On a recent post, I shared how I have been restoring linens and doilies. I also inherited my grandmother’s sewing box filled with all kinds of novelties, including buttons. They are little pieces of art, and I was curious about their history. Studying buttons is a multidisciplinary exploration, connecting history, art, math, and science (button material and construction.) What do you know about buttons?

Some Fun Facts

Buttons were originally used for decoration, not fastening. Until the 19th century, buttons were found primarily on men’s clothing. Women’s clothes were fastened with laces and hooks and eyes. Wearing decorative buttons was seen as a sign of prosperity.

Through history, buttons were made of fabric, bone, metal, glass, horn, painted enamel, wood, celluloid (the first plastic), ceramic, ivory, and shells!

Buttons remain the best-selling fastener and are preferred over zippers.

The National Button Society was founded in 1938.

I am learning, but I think these are some of my oldest buttons. Buttons were so valuable that when a garment wore out, the owner would cut off the buttons and save them.

These buttons are twentieth century. Zoom in and look at the patterns! Note the colors and geometric designs.

Watch full screen here.

For a deep dive into button history, check out this video from a button museum. Go here to view full screen.

Children will enjoy sorting and classifying buttons by attributes such as color, size, shape, and number of holes. Count your sets and compare using math terms like more and less. Add the sets of buttons together.

Teach your child how to sew a button onto a piece of fabric. Such a great life skill! For your youngest learners, place articles of clothing on a table with various sizes of buttons and task them with buttoning and unbuttoning them to develop fine motor and self-help skills.

Corduroy, a classic tale, recounts how a small toy bear loses a button off his overalls and searches for a new one. Use it as a mentor book for identifying story structure – characters, setting, problem, and resolution. Go here to view full screen.

Winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, is one of my favorite days because from this day forward, daylight will increase in Atlanta. This year, the winter solstice falls on Thursday, December 21st.

According to Britannica, “We know that seasons are caused by Earth having a slight tilt on its axis. As Earth wobbles around the Sun, different points of the earth receive more or less sunlight throughout the year. If Earth wasn’t tilted, the Sun would just shine directly on the Equator all year long, leaving us without seasons. But we also wouldn’t have solstices or equinoxes. Solstices designate the point where the Sun’s path in the sky is the farthest north or south from the Equator, which occurs around the 20th and 21st of June and the 21st and 22nd of December. The summer solstice marks the beginning of summer and is the longest day of the year, just as the winter solstice marks the beginning of winter and is the shortest day of the year. But which solstice happens on which day depends on the hemisphere you live in.” Click here for the entire article.

Click here to watch a video about the winter solstice.

Around the world, many cultures celebrate this day with ancient traditions.  Click here for Tinkergarten’s family winter solstice celebration suggestions.

To connect science with math and geography, check a weather app on a regular basis to discover when the sun rises and sets in your location. Record the data and graph your results. Determine how many hours of sunlight you experience each day. Many students find calculating elapsed time challenging.

Comparing when the sun rises and sets in several different cities is another relevant activity. Find the locations you check on a map and analyze results based on the city locations.