St David’s Day is celebrated every year on 1 March.
It is the day when the people of Wales (or Cymru in Welsh), and others around the world, celebrate their patron saint, St David.
On the day, many people choose to wear Welsh national symbols, like a daffodil or leek. The original national emblem of Wales was the Leek (Cenhinen), over the years this was often confused with a very similar Welsh word Cehhinen Bedr which means daffodils and so the daffodil was adopted as a second emblem of Wales.
On St David’s Day, children enjoy traditional Welsh dances, sing Welsh folk songs (not just Tom Jones) and recite Welsh poems, and take part in school concerts or eisteddfodau. They might eat Welsh food like Welsh Rarebit (a kind of fancy cheese on toast) or Cawl (a traditional Welsh lamb stew that’s hearty and delicious, especially if you crumble in some Caerphilly cheese!).
Wales loves rugby and in recent years, including at last year’s European Championships, have gotten quite good at football thanks to a certain Gareth Bale and co. Snowdon (or Yr Wyddfa), is the highest peak in Wales at 1085 m and the principality is said to contain more castles per square mile than any other country in the world. Wales is often termed “the land of song” due mainly to its famous male voice choirs.
On Shrove Tuesday, people will be tucking into a pancake feast, as part of a tradition that has lasted for centuries. Traditionally, Christians would eat pancakes on the last day before Lent begins, to use up foods like eggs and milk, before starting 40 days of fasting for lent.
Now, Pancake Day is celebrated by people all over the world, and some people even hold pancake-flipping competitions. If you want to join in, you could try this basic pancake recipe, adapted from celeb chef Delia Smith, to make enough mixture for 12-14 pancakes. Yum!
But don’t forget to ask your parents or carers to help!
For the pancake mixture:
110g/4oz plain flour
pinch of salt
2 eggs
200ml/7fl oz milk mixed with 75ml/3fl oz water
50g/2oz butter
To serve:
caster sugar
lemon juice
lemon wedges
…or, you could get creative like in the picture above with fruit, chocolate spread, peanut butter – anything really!
Instructions
1. Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl.
2. Make a well in the centre of the flour and break the eggs into it.
3. Begin whisking the eggs.
4. Gradually add small quantities of the milk and water mixture, still whisking.
5. Whisk until all the liquid has been added and the batter has the consistency of thin cream.
6. Melt the butter in a pan.
7. Spoon 2 tbsp of it into the batter and whisk it in. Use the rest of the butter to grease the frying pan before you make each pancake.
8. Get the pan really hot, then turn the heat down to medium – be really careful doing this bit. You might want to get your parents or carers to help at this point!
9. Ladle 2 tbsp of the batter into the hot pan all in one go.
10. Tip it around from side to side to get the base evenly coated with batter.
11. After about half a minute, and when the bottom is golden in colour, flip the pancake over.
12. The other side will only need a few seconds to cook.
13. Slide the pancake out of the pan onto a plate.
14. To serve, sprinkle each pancake with freshly squeezed lemon juice and caster sugar.
15. Enjoy!
Festival of Science and Curiosity – FREE! The Festival of Science and Curiosity runs 8 – 15 February, with free activities designed to inspire curiosity and discovery taking place around the city, including a special day focused on activities for families on Saturday 11 February.
Free events on 11 February include an amazing set of giant lungs in the intu Broadmarsh Centre, a mobile planetarium Inflativerse at NonSuch Theatre on Clarendon Street, an entire day of worm-themed activities at the National Videogame Arcade in Hockley and many exciting demonstrations about optical illusions and dinosaurs at Nottingham Central Library.
And Nottingham City libraries will run more free activities as part of the festival during half-term week, with hands-on science demonstrations taking place in six libraries across the city including Aspley, Sneinton and Radford-Lenton libraries. Check out the full festival programme here.
Half-Term at intu Victoria Centre – FREE!
intu Victoria Centre will offer free cooking activities daily from 11am – 4pm, where little ones can learn how to create musical instruments using food and learn about the science of food through fun experiments, plus much more. Click here to find out more.
Half-Term fun at the Galleries of Justice
Meet Snot the Wise, the Anglo-Saxon chief who put the ‘snot’ into Snottingham, the original name of our fair city. But don’t get on the wrong side of the mighty Snot or you’ll find yourself standing trial in his courtroom. Will you be found guilty or ‘snot’ guilty? Click here to find out more.
Half-Term at the City of Caves
Nottingham City of Caves visitors can meet the plague doctor and go on ‘curiously contagious’ cave tours, learning about the history of the Black Death in Nottingham. See what’s on.
Half-Term at the National Ice Centre See what’s on this half-term, including Family Skating parties, parent and toddler sessions and much more.
Half-Term at Nottingham Contemporary
Nottingham Contemporary will run free daily arts and crafts workshops (Tues – Sat 11am – 3pm) where everyone can draw and collage a life-size family. Click here to find out more.
Half-Term at New Art Exchange–FREE!
New Art Exchange in Hyson Green will celebrate a dance-filled half-term, with free workshops running daily, before ending the week with a free celebration of Polish food and culture at the Fat Thursday event on Saturday 18 February. Click here to find out more.
Half-Term at the University of Nottingham –FREE!
The University of Nottingham are running free drop in sessions for families from Tuesday – Friday at their museum on the University Park campus next to Highfields Park, where everyone can learn about history, sample Roman foods and try their hand at medieval crafts. Click here to find out more.
“School’s Out!” Half-Term activities in Leisure Centres
The Portland Centre, Clifton Leisure Centre, John Carroll Leisure Centre, Southglade Leisure Centre and Minver Crescent Sports Hall all run School’s Out – the school holiday scheme that costs parents just £1 per day for activities including basketball, cricket, arts and crafts and swimming. Click here to find out more
Half-Term at the National Videogame Arcade
Explore gaming, game design, coding and fun this half-term at the NVA in Hockley, in the centre of Nottingham. Click here to find out more
Half-Term at Green’s Windmill
All events suitable for kids aged 3 and up. Just turn up unless coming in a group of five or more.
– Mini Pizza Making – 11 Feb from 11am – 2pm. £4 per child.
– Salt Dough Modelling – 16 Feb from 11am – 2pm. £3 per child.
– Cookie Baking – 18 Feb from 11am – 2pm. £4 per child.
Half-Term in Nottingham Parks –FREE
Visitors to Nottingham parks can drop in to a free nest box making session taking place 14 – 17 February at parks around the city – learning a new skill as well as making a new home for birds in the local area. Just turn up. £5 charge if you want to take your box away.
– 13 Feb at King Edward Park – meet near the play area for 1pm.
– 14 Feb at Strelley Recreation Ground – meet at the tennis court for 1pm.
–15 Febat Vernon Park – meet at the pavilion for 1pm.
– 16 Feb at Highfields Park – meet at the boathouse for 1pm.
– 17 Feb at Broxtowe Country Park – meet by Phoenix adventure playground for 1pm.
Half-Term in libraries –FREE
Family Saturday – Nottingham Central Library Sat 11 Feb from 11am – 3pm. Drop-in and find out about science with live experiments, science demos and lots of hands-on activities for all the family to enjoy. Just drop-in to your library this half-term to have fun with hands-on science activities for all the family to enjoy.
– 13 Feb –11am-12.30pm at Sherwood Library and 2pm-3.30pm at Aspley Library
– 14 Feb -11am-12.30pm at Wollaton Library and 2pm-3.30pm at Sneinton Library
– 15 Feb – 10.30am-12pm at Clifton Library and 2.30pm-3.30pm at Radford-Lenton Library
