Purple Day-Planting Seeds of Hope

As parents, we all hope our children will grow up to be loving, compassionate, to give back to their community in some way and in 2008 a then 9 year old little girl from Nova Scotia, Canada did just that. Cassidy Megan created the idea of Purple Day she was motivated by her own personal struggles with epilepsy. Her goal to get people talking about epilepsy in an effort to dispel myths and inform those with epilepsy that they are not alone. The Epilepsy Association of Nova Scotia came on board with her to help develop Cassidy’s idea which is now known as the Purple Day for epilepsy campaign. Purple Day is celebrated around the world on March 26th.

Planting Seeds of Hope is a small party I did at my home in honor of Purple Day. I invited some local children to participate and we did a very simple activity that they not only enjoyed but could take home and watch grow. Here’s what to do if you’d like to get involved:

What You Will Need:

Small Clay Pot with base
Some Potting Soil
Packet of Seeds (your choice of flower)
Purple and Lavender Paints
Sponge Brushes
Purple or Lavender Ribbon
Water

To make it simple and save on time you can have each child’s pot painted ready to go or if you have the time you can let the kids paint their pots. I did mine early out in the sun, and they were dry within the hour. The children had so much fun filling their pots with the soil and adding the seeds, watering them with great care and while doing this it’s a great opportunity for you to discuss why talking about Epilepsy is so important and how it’s not something to fear.

The children were able to enjoy some beautiful sweets and treats at a table that proudly displayed Purple Power. Here are some other simple and fun things you can do to celebrate Purple Day:

Wear something purple
Hold a bake sale at your school selling purple sweets and treats, get a local bakery involved and donate the money raised to your local epilepsy organization
Volunteer with your local Epilepsy organization
Set up an information booth at your place of business or school hand out information

Let’s go Purple with a purple party on March 26th to honor Cassidy Megan for showing us all that the simplest thing can make such a big difference; you can find some great resources all about this great cause here