Children's Day: Community Winter Solstice Gathering

All are welcome to celebrate this time of beginnings and light.
You don't need a child "escort" to attend this celebration!

At the Winter Solstice, we celebrate Children's Day to honour our children and to bring warmth, light and cheerfulness into the dark time of the year. Holidays such as this have their origin as "holy days". They are the way human beings mark the sacred times in the yearly cycle of life.

Children's Day honors the spirit and innate wisdom of children and families. This is an opportunity for all of us to rediscover this energy in ourselves.

In the northern latitudes, midwinter's day has been an important time for celebration throughout the ages. On this shortest day of the year, the sun is at its lowest and weakest, a pivot point from which the light will grow stronger and brighter. This is the turning point of the year.

Light is a special characteristic of this holiday. To help us bring joy to the dark nights and to call back the light, we turn to family and friends for celebration, creativity, and generosity.

Anyone with a youthful spirit is invited to attend this day celebrating the beginning of a new season with the children & families of our community.

Schedule TBD

Around the globe, Shambhalians celebrate four 'Nyida Days' around the solstices and equinoxes - Nyi (from Nyima, 'sun' in Tibetan) and Da (from Dawa, 'moon' in Tibetan) - which "are meant to commemorate the ongoing dance of sun, moon and earth as reflected in the changing seasons around solstices and equinoxes.

Depending on the ages and interest of those who register, we may include other activities like treasure hunts, music, wishes for the new year, and the ever-popular building of forts from meditation cushions.

Children's Day is organized by the hosts of the monthly Family Practice group.

Registration: Please register with an email you check regularly. If our registrations system does not have a current email for you, you will miss important information about the program.

You should receive the first confirmation email within within 24 hours of registration. You should receive a second confirmation email with more program details approximately 1 week before the program begins. Sometimes emails may end up in your promotions, spam or junk folder. It’s also possible that you’ve unsubscribed from emails from Shambhala, which prevents you from receiving the necessary emails. If you don't receive the first email, please contact [email protected].

Price Please see our pricing policy page for information about tiered pricing, MyPrice, cancellations and more. 

Payment: We use Paypal to process payments. You can choose to pay through a paypal account (if you have one) or with a credit or debit card. Unfortunately Paypal sometimes disables guest checkout "based on several risk factors" and will prompt you to create an account. If you run into this issue, please email [email protected] to let us know. We hope to find a better solution soon.

In-person participation: Additionally, we ask you to limit the use of scented products, as many people have chemical sensitivities. Note that our building is not wheelchair accessible.

FAQ Common questions might be answered on our FAQ page.

Cradles to Crayons Donation Drive

Cradles to Crayons Boston provides kids with essentials they need, free of charge. They do this by engaging communities that have resources and connecting them with communities in need. Their "KidPacks" are hand-selected with care to meet a local boy or girl’s specific needs and wants.  Please bring new and gently-used items for children ages newborn to 12 years old that you would like to donate to help children this winter. 

Due to health and safety concerns, there are a number of items that they can not accept. Please review the list at this link. Most Needed Items are Boys shirts & pants, Sweaters/sweatshirts, Hats & gloves in child’s large/adult small, Books (8-12 year old). Tax receipts are available through their website here.

Please register if you plan to attend. Please include your children’s names and ages in the comments when you register so we can plan food and activities accordingly.

Allergy Alert: Please DO NOT bring any snacks with peanuts. We are making the best effort to accomodate food allergies, please indicate any other allgergies we should be aware of when registering.

By Donation: Donations are welcome but not required.