May Fair is the smaller, less intense cousin of Winter Fair. 6 months apart each event feels like the best of the season for me. May Fair is just a lovely time in the yard. It marks a turn in the season, a chance for people to get together, a time for the kids to run with their friends in the yard, get their faces painted or make some crafts, an excuse to share some good food, the opportunity to do a little bit of shopping (beautiful blocks and a pink play cape for us this year) and hear some great music. Oh, yea and participate in, or watch, the May Pole.
Both Winter Fair and May Fair accentuate the sense of the school as community. I am sure this is the same for school events at all schools.
We are a small family, with extended family out of town and no strong religious affiliation so the school provides an important sense of community for us. It is a place where the children know each others parents and siblings, where last years skates are handed on to the younger sibling of a classmate. It is a place for on-the-fly parenting support/advice and commiseration. It provides a sense of being connected and known in context.I think a sense of being part of a community, a classroom community, a school community can be the roots of citizenship. When we learn how to participate in a group beyond our immediate families, we are practicing being in the world. When children see their parents baking for the bake sale, digging garden beds, or creating the school's website and when parents rush from work to be part of the audience for the end of year assembly we are learning and showing how to be in community, in society.
It is nice to be outside with our children and other families, it is fun to make crafts, listen to music and eat good food - and it is important too.
