What is spring? Explanation for children

As an adult, many things seem normal to you, and you don’t stop to enjoy them, but for your children, it is a great discovery, and they are curious to know the reason for everything around them. A new season is about to arrive, and your little ones will surely ask you what spring is. We will help you with this information.

Spring is one of the four seasons of the year; it follows winter and comes before summer. It starts between March 20th and 21st. This season, we see the plants turn green, the landscape is filled with flowers, and the weather is much warmer. That’s why the name of this season means first greenness, and its origin is in the Latin words prima and vera.

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In the spring, plants turn green and offer us beautiful landscapes. Photo: Shutterstock
In the spring, plants turn green and offer us beautiful landscapes. Photo: Shutterstock

What are the seasons?

The Earth revolving around the Sun generates the seasons; this movement is called Translation. Our planet takes 365 days to go around the Sun, which is the same time as a year. As it advances on its path, the seasons happen, each lasting three months.

“This knowledge about the movements of the Earth is thanks to the astronomer Nicholaus Copernicus, who challenged all previous theories that placed our planet as the center of the universe in which all the stars revolved around it,” explains Juan Cervantes Pérez, a researcher at the Universidad Veracruzana.

“Today, it is known that the Solar System not only moves about the core of the Milky Way but that the entire universe presents movement due to the expansion and interaction of the masses of planets, systems, galaxies, etc”.

The seasons are due to the translational movement of the Earth. Photo: Pxhere
The seasons are due to the translational movement of the Earth. Photo: Pxhere

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Is it spring all over the world?

Because the earth moves around the Sun, the amount of sunlight hits different parts of the world differently. For this reason, spring in the countries of the northern hemisphere (those located in the countries of northern Europe, North America, Central America, almost all of Asia, and a large part of Africa) begins between March 19th and 20th, and 21st.

While in the southern hemisphere, where the countries of South America, Africa, and all of Australia are located, autumn begins.

“The tilt of the Earth’s axis plays an important role for one and the other seasons. The beginning of the seasons of the year is marked only by the position of the Earth concerning the Sun”.

Juan Cervantes Pérez, researcher at the Universidad Veracruzana

The movement of the planet causes the seasons to be different in the countries of the northern and southern hemispheres. Photo: Pixabay
The movement of the planet causes the seasons to be different in the countries of the northern and southern hemispheres. Photo: Pixabay

Ways to explain spring to children

Every detail that your little one sees catches his attention; you can teach them how spring is expressed with very simple activities:

  • Ask him to look at the trees and plants; you can tell him how they looked before and how they are flourishing.
  • Together, you can see the colors of the flowers and identify the colors and smells.
  • Tell him that thanks to the greening of the trees, they can have food.
children with flowers in spring
Teach your little one the effects of spring with simple activities. Photo: Pixabay

Spring in myths

Another way to explain to your little ones about spring is through myths. The ancient civilizations used to look at the sky to associate the events with the movement of the stars and make up stories. Spring is a phenomenon that gave rise to many myths. Persephone is the best known.

In Greek mythology, Persephone was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, the fertility goddess. She was a lovely young woman who was kidnapped one day by Hades, who ruled the underworld, and she was forced to become his wife. Zeus tried to help the young woman and negotiated with his brother Hades so that he would free his daughter because when she is with her mother, the trees bear fruit, and everything turns green.

The myth of Persephone is one of the most famous for explaining spring. Photo: Shutterstock
The myth of Persephone is one of the most famous for explaining spring. Photo: Shutterstock

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Translated by: Ligia M. Oliver Manrique de Lara

Spanish version