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Category: Holidays & Celebrations

A newspaper article with the bolded words "Thanksgiving menu"

Where’s the Turkey? Activities for Exploring a State-by-State Historical Menu

Posted by: Alli Hartley-Kong

This post was written by Alli Hartley-Kong and Sarah Peet, educational specialists in the Library of Congress’s Informal Learning Office. In the Library’s Informal Learning Office, we find ourselves sifting through digital versions of primary sources every day to identify collections materials we want to connect children and families to. Every so often you find …

Two women and a girl seated at a table set for afternoon tea

A Celebration Tea For Mother’s Day

Posted by: Rachel Gordon

Mother’s Day is fast approaching, falling on Sunday, May 14th in the U.S. this year. If you’ve already cycled through giving flowers, chocolates, and similar traditional gifts, why not hold a Mother’s Day tea? Like many British people, I grew up experiencing a mid-afternoon tea break as a widespread institution at home and at work. …

An 18th century Japanese print shows a girl in a kimono, looking though a window at blooming cherry trees on the banks of a river.

Japanese Culture Day at the Library of Congress

Posted by: Rachel Gordon

  If your family is in the Washington D.C. area on Saturday, April 1st, we would love to see you at the Thomas Jefferson Building for Japanese Culture Day. This celebration is one of the Library’s most popular family-friendly traditions, and a chance for children of all ages to learn about Japanese culture through stories, …

An old fashioned family Hanukkah celebration. Image from a calendar created by artist Arthur Szyk, 1950.

Hanukkah in the Library’s Collections: Celebrating Freedom, Light and Latkes

Posted by: Rachel Gordon

This year, Hanukkah runs from December 18th to 26th. The winter festival of lights celebrates the 2nd century B.C. victory of the Jewish Maccabees over the Greco-Syrian King Antiochus and his forces. When the Jews sought to rededicate the temple in Jerusalem, the remaining one day’s supply of sacred oil miraculously lasted for a full …

Five different kinds of homemade candy, cream caramels, Christmas keepsake fudge, peanut brittle, sponge candy and fondant stars.

Cooking Up History: Candy Recipes for the Holidays

Posted by: Rachel Gordon

The winter holidays are almost here! If you can’t face any more shopping, prefer to make gifts, or would simply like to brighten someone’s day, this post has suggestions for last-minute treats you can whip up yourself. Homemade candy is a welcome seasonal confection that’s perfect to share. It’ll mean a trip to the grocery …

A large pumpkin, painted black with purple tentacles, sits on a wooden deck. Atop the pumpkin sits a mannequin torso and head painted to look like Ursula from The Little Mermaid.

Halloween Family Day- Your Favorite Ghoulish Gourds

Posted by: Lauren Windham Roszak

On Saturday, October 22, the Library of Congress hosted a Halloween Family Day, featuring Goosebumps author R.L. Stine and Magic Tree House author Mary Pope Osborne discussing 30 years of their series. The Library’s Informal Learning Office also hosted spooky art and reading activities for families in the Jefferson Building before the author program. One …