PrimaryCelebratio ns - Yonkers Public Schools

Pri

mary

Cele

bra

tions

celebrations

120

PrimaryCelebrations is the property of Tara West and is

protected through copyright and trademark registrations.

All rights reserved.

No part of this digital download may be reproduced

electronically, shared without additional licenses, or placed on

the internet for others to access without the prior permission

from the publisher, Tara West.

If you are a school district using this download as curriculum for

more than one teacher, an additional school license will need

to be purchased.

This product is not sponsored or endorsed by the Common

Core State Standards Initiative or Leap Frog.

Fonts used within this download are intellectual property of

Kimberly Geswein.

The clipart images are intellectual property of Sarah Oshea of

Educlips, Laura Strickland of Whimsy Clips, and Melissa Rodger

of Pink Cat Studio.

Contact Information

Email: [email protected]: www.littlemindsatwork.orgStore: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Tara-West

©

PrimaryCelebrations

http://www.littlemindatwork.org/

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Tara-West

Curriculum OverviewPrimary Celebrations is a fun and engaging way to celebrate special holidays that people enjoy throughout the year. You won't find Thanksgiving or Christmas in here but you will

discover celebrations such as National Puzzle Day and National Kite Flying Day. Each celebration has "Did You Know?" Facts included as well as a variety of short, simple activities that you can do with your class on each designated day. Primary Celebrations is a perfect tool to inject a little more fun into your school day. Build students' excitement as they start

to eagerly look forward to celebrating new, random holidays throughout the year!

Print out your covers and then print out the holiday lesson plan cards. Once the lesson cards are printed out, you will then trim around the edges and cut away the extra paper. Print

each month on a new color of paper to quickly recognize the months. Next, you will need to hole punch each of the lesson cards. Place the cards onto the book ring(s) and you are good to go. You can place the follow-up response sheets in a teacher master binder. Laminating

the lesson cards is optional. Printing the lesson cards on cardstock is recommended for durability.

©Tara West

Primary Celebrations

Curriculum Pictures:

©Tara West


©Tara West

CelebrationsPRIMARY

a year long compilation of celebrations

©Tara West

CelebrationsPRIMARY

a year long compilation of celebrations

September Celebrations

s

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Read a Book DaySep. 6

Did You Know?: Reading is very important. It helps with memory as well as concentration. It can also help to lower a person’s stress level.

Activities:• Put out a variety of reading genres (fiction, non-fiction, biographies, etc.) for

students to read. Have them vote on their favorite.• Schedule reading breaks throughout the day for students to stop working and

just read for enjoyment.• Allow students to bring in their favorite book and share it with a friend.• Schedule a class trip to the local library and allow students an opportunity to

read while they are there.

©Tara West

Activities:• Throughout the day have students use the ampersand in their writing as a

substitute for the word “and.”• Visit http://amperart.com/gallery/ so that they can see a gallery dedicated to

turning the ampersand into art. Then, give students a blank piece of paper or use the one provided (see September additional resources) and have them create their own ampersand art.

National Ampersand DaySep. 8

Did You Know?: The ampersand was first used by the ancient Romans because they wanted a faster way to write. An ampersand is used to replace the word “and.” It used to be part of the English alphabet and came after the letter “z.”

http://amperart.com/gallery/

s

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Teddy Bear DaySep. 9

Did You Know?: Teddy bears received their name from President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt. The smallest teddy bears you can purchase are smaller than half an inch! The world’s largest teddy bear is over 55 feet tall!

Activities:• Allow students to bring their teddy bears to school so that they learn beside

them.• Teach students the Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear nursery rhyme (see September

additional resources).

©Tara West

Activities:• As a class come up with a list of words that can used to encourage people in

different situations (e.g., someone is about to take a test and doesn’t think they will do well, someone has to move and start a new school, etc.).

• Have students create cards of encouragement to give out to others.

