First Grade
Worksheets
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat
When is Mad Hatter Day? October 6. When are plans made for Mad Hatter Day? October 7. Wait a minute. That does not make sense. Plans should be made before a holiday! That makes sense, doesn't it?
That is the problem. Nothing is supposed to make sense on Mad Hatter Day. Everything is turned around. Mad Hatter Day is the second crazy day in the year. The first crazy day is April Fools Day.
Mad Hatter Day was made up by a group of computer people. They lived in Colorado. One day they got bored. Maybe they got a little silly. They made this very special day.
October 6 was chosen for Mad Hatter Day because of a drawing by John Tenniel. Mr. Tenniel drew the pictures for the book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The pictures show a strange little man wearing a big top hat. There is a slip of paper in the hat that reads "In this style 10/6."
Computer people in Boulder, Colorado, held the first Mad Hatter Day on October 6, 1987. By October 1989, it began to show up in national newspapers.
What should you do on Mad Hatter Day? Do something silly. Do something that does not make any sense. Put your clothes on backwards. Say things that don't make sense. Color a sheet of paper black. Tell everyone it is a picture of a black dog playing with a black ball in the middle of the night. If you can't think of anything, try doing some of the things the Mad Hatter himself did.
Have a party. Every few minutes make your friends change places at the table. Don't put anything in the cups.
Ask riddles that don't have answers. One of the Mad Hatter's most famous riddles is this: How is a raven like a writing desk? Many people have tried to guess the answer. There is no answer, though. The Mad Hatter just liked to ask riddles. He did not think they needed to have answers.
Write a silly poem or song. The Mad Hatter wrote a poem a lot like "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." The name of his poem is "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat."
