Jan. 24, 2007
Darwin Day is like a humanist holiday to my family. Feb. 12 is Charles Darwin’s birthday and the designated date for the celebration of the advancement of science, especially in regards to Charles Darwin’s influence. While it is three weeks away, I wanted to make humanist parents aware early so that you can plan ahead if you’re interested in celebrating.
While I highly recommend we all participate in community celebration events (specifically, your local humanist or atheist community), I have created a week-long celebration revolving around dinner as a means to not only celebrate, but educate my children on the important subject of evolution and the origins of species.Below is an outline of the AgnosticMom family tradition for the week of Darwin Day.
Feb. 12: Introduction of Evolution through Family Book Reading
Dinner focus: The first phase of evolutionary life: shellfish, jellyfish, worms
A. Book options:
1. Elementary age: The Tree Of Life: The Wonders Of Evolution by Ellen Jackson.
2. More advanced elementary age: Life On Earth: The Story of Evolution by Steve Jenkins.
B. Dinner:
1. Very involved version: A smorgasboard of shellfish: shrimp, lobster, oysters
2. Simpler version: Shrimp dinner
3. After dinner treat: Gummi-worms (put them in cute gift bags or boxes on their
plates. The kids love that!).
C. Table decor theme: Under the sea
Feb. 13: The Second Phase of Evolutionary Life: Fish
A. Dinner:
1. Fish! Use a recipe that keeps the fish whole.
2. After dinner treat: Swedish fish
B. Table decor theme: Under the sea
Feb. 14: The Third Phase of Evolutionary Life
The new existence of plant life on the ground makes it possible for some sea life to grow legs and crawl out of the water. Enter reptiles, and then dinosaurs.
A. Dinner:
1. For daring eaters: Frog legs
2. For the rest of us: Vegetarian night! Perhaps edamame and a recipe with leaves and lentils
3. After dinner treat: Gummi-dinosaurs
B. Table decor theme: Nature look (wood products with greenery)
C. Since this date is also Valentine’s Day, you may have to be flexible. Make it a lunch
event or postpone it until the next evening if it interferes with your Valentine’s plans.
Feb. 15: The Fourth Phase of Evolutionary Life
Birds evolved from some dinosaurs, many of which had feathers and claws like a chicken.
A. Dinner:
1. A whole roasted chicken
2. After dinner treat: Jelly eggs, jelly beans or peeps
B. Decor: What do you have around the house? Toy birds? Chickens? Add it to your nature set-up.
Feb. 16: The Fifth Phase of Evolutionary Life: Mammals
A. Dinner:
1. Pork or beef
2. After dinner treat: Gummi-bears
B. Table Decor: Find a variety of toy mammals to illustrate the many types of mammals.
Feb. 17: Going Bananas!
Celebrate our closest relatives, the monkeys! (Monkeys are mammals, so you really could combine this day with the previous day if that fits your needs better.)
A. Dinner:
1. What banana recipes can you come up with? Search online and see what you can find! I won’t be sharing my recipe from last year. It was a mistake I won’t repeat, nor pass along! But in this monkey phase, it’ll be all bananas.
2. Dessert: Banana cream pie, of course
B. Decor: There is no table for this night. Your kids will have a blast eating on the floor! And if your recipe permits, skip the utensils as well.
Feb. 17: Celebrate Humanity
This meal is up to you, but dress it up and make it formal. Last year this day fell on a Saturday and we did it for breakfast instead of dinner. Decorate the table. Play your favorite classical music (ours is Mozart). Celebrate the capabilities of the human brain: art, empathy, logic and reason. Focus on the positive aspects of human nature.
Use these meals to help your children learn how life evolved. If your kids are toddler and preschool age, all of these details and books are unnecessary. I recommend activities that focus on observing the diversity of species, rather than origins.
If you have kids who are elementary age, you can begin quizzing them during the meals. Make a game of it. Begin simple, and every year you can get a little more detailed. By the time they are in junior high and high school, they’ll be able to teach their biology class the major mechanisms of natural selection!
Copyright AgnosticMom.com, 2006
Noell Hyman writes for her blog, AgnosticMom.com. She has been blogging since August of 2005. Relatively new to the humanist landscape, Noell declared herself a humanist some time in the year of 2002 after leaving religion, specifically the Mormon Church. A stay-at-home mother of three young children, Noell's aim is to reach other non-religious parents who find themselves isolated in the struggle to raise a healthy family without religion. Noell wants to make "Agnostic Mom" a humanist and secular household name. Visit: www.AgnosticMom.com
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