National Encouragement DaySep. 12

Did You Know?: When we encourage others, it helps them persevere and not give up. Words are powerful so using positive words help the world change for the better. Sharing encouraging words with others also helps them feel better about themselves.

s

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Peanut DaySep. 13

Did You Know?: Although many people think the peanut is a type of nut, it is actually a legume that grows underground. They are part of the same family as peas. Peanuts are packed high with nutrients. Dr. George Washington Carver invented almost 300 uses for peanuts!

Activities:• Have students create a peanut person to give to a friend or family member

(see September additional resources). Cut 1 inch strips of brown construction paper. Give each child four pieces for arms and legs.

• Bring in some peanut butter and allow students to have it with celery sticks. Add raisins to make “ants on a log.” (*Due to potential food allergies some of your students may have, you may choose to substitute peanut butter for one free of nuts, such as sunflower seed butter.)

©Tara West

Activities:• Provide students with cans of Play-Doh and a variety of tools to play with.

Challenge students by calling out different letters, numbers, animals, etc. and have them create it.

• Make your own playdough in class or create kits so that students can make their own at home (see September additional resources).

National Play-Doh DaySep. 16

Did You Know?: Play-Doh actually got its start as a wallpaper cleaner. Over 700 million pounds of Play-Doh have been made. Every year over 100 million cans are sold.

s

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Talk Like a Pirate DaySep. 19

Did You Know?: This day got its origins from two guys who were playing a racquetball game and started encouraging each other with pirate words.

Activities:• Allow students to come to school dressed like pirates.• Teach students different pirate phrases (see September additional resources).• Read fun books about pirates, such as Pirates Love Underpants by Claire

Freedman.

©Tara West

Activities:• Read fun books about elephants, such as the Elephant and Piggie series by Mo

Willems or Elmer by David Mckee.• Complete research about elephants (see September additional resources).

National Elephant Appreciation DaySep. 22

Did You Know?: Elephants are very smart animals. They are the largest land animals in the world. They live in groups as a family and can live around 70 years. The elephant is the only mammal that can’t jump. Elephants can purr like cats do!

s

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Punctuation DaySep. 24

Did You Know?: We didn’t always have punctuation because we used our voices and hands to show meaning. However, once people begin to print words, punctuation was needed to show meaning. Without punctuation, writing could be very confusing.

Activities:• Play “Pin the Punctuation on the Sentence.” Write a sentence on the board

that is missing it’s punctuation. Use the punctuation cards (see September additional resources) and have students attach the correct punctuation to the sentence.

• Read fun books about punctuation, such as Exclamation Mark by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld or Punctuation Takes a Vacation by Robin Pulver.

©Tara West

Activities:• Put out child friendly comic series for students to read and enjoy, such as the

Ordinary People Change the World series by Brad Meltzer.• Use a pre-reader comic book such as the Owly series by Andy Runton and have

students come up with words to match the strip.• Have students create their own comic strip individually or in groups.

National Comic Book DaySep. 25

Did You Know?: Before comics were printed as books, they were initially printed as strips that could be found in newspapers. The first comic book was book was printed in 1842. Comic book collectors are called pannapictagraphist

s

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Johnny Appleseed DaySep. 26

Did You Know?: Johnny Appleseed’s real name was John Chapman. He loved animals and was known to not light fires so that he wouldn’t hurt mosquitos. He was a kind man who would trade his seedlings for goods if people did not have money.

Activities:• Read books about the life of Johnny Appleseed, such as Johnny Appleseed by

Reeve Lindbergh or Johnny Appleseed (Ready-to-Read) by Jane Kurtz.• Have students create a picture of themselves wearing a pan hat like Johnny

Appleseed did (see September additional resources).• Bring in apples for students to enjoy as a snack.• Have students complete the apple life cycle activity page (see September


©Tara West

Activities:• Bring in different flavors of gum for students to try and have them decide on

their favorite flavor.• Have students design a new, unique flavor of chewing gum (see September


National Chewing Gum DaySep. 30

Did You Know?: The oldest piece of gum found was around 9,000 years old. Legend has it that if you swallow gum, it will stay in your body for seven years, but that’s not true! If gum gets stuck in your hair, you can get it out with peanut butter.

