Spring is here!

Happy First Day of Spring!

Today (in the northern hemisphere) is Ostara, also known as the Vernal Equinox or the Spring Equinox, meaning the first day of spring. This is a time where I like to celebrate the arrival of spring, when light and darkness are in balance but the light is growing stronger. You may have noticed the days getting longer and the snow is almost all gone (again, this is for those of you living in the northern hemisphere). Today the daylight hours and the dark hours are balanced, but tomorrow daylight will be a tiny bit longer then the night and it will continue to grow for a while.

Here is a fun activity to try today. You may remember doing this in science class in school or for fun as a kid.

Standing an Egg on it's End.

Things you need:

• A raw egg (chicken eggs from the store are the easiest to get)
• A flat surface, preferably the floor (so if your egg rolls away it won't fall off a table and smash)
• Patience and Practise

Take your raw egg and try to balance it upright on the flat surface. This will probably take a few tries before you're able to get it standing. Some people can't get it to stand because their hands shake too much and they knock over the egg, but this is a fun activity to try anyway.


Now, you may be thinking 'this is just a myth' and you'd be right, it is possible to balance an egg on it's end all year round. The legend of standing a raw egg on it's end on the Spring Equinox came from the Chinese. They believed that the sun's position between the north and south poles of the earth at this time of the year would apply special gravitational forces, and that in turn would help the egg stand on end.
This is a cool way to teach kids about the balances of nature at this time of the year.

 Have a Happy Spring!