Litha, the summer solstice (June 20-23), marks the zenith of
the sun, the longest day of the year, when the sun’s power is
at its peak. The moment of peak power is very, very brief. Our
ancestors built huge bonfires on this day to celebrate their
connection to the vital power of the immense burning star that
keeps our planet bright, warm, and alive.

Hundreds of years ago on the summer solstice, our ancestors sat
in sun-drenched fields or on stones as warm as living flesh,
fashioning small round suns from straw or vines, decorating
them with suncolored flowers, honoring the mysterious, fiery
light that warmed and brightened their days and made the plants
grow that fed them.

Litha is a perfect time to help children make a tangible
connection with the earth, to connect with the sun, to invite
solar power into their lives. If you and they make a round,
golden image while sitting in the strongest sunlight of the
year, allowing it to shine on and infuse your creations,
you bring that strong, life-promoting energy indoors with you
when you are done.

Here are just a few ideas for possible materials to get going.
Chances are that the children will come up with their own
marvelous and surprising inventions that will work just as
well. The only prerequisites are that it be round and that its
colors evoke the sun’s warmth and passionate splendor. Try
your best to make your images outdoors in the sunshine.

* Grapevine wreaths make excellent bases, which may then be
decorated with fresh or dried flowers and yarn or ribbons. You
can home-dye your yarn and ribbon using onion skins to achieve
a rich terracotta or golden yellow, depending on how long you
boil them in the pot with the skins.

* Modeling clay comes in many types, some self-hardening or
bakeable. Get out the toothpicks, chopsticks, and other carving
implements, and make suns with jolly faces.

* Children of all ages enjoy finding four slender sticks from
the yard, crossing them to make an asterisk shape with eight
spokes—reminiscent of the eight festivals of the year—and winding
brightly colored yarns and ribbons around and around to make a
round solar variation on the ancient “God’s Eye” shape. If four
sticks are too bulky for small fingers to manage, use only
three—the solar shape is more hexagonal but still appealing.
Poke in a flower or two for an especially pleasing result—marigolds
and daisies are the classic sunny favorites.

When the images are finished, you and the children may want to
hold them up to the sky for a few moments so that the sun
shines on them, before finding the perfect place in your house
or outdoors to hang them.