September Additional Resources

&

©TaraWest

September 8: National Ampersand Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

©TaraWest

September 9: National Teddy Bear Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear

Teddy bear, teddy bear,Turn around.

Teddy bear, teddy bear,Touch the ground.

Teddy bear, teddy bear,Show your shoe.

Teddy bear, teddy bear,That will do.

Teddy bear, teddy bear,Turn out the light.

Teddy bear, teddy bear,Say, “Good night.”

©TaraWest

September 13: National Peanut Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Peanut body – Copy on brown paper.

I’m NUTS about you!

©TaraWest

September 13: National Peanut Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Peanut eyes – Copy on white paper.

©TaraWest

September 16: National Play-Doh Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Playdough Recipe

Ingredients:• 1 cup of flour• ¼ cup of salt• 1 tablespoon of cooking oil• 1 package of powdered drink mix• ½ cup of warm water

Instructions: • Mix the flour, salt, and powdered drink mix well

together in a large bowl.• Make a hole in the middle and add the oil.• Slowly add the water to the flour mixture,

stirring as you pour.• Once combined, knead it until smooth.• If the dough is too sticky, add more flour until it

doesn’t stick at all.

©TaraWest

September 19: National Talk Like a Pirate Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Pirate Phrases

Ahoy, matey: Hello, friend!

Avast: stop

Aye: yes

Buccaneer: pirate

Hearties: friends

Me: my

Shipshape: good condition

Shiver me timbers: Oh, my!

Ye: you

Yo Ho Ho: a type of cheer

©TaraWest

September 22: National Elephant Appreciation Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Elephant Report

Size: _____________________________________________________

Habitat: _________________________________________________

Diet: _____________________________________________________

Interesting Fact: ________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

&

©TaraWest

September 24: National Punctuation Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

c

©TaraWest

September 26: National Johnny Appleseed Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Follow the instructions to make a Johnny Appleseed craft.

n

Materials:• Head template (1 per student)• Pot template (1 per student)• ½-1 inch construction paper strips in hair colors• Wiggle eyes (optional)

Directions1. Have students cut out the pot hat and the head.2. They will glue the pot to the top of the head.3. Have students add facial features. Optional: Allow

students to use wiggle eyes.4. Give students construction paper strips for hair.

&

©TaraWest


Name:Primary

Celebrations

Pot Hat – Copy on gray paper.

&

©TaraWest


Name:Primary

Celebrations

Head – Copy on skin tone paper.

Prim

ary

C

ele

bra

tio

ns

©Tar

aWes

t

Sept

embe

r 26

: Nat

iona

l Joh

nny

App

lese

ed D

ay

Nam

e:

Dire

ctio

ns: S

eque

nce

the

card

s to

sho

w h

ow a

n ap

ple

tree

gro

ws.

©TaraWest

September 30: National Chewing Gum Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

My Gum Creation

My new gum flavor is:

__________________________________________________________

October Celebrations

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Hair DayOct. 1

Did You Know?: More people have black hair in the world than any other hair color. We lose up to 150 strands of hair daily. A long time ago people used to use hair as jewelry. Each hair lasts about five years.

Activities:• Allow students to come to school with fun, crazy hair styles.• Read books about hair, such as Crazy Hair Day by Barney Saltzberg or What

If You Had Animal Hair? by Sandra Markle.• Use the face template (see October additional resources) and allow students

to add construction paper that match their hair color. Create a class graph about hair color using the faces they made.

©Tara West

Activities:• Invite custodial workers to your classroom and sing a thank you song to them

(see October additional resources).• Have students make thank you cards for the custodial staff. You can use the

provided card (see October additional resources).• As a class make a list of ways students can help the custodial workers keep the

school clean.

National Custodial Worker’s Recognition Day

Oct. 2

Did You Know?: Custodial workers are important members of our school community. They work hard every day to make sure that our building stays clean and safe.

s

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Taco DayOct. 4

Did You Know?: Records show that tacos were invented around 1,000 B.C. Some of the first tacos were made with fish. The biggest taco ever made was 246 feet long. Americans eat over 4 billion tacos every year.

