Shrove Tuesday Pancake Day Activities

The season of Lent, 40 days of fasting and prayer, begins on Ash Wednesday and runs through Holy Saturday, the night before Easter Sunday. Lenten traditions are basically as old as the Church itself. These traditions throughout Christianity are all various takes on feasting and fasting. You may be familiar with Mardi Gras which is a huge party on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. Good Catholics in New Orleans would spend the day before Lent in varying degrees of debauchery before they had to give it all up for 40 days. Not only was drinking during Lent discouraged, but the use of butter, eggs, and sugar was eliminated during the fast. Some cultures would make large feasts of sweets on that Tuesday to use up whatever wouldn’t last during the season. This has become known as Shrove Tuesday (which is Latin for strive click here for a more detailed explanation!)

Our Home School Co-op recently read the beautiful book Pancakes, Pancakes! By Eric Carle We had a blast working through different centers and sequencing activities.

After we read the book, we worked on three sequencing activities. (I only took pictures of two!)

*These are all available in the printable packet.*

Since our group includes both three and five year olds, we love hands on counting activities that can be scaled for all levels.

To play Fill the Pancake You’ll Need:

Red or Blue Pom Poms
Dice
One Pancake for Each Player

Have your child roll the dice and add that number of poms to his pancake. The first to fill their pancake wins! You could also start with a full pancake and remove poms or use two dice to add numbers together.

Another counting activity includes pancakes numbered 1-10.

Using red poms again, have your child order the pancakes 1-10 and then add the correct number of strawberries to each pancake. You could also print two copies for your child to match numbers. Maybe even use them for games like Find the Pancake where you hide pancakes around the room for your child to find!

And of course we had to have a pretty easy Pancake Making Sensory Bin!

You’ll Need:

Rice (or some other sensory bin filler like oatmeal)
Small Bowls
Red or Blue Pom Poms (for strawberries or blueberries)
Whisks
Measuring cups or spoons (I also use leftover protein powder scoops!)
Small Frying Pan
Felt Pancakes and Butter (not needed but fun addition)
Pretend Eggs
Empty Milk and Butter Containers
Sequencing Printable (Available at the end of post)

No Pancake Day would be complete without making and eating pancakes!

In the book Pancakes Pancakes! Jack has many steps to complete before he can eat his favorite breakfast! After we discussed all the work Jack needed to finish, we talked about the modern marvels of pancake mix and electric griddles!