Good day, all! Thursday is blog day, and with spring only one month away in the Southern hemisphere and autumn one month away in the Northern, we decided to focus on seasons in today’s blog; more specifically ‘how are seasons formed?’ Most parents know the answer to this already. But for kids who aren’t quite sure yet, here’s all they need to know! Let’s start with a little experiment, to show how our planet gets light from the sun as it moves around the sun. 1 ~ Place a light in the middle of your room, on a small table. 2 ~ Stand about one-meter away from this light and then start to spin around – on the spot - very slowly. 3 ~ As you spin on the spot, begin to walk around the light in your room in a full circle (don’t get dizzy or you’ll fall over)! 4 ~ Notice how the light lands on different parts of your body – on your back then your side, then on your tummy, depending on where you are in the circle as you walk around the light. And this is how the sun makes day and night, every day! Now, when the sun is closest to a certain part of the planet (top or bottom AKA North or South), we call it ‘summer’. When a certain part of the planet is furthest from the sun, we call it ‘winter’. Because the Earth is round there will always be opposite sides, and this is why we experience summer in one hemisphere and winter in the other (top or bottom), and day and night from East to West (left and right sides). Of course, when there’s more sun and warmth plants and animals grow better. The sun is responsible for photosynthesis in plants, and the more plants grow the more food there is for the animals to eat. This happens in spring, when the sun starts to shine on an area of the Earth that has been furthest from the sun for a time. During summer, the constant heat can get a little too much and we experience a lot of really hot days. With this heat comes drought sometimes, and some plants and animals struggle to find water to grow. As the Earth spins and orbits, eventually that area where the sun shone too strong moves away from the sun, and we experience autumn and then (you got it) eventually winter. You can also watch this video to hear all that’s been said above explained in more detail, and see diagrams to get a clearer picture of how it works: And there you have it! Hopefully this blog has been interesting for you, and now your kids can tell their friends that they understand just how the seasons are formed. While writing this today I thought of a book by Rose called ‘The Simple Things Around Me’. It’s a story about a young girl named Imani, from Kenya, who reminds us of the beautiful and simple things that nature offers us all the time, especially in spring! Being a tooth-fairy, my favorite seasons are spring and summer because then I don’t have to bump into Jack Frost (hah)! Feel free to tell us in the comments on Facebook or Twitter which season is your favorite – we’d really love to know! Until next time, keep smiling, stay magical! Sasha ~ The Simple Things Around Me
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