Activities:• Read books about tacos, such as Dragons Love Tacos and Dragons Love Tacos

2: The Sequel by Adam Rubin.• Have students complete the taco craft (see October additional resources).• Bring in food items to make tasty tacos for your class to sample.

©Tara West

Activities:• Take your students outside and have them play a traditional game of tag.

Designate someone to be “It.” That person runs around and touches someone who becomes the new “It.”

• Play fun variations to the game (see October additional resources).

National Touch Tag DayOct. 8

Did You Know?: Tag is a great way to get students outside and active. Tag has been played as far back as ancient Roman times. The fun part about tag is that you don’t have to keep score or use equipment.

s

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Cake Decorating DayOct. 10

Did You Know?: The first cake actually looked more like flat bread and not the wonderful creations we see today. The world’s tallest cake was over 108 feet tall and the largest wedding cake was over 15,000 pounds! The most expensive cake cost $35 million!

Activities:• Perform an internet search to show students all of the creative decorated

cakes that people have done.• Provide students with the cake cutout (see October additional resources).

Have them cut it out and glue it onto a piece of paper. Provide them with a variety of art manipulatives they can use to “decorate” their cake.

• Bring in nondecorated cupcakes and provide students with frosting and sprinkles to make their own sweet design.

©Tara West

Activities:• Take a class trip to your local farmer’s market.• Have students become farmers by planting vegetable seeds in class. As they

start to grow, have students take them home. Explain how to care for them at home so that they might have fresh vegetables to enjoy.

• Read fun books about farmers, such as Old MacDonald Had a Farm by Gris Grimly or Who Took the Farmer’s Hat? By Joan L. Nodset.

National Farmer’s DayOct. 12

Did You Know?: Farming is one of the world’s oldest jobs. People have been farming for over 12,000 years. Farmers are very important because they help produce different types of crops that we need and use everyday.

s

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Dessert DayOct. 14

Did You Know?: There are so many different types of desserts that people eat, such as pies, ice cream, cakes and cookies. Cotton candy spun from a machine was created by a dentist so that he could have more clients. People in Switzerland eat an average of 19 pounds of chocolate annually.

Activities:• Have students create a class graph to show their favorite type of dessert

(see October additional resources).• Allow students to become confectionary masters and create their own dessert

(see October additional resources).• Provide students with a fun sweet treat after lunchtime.

©Tara West

Activities:• Provide students with an opportunity to explore picture dictionaries. Explain

how they are setup and why a person might want to use a dictionary.• Have the students find a picture from the picture dictionary and write a story

about it.• Provide them with the alphabet sheet (see October additional resources) and

have students use the dictionary to find and illustrate a word that begins with each letter of the alphabet.

National Dictionary DayOct. 16

Did You Know?: The first dictionary published by Noah Webster was in 1806. He learned 26 languages in order to create his dictionary. Initially dictionaries only had words that people found difficult.

s

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Reptile Awareness DayOct. 21

Did You Know?: There are more than 10,000 species of reptiles. Reptiles can be placed into four major groups: crocodiles/alligators, lizards/snakes, turtles/tortoises, and tuataras. Not all reptiles lay eggs. Some snakes give birth to live babies!

Activities:• Read nonfiction books about different types of reptiles, such as National

Geographic Readers: Lizards and National Geographic Readers: Turtles by Laura Marsh.

• Give students the Reptile Revelation page and see if they can identify which facts are true and false about reptiles (see October additional resources).

• Have students choose a reptile they would be interested in researching and have them complete the Reptile Report (see October additional resources).

©Tara West

Activities:• Colors have the power to invoke different feelings. Read My Many Colored Days

by Dr. Seuss. Have children discuss how each color makes them feel.• Have students select a color and complete the “Color and Feelings” page (see

October additional resources).• Play Color Freeze Dance. Put on some fun music and have students dance

around. Stop the music and yell out a color. Have students point to something in the room that is that color.

