How to Celebrate Children's Day

In Japan, May 5 is Children's Day, a time to pray for the health and happiness of the country's children and to give them special treats and gifts. If you find yourself spending more time ferrying your offspring to and from soccer games, ballet practice and swim meets than you do enjoying their company, celebrating Children's Day could be fun for all of you.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Child-approved Food
• Ball Game Tickets
• Museum Tickets
• Theater Tickets
• Baseball Score Books

1. Turn off the computer and the television set.
2. Spend the whole day doing whatever the kids want to do, whether it's visiting the zoo or the science museum, taking in a ball game, hiking through a nearby park or building a fort in the backyard.
3. Let the children choose the menus for all the day's meals. (Yes, even if it's Spaghetti-O's, chocolate milkshakes and cherry pie for breakfast, lunch and dinner.) One day of imperfect nutrition won't hurt any of you.
4. Read to your children and have them read to you.
5. Talk to children about what they love to do most - paint, ride horses, play the piano - and resolve to help them do as much of it as they want.
6. Take the kids to your local bookstore and let them choose any books they'd like (though you may have to draw the line somewhere if you're rearing a true bibliophile).

Tips & Warnings

• Another Japanese festival, Shichi-Go-San (November 15), honors children who are three, five or seven years old - ages considered to be especially lucky.