Midsummer Madness: Celebrating the Summer Solstice Around the World

Each year around the 21st of June, we in the Northern Hemisphere celebrate the Summer Solstice — the longest day and shortest night of the year. This has been done for centuries, and over that time many interesting ways have developed to mark the occasion. As we did with the posts about Equinoxes, we have made some games and suggested activities you may want to use to celebrate. The quiz games are a little harder this time, so you may want to have a world map or atlas at hand.

But first, with some help from NASA, let's see what causes the Summer Solstice.

The word solstice is made up of two Latin words, Sol, which means Sun, and Sististere, which means to stand still. So the sun appears to stand still at the solstice. This happens at the same time all over the world. In the Northern Hemisphere, it rarely happens on the 20th of June, although this does occur occasionally. It is even rarer to have the Solstice happen on the 22nd. The next one of those will not happen until the year 2203. (No need to mark your calendar.) While the Northern Hemisphere celebrates the Summer Solstice, at exactly the same time the Southern Hemisphere is celebrating the Winter Solstice — the shortest day and longest night of the year.

When the Sun appears to stand still, it does so over the Tropic of Cancer. Obviously since the sun appears to begin its journey at the Equator, it will take some time for it to reach the Tropic of Cancer. If you live in the continental U. S., it is fairly easy to get the exact time when it gets there with a quick search online. After a short hesitation, the Sun appears to reverse its course and head for the Equator once more. I say "appears" because the Sun is not doing all this moving. It just looks that way. It is the Earth that is moving, tilted on its axis. As you can see in the diagram, the north end of the Earth's axis is tilted at approximately 23.4 degrees. As it turns on its axis, it follows an elliptical orbit, not an even, circular one.

Here is a game for you, a matching game. The correct answers and some comments can be found at the end of this article. Don't peek. Try to match the way a group celebrates the Summer Solstice with the country where the celebration takes place. You can do this by drawing lines between each pair or by matching each number with the letter of the answer. You may want a map or globe to find some of the less well-known countries. (Remember, all of these are north of the Equator!) The numbers describe the celebrations. If you click on the caption under the quiz, it will open a PDF file that you can download and print.

To open PDF, click here.

Here is something that you might do with children. It is something that would be appropriate during the pandemic. On Mayday our teachers cut large circles of colored posterboard into quarters. We rolled the quarters to make cone shapes and stapled them. We added little handles of the posterboard or punched two holes in opposite sides and made ribbon or yarn handles. Then we filled our cones with a few flowers. The idea was to hang the 'cornucopia' on the door-handle of an elderly or handicapped person, knock or ring the doorbell, and run away before they could see who did the good deed. There would be even more flowers available in June.

Here is your second quiz game. This one is True or False.

1) The Summer Solstice marks the first day of summer in many countries.
2) The day after the Solstice, the days begin to get shorter.
3) In Australia the people go sunbathing at the beach at Christmas.
4) The sun hesitates at the Tropic of Cancer then heads for the Arctic Circle.
5) When it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere, the Northern Hemisphere is closest to the sun.
6) The Earth moves in an ellipse around the sun, not a circle.
7) As the Earth makes the turn around the sun to complete its circuit, the axis turns so it is pointing in the opposite direction.
8) When the Southern Hemisphere is at its Summer Solstice. it is closer to the sun than the Northern Hemisphere was at its Summer Solstice.
9) The Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere is on December 21.
10) The hottest day of the year usually comes several weeks after the Solstice.

It has been my experience that when several generations get together, young children are often left on their own to play, which may result in minor injuries, hurt feelings, and outright fights. This is an excellent time to take children four or older on a nature hike, supervised by at least two responsible older teens or adults of any age. Each child should have a small bag that can hang over one arm and be tied shut before the trip back to the house. The trip can be as simple as one through a big backyard or neighborhood park or as complex as a trip to a seashore, desert area, forest, etc. The longer the trip, the more advance preparation (including first aid). Later, after the explorers have been fed and rested, they can be given a lesson on pressing leaves and flowers and shown ways to display interesting rocks or other treasures. If pictures have been taken during the trip, it would be nice to later see that each child gets a picture of himself or herself taken on the trip. It is never too soon to encourage an interest in nature and science.

Here are some other quick ideas for celebrating the solstice:

Fly kites.
Have a scavenger hunt.
Provide simple treats for children like popsicles, s'mores, ice cream sandwiches.
Hold a recipe exchange (which doesn't have to be just for the ladies).
Hang a nice backdrop and take all sorts of pictures, serious or silly.
Plan pizzas with loads of seasonal toppers, including fruit.
Watch an old movie together.
Gather around the piano for a sing-along — or do it a capella.
Surprise someone with a phone call.
Plan a block party and encourage everyone to make the whole circuit.

Maypole Dance

Here are the answers to the matching quiz.
1) K ; 2) L; 3) P; 4) A; 5) N; 6) R*; 7) M; 8) Q; 9) C; 10) H; 11) D; 12) F; 13) J; 14) O; 15) E; 16) B; 17) G; 18) I**

*This could also apply to Switzerland, who fought off an attempted invasion by Napoleon using this tactic, but Austria was forbidden to light bonfires during the time of the Nazi occupation, and they have begun the practice again, so I gave them the credit.
**This year, due to the pandemic, the entire 3-day festival will be broadcast online, complete with a pow-wow, marketplace, lots of singing, dancing, beautiful native costumes. See it here.

Here are the answers to the True and False quiz.

Numbers 1, 2, 3, 6, 8*, 9, and 10 are True.
4 is False because it appears to turn around and head back down to the Equator.
5 is False because the earth is farthest from the sun at that time. And it is a good thing that it is, especially with temperatures on the planet continuing to rise.
7 is False because the earth's axis always points in the same direction.
8* is True and helps to explain the severe droughts and terrible wildfires that have happened for several years in countries like Australia and South Africa.

We hope you have had some fun with our Midsummer Madness. Look for a similar issue on the Autumn Equinox in September. Stay safe.