National Color DayOct. 22

Did You Know?: Although we spell “color” c-o-l-o-r, the international spelling of the word is “c-o-l-o-u-r.” We are able to see color because of the different wavelengths of light. The human eye can see around seven million different colors.

s

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Food DayOct. 24

Did You Know?: This day was created to bring attention to healthy eating. Proper nutrition keeps our bodies healthy and strong.

Activities:• Using the food picture cards, have students sort the food into their different

food groups (see October additional resources).• Have students identify their favorite food from each food group and complete

“My Favorite Foods Plate” (see October additional resources).• Give students clues describing different foods and have them guess what food

your are describing.

©Tara West

Activities:• Play a Pumpkin Memory Match game to help with visual discrimination (see

October additional resources).• Read fun fiction and nonfiction books about pumpkins, such as Seed, Sprout,

Pumpkin, Pie by Jill Esbaum, Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White, or Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper.

• Bring in different types of pumpkin products for students to sample.• Have students bring in small pumpkins to paint and decorate.

National Pumpkin DayOct. 26

Did You Know?: The word “pumpkin” comes from the Greek word “pepon,” which means “large melon.” The largest pumpkin in the world weighed 2,323 pounds. Pumpkin flowers are edible as well as their seeds. Pumpkins have been around for over 5,000 years!

s

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Cat DayOct. 29

Did You Know?: Cats can sleep up to 18 hours a day. Male cats are called “Toms” and female cats are called “Queens.” Cats’ whiskers help them move around in the dark. Cats sweat through their paws!

Activities:• Read some fun books featuring some famous cats such as The Cat in the Hat

(Dr. Seuss), Pete the Cat (Eric Litwin), or Splat the Cat (Rob Scotton).• Learn interesting cat facts by reading nonfiction texts as well, such as National

Geographic Readers: Cats by Joan Galat.• Have students complete the cat puzzles (see October additional resources).

Cut the cat picture and have students match it to the white mat. Two versions are included (match CVC word to picture and match rhyming word to picture).

©Tara West

Activities:• Get a fun book of knock knock jokes to read to the class throughout the school

day, such as Lots of Knock-Knock Jokes for Kids by Whee Winn.• Help students come up with their own knock knock jokes and create a class

book.

National Knock Knock Joke DayOct. 31

Did You Know?: The knock knock joke initially came from a game called “Buff” in the 1920s. Knock knock jokes are one of the first types of jokes told by children.

October Additional Resources

&

©TaraWest

October 1: National Hair Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Head – Copy on skin tone paper.

©TaraWest

October 2: National Custodial Worker’s Recognition Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Custodial Worker(Sung to the tune of “You Are My Sunshine”)

Custodial worker, custodial worker.You keep our buildingSo nice and clean.

We want to tell youHow much we love you.Because of youOur school is so pristine.

©Tara West

c

©TaraWest

October 4: National Taco Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

n

Taco Craft

Materials:• Paper plate (1 per student)• Brown paper bag (1 per student)• Green shredded paper or lettuce pieces• Yellow shredded paper or cheese pieces• Tomato pieces

Directions1. Color or paint the paper plate brown on one side.2. Have students cut the paper bag into big strips

and place them on top of the white side of the paper plate.

3. Give every student a page of tomatoes. Have them cut out the tomatoes and place them on the plate so that they are slightly hanging off the edge.

4. Repeat for the lettuce and cheese pieces or use colored shredded paper.

5. Fold the plate in half and staple so that the pieces do not fall out.

&

©TaraWest


Name:Primary

Celebrations

Tomatoes – Copy on red paper.

&

©TaraWest


Name:Primary

Celebrations

Cheese – Copy on yellow or orange paper.

&

©TaraWest


Name:Primary

Celebrations

Lettuce – Copy on green paper.

