ribbon.

Practice rolling your May Day hoop by touching it with the dowel. How fast can you go? Invite your friends to a race!

May Day is a special holiday to honor the return of spring. On the next page, find out how to construct and play the popular English May Day game Nine Men's Morris -- and then invite friends and family over for some fun.

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Nine Men's Morris was one of the most popular May Day games in England. Now you can learn how to make and play this fun game.

What You'll Need:

Large cardboard square

Marker

9 black stones

9 white stones

Coin

Copy the Morris board (as seen in the illustration) onto a piece of cardboard.

Each player starts with nine stones of one color. Flip a coin to see who moves first. Take turns putting the stones on the dots on the Morris board one at a time. You can put a stone on any vacant dot.

The goal is to make a "mill" -- three of your stones together on any line. Each time you make a mill you get to take one of your opponent's pieces. If your opponent forms a mill, they get to take one of yours.

Pieces in a mill are safe -- they can't be taken. When all the stones have been placed on the board, the goal is to create new mills by taking turns moving the stones.

A stone can be moved one space along any line, but there can't be a stone already sitting on the dot you move to.

The game ends when one player has just two pieces left or when one player is unable to move.

Hawaiians celebrate May Day by making and exchanging various floral crafts. Continue on to the next page to find out how to make a beautiful May Day colorful lei.

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Many people around the world create floral May Day crafts to celebrate the holiday. In Hawaii, people celebrate May Day by exchanging floral leis.

What You'll Need:

Yarn

Scissors

Construction paper

Pencil

Hole punch

Pony beads or any large beads

Tape (optional)

Cut a length of yarn to hang loosely around your neck (make sure you cut it a little longer than you want it so you have room to tie the ends of the yarn together).

Cut colorful flower shapes out of construction paper. (If you want flowers that will stand up to a little more wear and tear, make them out of craft foam; use tissue paper for more delicate flowers.) Punch a hole in the center of each flower.

To put your lei together, tie a knot at one end of the piece of yarn. String 6 to 10 beads onto the yarn (this will be the part of the lei that touches the back of your neck).

Then alternate flowers and beads however you want. If you have a hard time stringing the beads onto the yarn, wrap a small piece of tape around the end of the yarn to stiffen it.

Once you get the design you want and the yarn is almost full of flowers and beads, end just as you started, with 6 to 10 beads. Tie the end in a knot. Then tie the two ends of the yarn together, and wear your lei with pride.

Continue on to the next page to learn how to create and decorate a May "Day-sy" frame. It makes a great gift.

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A fun May Day craft for kids to do is to make May "Day-sy" frames. (Adult help is needed for this craft.) Here's how to make a May "Day-sy" frame.

What You'll Need:

Wood frame

3 yards lightweight ribbon, 1/2-inch wide

Low-temperature glue gun and glue sticks

Scissors

Pink and white silk daisies

Photo

Heavy-duty clear packing tape (optional)

Take apart the wood frame, and set aside the frame backing and the glass. Glue one end of the ribbon to the top middle of the back side of the frame.

Wrap the ribbon around the frame, overlapping the ribbon edges to hide the wood. Pull the ribbon taut, but make sure there is enough give so that the frame backing will still fit in the frame.

When the frame is completely covered, cut the ribbon and glue the end to the back of the frame.

Lay the frame right side up on a flat surface. Position the daisies as desired on the front of the frame. Once you're happy with the design, glue the flowers in place.

Press the glass back into place, position the photo inside, and fit the frame backing into place. If the backing no longer fits, use heavy-duty clear packing tape to secure the backing to the frame.

May Day flower cones are traditionally left as a surprise on a neighbor's door as a springtime greeting. On the next page, learn how to make one of these special surprise gifts.

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May Day crafts are fun to make, but this one is also fun to give away. These flower cones are traditionally left as a surprise on someone's door as a springtime greeting. Here's how to make your own May Day Flower Cone for that special someone.

What You'll Need:

Decorated paper

Glue

Hole punch

Ribbon

Paper towel

Plastic bag

Fresh flowers

Roll a piece of pretty paper into a cone shape, and glue the edges together to seal it. When the glue has dried, punch two holes on opposite sides of the cone.

Tie the ends of a piece of ribbon through each of the holes to make a handle. Gather some fresh flowers. Put a wet paper towel around the flower stems and cover the towel with a plastic bag.

Tie ribbon around the plastic bag to seal it, and set the flowers inside the decorative cone. Hang the cone on a family member's bedroom doorknob or on the front door of a neighborhood friend.

Continue to the next page to learn how to create and decorate a beautiful May Day garland to wear to your celebration.

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Many May Day crafts include various floral arrangements. Celebrate the blossoming of the spring season with a floral crown. Here is how to make your own garland crown.

What You'll Need:

Fresh flowers

Floral wire

Scissors

The arrival of spring is celebrated in many European countries on the first day of May. Flower garlands, crowns, and baskets full of flowers are part of many of the celebrations.

To make a flower crown, gather 6 to 10 colorful flowers. Wrap green floral wire around the stem of each flower. Wind the wiry stem of each flower around the stem of the next flower, just beneath the flower. Weave the stem of the last flower around the stem of the first to form a circle.

(Place the garland on your head to check the fitting before closing the circle.) Now don the floral crown, and celebrate spring.

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ABOUT THE CRAFT DESIGNERS:Glorious Garlands by Lisa Lerner, Kersten HamiltonMay Day Baskets by Lisa Lerner, Kersten HamiltonRobin Hood Hats by Lisa Lerner, Kersten HamiltonMay Day Hoops by Lisa Lerner, Kersten HamiltonNine Men's Morris by Lisa Lerner, Kersten Hamilton