When I was growing up, we practiced the tradition of leaving May Day Baskets on our neighbors’ porches. It usually consisted of baked goods or flowers, sometimes even paper flowers I had made at school. We would place the basket on the porch with a little “Happy May Day” note, ring the doorbell and run! The whole fun of the surprise was to not let anyone know who left the basket. This may be some of my first memories of having a passion for gift giving and surprising people with small acts of kindness. So, let’s bring the “do good” back to our neighborhoods!
May Day, the 1st day of May, is really just a celebration of Springtime with all things Spring like: flowers, dancing, and good food.
It also is an opportunity to finally crawl out of hibernation, poke our heads outside our front doors and say hello to our neighbors.
During the winter months, we rarely see our neighbors as we run from the garage into the house in a hurry. But, warm weather is here and so is our opportunity to love our neighbors.
Also, May Day is a great way to get your kids involved (or grab your small group/friend group). This year, Hunter can help me make the baskets, fill them, bake cookies and ring the doorbell. It’s so important to give our kids an opportunity to learn how to serve others without acknowledgement, get creative, and have FUN!
Now is your chance to let your creativity fly.
- Maybe you are a flower person, maybe you love baked goods or perhaps you just go and buy some bags of chips. You can be as elegant or as simple as you want. It’s really just about having fun and sharing the colorful goodness of Spring. Here’s some additional ideas to put in your basket:
- succulent, flower seeds, bath soaps, candy, homemade bookmark or stickers for little ones, muffins, or cookies in a jar recipe.
- Write a sweet note, leave a poem or include an encouraging Bible verse. Some examples:
- “May your Day be filled with Joy” or “A tisket a tasket, you got a May Day basket.”
- Then get your running shoes on to play the best game of ding dong ditch ever.
If you need any more ideas, just “pinterest it” and you will see the possibilities are endless!! You can also click on these images to see how these specific May Day baskets were made.
I wish that I was your neighbor🥰
When I was a child, the irises always came out about the same time as Mother’s Day. We always prepared four or five baskets for the neighbors. We supplemented with wild flowers and weeds.
That is so lovely. I wish we had more wild flowers to pick at our whim.
This is such a cute idea!! Honestly, I don’t know my neighbors well at all! This might be a good way to break the ice!
You could do this for any occasion. Ya know! Bring over cookies for the fourth of July or have an ice cream social for everyone! You are creative and I know you’d come up with something great!
I love this idea!
You will have to plan this for next year 🙂