Winter
Thanks for joining us!
This episode was written by Jean and voiced by Kara and T.
Episode art was drawn by Jean.
It was originally released in December 2024.
— We love these books about the winter —
Click on each photo for a link to the book
— Winter Episode Summary —
Welcome to winter! —
It is cold, it’s dark before dinner, and there are lots of fun seasonal holidays and activities.
The first day of winter is officially called the winter solstice and it happens on or around the 21st day of December.
The word solstice comes from an old word sol, used by the ancient Romans, which means sun.
At different times of the year, certain areas of Earth tilt more towards the Sun. So that area feels the warmth and light more strongly. But when that area tilts more away from the Sun, we cannot feel the warmth and see the light of the sun as much as other times of the year.
On the solstice day, the part of the earth where you live is at its farthest tilt away from the sun, so there are more hours of darkness than daylight.
Some people call it the shortest day of the year. Every day there is another minute of daylight so, very slowly, the days last longer, until we get to the summer solstice - the longest day of the year.
Winter versus summer —
You probably know that the earth is a very, very large sphere. And going around it in the middle, an imaginary line is put on maps and globes, that divides the earth into two sections. The line is called the equator.
When you look at a map or globe, there is land above the equator, which is north. The land below the equator is south.
We who live in the United States are north of the equator, and we have been talking about winter there. But things are different in the lands south of the equator, in places such as Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, or South Africa. There, the weather is the opposite! When we have winter, they have summer. When we have summer, they have winter.
The lands that are close to the equator have temperatures that are warm all year long. The farther away the land is from the equator, the colder it can get. And in the winter season, the places near the North or South Pole get very little daylight. It is dark all day!
Winter brings a lot of changes in nature —
Most trees loose their leaves by winter. Many plants stop growing.
Some animals hibernate, which means they curl up in their cozy dens and sleep for weeks and weeks.
Some animals migrate, which means they travel to someone warmer to live. In some places it might snow and water freezes.
This is also a special time of year for celebrations —
People have many traditions around winter holidays. A tradition is something that people do every year which reminds them of the past, their family, or a special place. It might be a special food, or special decoration, or activities that they do.
Many families celebrate Christmas on December 25th. It is a holiday that celebrates giving to others. We give gifts to our family, and friends. People might give food and clothing to those who can’t buy things. We get together with family and friends and share a meal and have a happy time.
A Christmas tradition is to hang bright lights around the house to help bring more light to the darker winter days. Another tradition is to put a tree inside their homes and decorate it with fancy ornaments. Some look forward to a visit from Santa Claus and his reindeer, to bring gifts.
People who choose a religion called Christianity believe Christmas is the birthday of a man called Jesus Christ. He is celebrated because he was a good person who cared about everyone and did good things for others.
People who choose a religion called Judaism believe in the miracle of Hanukkah, which is also celebrated in December. Hanukkah is celebrated over eight days and it reminds people of a time long long ago when Jewish people became free to practice their religion.
They tell a story of long ago when a ruler would not let the people go to their Jewish temple. But the people fought back, and when they won they lit the candles in the temple with oil, but there was only enough oil to burn for one day. But the miracle is that the candles burned for eight days! So Jewish people celebrate Hanukkah over eight days sometime around December.
A Jewish Hanukkah tradition is to light candles on a menorah. Menorahs have spots for eight candles, plus one called the shamash.
Jewish people also have special foods with their families and friends such as latkes, play the dreidel game, and give the children gelt (which is chocolate in the shape of coins. Yum).
And then when the month of December is over a new year begins. The calendar is changed to a new year, adding a number. So if this year is 2024, next year will be 2025.
New Year’s Eve is the night before the first day of the new year and many people celebrate with parties. People count down to midnight. Some celebrate noon year, at noon on December 31, so they don’t have to stay up so late!
Later in the winter, there are more holidays. Some are for remembering important people or events and some are just for fun.
Martin Luther King Junior day in January is for remembering a man who worked hard to have all people treated the same, even if the color of their skin is different.
President’s Day in February is for remembering some leaders in America who worked to make our country a good place for people to live. Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are an example to all of us of how to be a good citizen of the United States.
Chinese New Year, also called Lunar New Year, is in January or February because Chinese people use a different calendar. They have special foods and celebrations with their families. Their traditions are meant to bring good fortune to their families during the year.
Valentine’s Day is in February and it is a fun holiday to show your family and friends kindness and love.
Fun winter activities —
Although the temperatures are cold in winter and we can’t do the same activities that we do in summer (like swim outdoors) there are lots of fun things we can do in winter.
You could go ice skating!
Some people love winter sports in the snow. Sledding down a hill is lots of fun. People like to ski or snowboard down mountains.
I used to build snowmen with my sister when I was a kid and lived in a place where it snowed. And sometimes we would make snowballs and toss them and each other.
Sometimes we just like to take a winter walk and notice different things in nature. We look for squirrel nests, find red berries on bushes, find evergreen trees, and see what birds stayed in our neighborhood.
On a cold winter day, our family likes to get cozy indoors in winter. We might have a fire in our fireplace, cuddle under blankets to watch a movie, have hot chocolate.
If we don’t go outdoors as much, we sometimes get tired of being inside. But then, we make an indoor obstacle course with pillows and tunnels and stepping stones to keep our bodies moving. T especially likes making forts with blankets draped over the furniture for a cozy place to read a book.