I asked them about why we were having an extra day's holiday. They knew it was a Bank Holiday but didn't know it was May Day. I played the song Le Muguet and asked them to guess what it was about - flowers, snowdrops even bluebells were suggested before I gave them the English and French flower name.
We then looked at the (supposed) origins of giving a sprig of Lily of the Valley as a token of good luck in the court of Charles IX, moving on to the 20thcentury where it was given by a man to his sweetheart and then up to modern times where it is given as a sign of appreciation and affection to loved ones.
We looked briefly at the struggle for workers’ rights in the US, which was commemorated in France a few years later where the Muguet eventually became a symbol of that struggle, before 1er Mai became La Fête du Travail and a national holiday.
We concluded by making our Muguet craft for a loved one with our‘ear-worm’ playing in the background. Bonne Fête du Travail!