©TaraWest

October 10: National Cake Decorating Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

&

©TaraWest

October 14: National Desert Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

©TaraWest

October 14: National Desert Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Dessert Name: __________________________________________

Ingredients: _____________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

My Dessert Creation

&

Aa Bb Cc

Dd Ee Ff

Gg Hh Ii

Jj Kk Ll

Mm

©TaraWest

October 16: National Dictionary Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

&

Nn Oo Pp

Qq Rr Ss

Tt Uu Vv

Ww Xx Yy

Zz

©TaraWest

October 16: National Dictionary Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Reptile Revelation – Read each statement about reptiles and decide if it’s true.

©TaraWest

October 21: National Reptile Awareness Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Turtles are reptiles.

Birds are reptiles.

Reptiles are warm-blooded.

Snakes smell with their tongues.

Turtles do not have ears.

The biggest lizard is the Komodo Dragon.

Reptiles only lay eggs in the water.

Reptiles are found on every continent.

©TaraWest

Answer KeyPrimary Celebrations

Turtles are reptiles.

Birds are reptiles.

Reptiles are warm-blooded.Reptiles are cold-blooded

Snakes smell with their tongues.

Turtles do not have ears.

The biggest lizard is the Komodo Dragon.

Reptiles only lay eggs in the water.Reptiles usually lay eggs on land.

Reptiles are found on every continent.They are not found on Antarctica.

Directions: Reptile Revelation – Read each statement about reptiles and decide if it’s true.


©TaraWest


Name:Primary

Celebrations

Reptile Report

Reptile Name: __________________________________________

Reptile Length: _________________________________________

Reptile Habitat: _________________________________________

Reptile Diet: _____________________________________________

Reptile Fact: ____________________________________________

©TaraWest

October 22: National Color Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Colors and Feelings

This is the color ________________________________________

It makes me feel: ______________________________________

__________________________________________________________

It makes me think of: __________________________________

__________________________________________________________

Fruit

Vegetables

Dairy

Grains

Protein

Food group cards. Print on cardstock and laminate.

&

©TaraWest

October 24: National Food Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

My Favorite Foods Plate

Proteins

Pumpkin Memory cards. Print on cardstock and laminate.

map fox bed bug wig

pot pin tag pen nut

leg cab sun pit mop

gum net six dog can

© TaraWest

cap box red mug fig

hot bin bag ten hut

peg dab bun hit hop

hum bet mix log pan

© TaraWest

November Celebrations

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Author’s DayNov. 1

Did You Know?: This day was created as a way to show appreciation for all of the authors across America and the literature they have provided to us.

Activities:• Complete an author’s study. Learn all about their life and read books that

they have written.• Have students write letters to their favorite authors. They might even get

back a response!• Encourage your students to become authors. Either independently or as a

class, have them write a story. Make copies and “publish” it. Allow students to take home copies of their friends’ stories.

©Tara West

Activities:• Read books about sandwiches, such as Carla’s Sandwich by Debbie Herman or

The Sandwich Swap by Queen Rania of Jordan Al Abdullah.• Play the Build a Sandwich game (see November additional resources).• Ask parents to send in different items for sandwich making and have a sandwich

snack in class.• Call on students to share out what their favorite type of sandwich is.

National Sandwich DayNov. 3

Did You Know?: John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, is usually credited with giving the sandwich it’s name. The most popular sandwich is just a plain ham sandwich. The longest sandwich ever made was 2081 feet. There was a grilled toast sandwich that sold for $28,000!

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Candy DayNov. 4

Did You Know?: Before people began making candy with sugar, they used to make it with honey. Candy was originally used as medicine to help with an upset stomach or sore throat. The top selling candies in the US are M&M’s and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

Activities:• Pass out handfuls of M&M’s or Skittles. Have students sort their candy and

then graph it.• Have children play a fun game of Candy Land.• Ask students to share out their favorite type of candy.• Use candy to make art. Have students use a paint brush and paint water onto

a piece of paper. Have them sprinkle Nerds candy on the wet parts. Let it sit for a few minutes and then dump them off.

©Tara West

Activities:• Throughout the day have students participate in activities related to each one

of the STEM/STEAM components.• There are lots of websites on the internet that show free activities you can

complete with your students.

