I’m sorry kids. I forgot to post this on Friday. As it turns out my memory lapse turned out to be a good thing. I just heard on CNN that the Space Shuttle mission has been pushed back 10 days to April 29. My original document had it listed on April 19 so my laziness brings you a more accurate post. *laughs*
Everything you wanted to know about April can be found here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April
More fun holidays here http://library.thinkquest.org/2886/ and here http://holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/april.htm
April is National Poetry Month.
http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/47 has lesson plans and tip sheets for teachers and plenty of info about National Poetry Month.
April is also …
• International Guitar Month,
• Keep America Beautiful Month http://www.kab.org/site/PageServer?pagename=kids_tips
• National Garden Month http://www.nationalgardenmonth.org/ http://www.kidsgardening.org/ has classroom activities and projects. There are lots and lots of gardens to visit in Philadelphia area.
• National Autism Awareness Month. http://www.autism-society.org/about-us/national-autism-awareness-month/
According to http://www.statesymbolsusa.org/National_Symbols/American_Hollidays.html Apri is also …
• National Fresh Celery Month
• National Pecan Month
• National Soft Pretzel Month
• National Soy Foods Months
Additionally …
April 2 is National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day
April 6 is National Caramel Popcorn Day
April 12 is National Licorice Day
April 18 is National Animal Crackers Day
April 22 is National Jelly Bean Day April 26 is National Pretzel Day April 28 is National Blueberry Pie Day April 30 is National Oatmeal Cookie Day
The first Sunday in April is Opening Day for Major League Baseball. (April 3) The Phillies actual home opener is Friday, April 1 @ 1:05pm. The game will be shown on Channel 17.
April 2nd, which is Hans Christian Andersen’s birthday is also International Children’s Book Day. http://www.ibby.org/index.php?id=269
The first international Olympic Games of the modern era began on April 6, 1896. The next summer Olympics will take place in London next year July 27-August 12, 2012. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1896_Summer_Olympics
April 7th is World Health Day.
April 7th is No Housework Day.
April 10-16 is National Library Week. http://www.ala.org/ala/conferencesevents/celebrationweeks/natlibraryweek/index.cfm
April 10th is National Sibling Day. http://holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/April/siblingday.htm
The American Civil War began on April 12, 1861 when the Confederate Army fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina.
April 14th is Look up at the Sky Day. http://holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/April/lookupatskyday.htm
April 14th is also Reach as High as You Can Day.
April 15th is Leonardo Da Vinci’s birthday. There is an exhibit at the Franklin Institute until May. They have an Educator’s Guide on their site for grades K-12. http://www.fi.edu/leonardo/leonardo.edguide.pdf
Saturday April 16th is Record Store Day. http://www.recordstoreday.com/Home
They have a Facebook page too http://www.facebook.com/RecordStoreDay
The Boston Marathon is Monday, April 18. I suppose it could be cute to have a small indoor marathon in honor of the day.
April 18th is also International Jugglers Day. http://holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/April/jugglersday.htm
April 22nd is Earth Day. http://www.earthday.org/
William Shakespeare’s birthday is celebrated on April 23.
April 25th is World Penguin Day. Kid Zone has preschool lesson plans about penguins. http://www.kidzone.ws/prek_wrksht/index.htm
April 27th is Tell a Story Day. http://holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/April/tellastoryday.htm
Arbor Day is the last Friday in April in PA, NJ and DE (April 29, 2011) the state trees for each state are …
PA: Eastern Hemlock
NJ: Northern Red Oak
DE: American Holly
You can find out what day each state celebrates Arbor Day and what each state’s tree is here http://forestry.about.com/cs/urbanforestry/a/arbor_day_date.htm
The Arbor Day Foundation offers resources for connecting kids with nature here http://www.arborday.org/explore/
They also have a Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/natureexplore
There are a few arboretums to visit in the Philadelphia area.
The Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton is scheduled for Friday, April 29 at 11am their time so I think once Europe’s Daylight Savings Time catches up to ours on March 27 we’ll be back to being 5 hours behind London so I’m guessing TV coverage will begin at around 6am our time.
The second to last space shuttle launch is scheduled for April 29. The shuttle scheduled to launch is the Endeavour. NASA has all kinds of cool stuff or teachers but unfortunately they start with Kindergarten and go up from there. http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/k-4/index.html
April 30th is National Honesty Day. http://holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/April/honestyday.htm