On May 16th, Bank Street Head Start participated in a May Day celebration at La Plaza Cultural Community Garden on the Lower East Side. Held annually, this celebratory event brings Head Start children, families, teachers, and mentors together in a morning of music, play, dancing, and learning to welcome the new spring season.
Surrounded by plants and flowers just in bloom, the children rotated in groups to participate in activities like musical chairs, a limbo bar, planting, blowing bubbles, story time in the gazebo, observing fish in the creek, and of course, the Maypole dance—a tradition practiced on May 1st in countries and cultures across the world to signify the birth of spring.
“The Maypole, with its color, dancing, music, and movement, is the perfect reflection of the joy a new spring season brings and is a wonderful learning opportunity for young children,” said Steven Antonelli, Director of Bank Street Head Start. “The whole event is made possible by the parent volunteers and an ever changing group of local musicians who donate their time and creativity to make this an enjoyable event for all.”
Head Start’s annual May Day celebration is designed to take children beyond the classroom and into an environment where they can experience culture, nature, music, and other opportunities for rich learning.