National STEM/STEAM DayNov. 8

Did You Know?: STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. STEAM is similar to STEM but also incorporates Art. Ten of the fastest growing careers in the world are related to STEAM.

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Origami DayNov. 11

Did You Know?: The word “origami” comes from two Japanese words that mean “folding” and “paper.” No scissors or glue are used in origami, only folding. The paper crane is one of the most recognized pieces of origami made.

Activities:• Get books on origami to help students get started, such as Origami: A Step-

by-Step Introduction to the Art of Paper Folding by Trevor Cook or Easy Origami by John Montroll.

• Give your students square sheets of paper and allow them to be creative and develop their own origami work of art.

©Tara West

Activities:• Read books about pickles, such as Pickle Things by Marc Brown or Stop That

Pickle! by Peter Armour.• Bring in different types of pickles for students to sample, such as dill pickles,

bread & butter pickles, or sweet relish.• After sampling pickles, have students create a pickle poem (see November


National Pickle DayNov. 14

Did You Know?: Pickles are actually cucumbers that have been placed in a brine or vinegar over a period of time. Pickles are made in 30 out of 50 states. They have been around since 2400 B.C. Pickles are technically a “fruit.”

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Button DayNov. 16

Did You Know?: This day was established in 1938 by the National Button Society. The oldest button found was over 5,000 years old and was made out of a curved shell. Buttons used to be used as decoration instead of for fastening clothes together.

Activities:• Enjoy books about buttons, such as Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons

by Eric Litwin or The Button Box by Margarette S. Reid.• Provide students with a variety of buttons and allow them to sort. Have

students explain how they chose to sort the buttons. You can also use the provide button pictures for sorting (see November additional resources).

©Tara West

Activities:• Bring out the original game of Monopoly for students to play throughout the

day. For younger students, allow them to play Monopoly Junior.

National Play Monopoly DayNov. 19

Did You Know?: The game of Monopoly was created in 1883 by the Parker Brothers. It is considered one of the most popular board games in the world.

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Gingerbread Cookie DayNov. 21

Did You Know?: Gingerbread men were first made by Queen Elizabeth 1 of England. Gingerbread used to be eaten to help cure upset stomachs. Gingerbread houses became popular after the story of Hansel and Gretel was made.

Activities:• Read fun books about gingerbread people, such as Gingerbread Baby by Jan

Brett, The Gingerbread Girl by Lisa Campbell Ernst, or The Gingerbread Boy by Paul Galdone.

• Give students a gingerbread cookie to decorate. You can also use the paper version (see November additional resources).

©Tara West

Activities:• Read a book about people’s special talents, such as Jack’s Talent by Maryann

Cocca-Leffler.• Put on a talent show for your class. Have each student show something that

they are good at and that other people might not possibly be able to do.

National Celebrate Your Unique Talent Day

Nov. 24

Did You Know?: Everyone is unique and sometimes it’s a talent that helps you stand out. Sometimes talents are found on accident. People have been showcasing their talents since ancient Greek times.

November Additional Resources

c

©TaraWest

November 3: National Sandwich Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

n

Build a Sandwich Game

Materials:• 2 slices of bread (per student)• 3 tomatoes (per student)• 2 lettuce leaves (per student)• 2 slices of cheese (per student)• 3 ham slices (per student)• 1 laminated sandwich checklist and dry erase

marker (per student)• Sandwich spinner (per group)

Directions1. Print all pieces and laminate them for added

durability and repeated use.2. Each player begins with 2 slices of bread.3. Player 1 will spin and find out what will be added to

their sandwich. They will also mark it on their checklist. Then it will be the next player’s turn.

4. If a player spins and already has the required amount of that ingredient, their turn is over.

5. The first person to get all of the sandwich ingredients and make a complete sandwich wins.

&

©TaraWest


Name:Primary

Celebrations

©Tar

aWes

t

Build

a S

andw

ich

Gam

e Ch

eckl

ist

©Tar

aWes

t

Build

a S

andw

ich

Gam

e Ch

eckl

ist

©TaraWest

Build a Sandwich Game Spinner

&

©TaraWest


Name:Primary

Celebrations

Bread – Copy on tan or brown paper.

&

©TaraWest


Name:Primary

Celebrations

Tomatoes – Copy on red paper.

&

©TaraWest


Name:Primary

Celebrations

Cheese – Copy on yellow or orange paper.

&

©TaraWest


Name:Primary

Celebrations

Lettuce – Copy on green paper.

&

©TaraWest


Name:Primary

Celebrations

Ham – Copy on pink paper.

©Tar

aWes

t

Build

a S

andw

ich

Gam

e Ch

eckl

ist

©Tar

aWes

t

Build

a S

andw

ich

Gam

e Ch

eckl

ist

©TaraWest

Build a Sandwich Game Spinner

&

©TaraWest

November 14: National Pickle Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

I see

I feel

I hear

I smell

I taste

My Pickle Poem

&

©TaraWest

November 14: National Pickle Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Noun

Adjective Adjective

Verb Verb Verb

Short Sentence

Synonym of Noun

My Pickle Poem

Button sorting cards. Print on cardstock and laminate.

&

©TaraWest

November 21: National Gingerbread Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

December Celebrations

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Eat a Red Apple DayDec. 1

Did You Know?: It take an apple tree up to five years to produce fruit. Americans eat more apples than any other fruit. Apples can float in water. People have eaten apples since 6500 BC. Here are more than 7500 varieties of apples in the world.

Activities:• Read books about apples such as Ten Red Apples by Pat Hutchins.• Bring in red apples for students to taste. Extend the activity by bringing in

different varieties of red apples and have students vote on their favorite.• Bring in different products made of apples for students to taste.• Slice an apple in half. Allow students to dip it in paint and make apple print art.

©Tara West

Activities:• Encourage students to wear fun socks to school on this day.• Have students design their own pair of socks (see December additional

resources).• Collect many different pairs of socks (approximately 20). Separate them and

place ten pairs in a basket and the other ten pairs in a different basket. Have students race to put the pairs back together.

National Sock DayDec. 4

Did You Know?: In ancient times people used animal skin and hair to cover their feet and would tie them around so that they stayed on. The oldest pair of socks were dated as far back as possibly 250 and had split toes meaning they were probably worn with sandals.

©Tara West

©Tara West

Put on Your Own Shoes DayDec. 6

Did You Know?: The oldest shoe found is believed to be over 5000 years old! Shoes for the right foot and left foot were not made until almost the end of the 18th century. Sneakers got their names because their soles did not make a lot of noise when people walked in them.

Activities:• This is a great day to encourage shoe tying in class. You can start off by

having students practice on a sample shoe using either real shoe strings or yarn (see December additional resources).

• Create a poster for students that are able to tie their shoes. Have them sign their names on it. Encourage students to ask these shoe tying experts for help if they need it.

©Tara West

Activities:• As a class complete an interactive letter on chart paper and allow each student

to contribute something to the letter. Give it to someone in the school.• Help students write their own letters to someone either in the class or in their

family (see December additional resources). Provide students with envelopes and stamps (i.e., stickers) for their letters. If you have actual addresses, then allow students to really mail their letters.

Letter Writing DayDec. 7

Did You Know?: Letter writing is one of the oldest forms of communication that is still used today. A long time ago people used to write letters to others on wood, leather and fabric! Handwritten letters are a great way to show people you care because they know that they take time to write.

©Tara West

©Tara West

Pretend to be a Time Traveler DayDec. 8

Did You Know?: People that participate get to decide if they want to travel back in time or travel to the future. Although time travel isn’t real, a lot of people enjoy pretending by dressing up.

Activities:• Using the provided letter (see December additional resources), encourage

students to come to school dressed from a period in the past or how people might possibly dress in the future.

• Read books about different time periods from the past, such as the Then and Now series by Robin Nelson.

©Tara West

Activities:• Allow students to create Christmas cards for friends and family members.• Take old Christmas cards and cut off the front of them. Cut them into pieces

to make table puzzles for students to put together.

Christmas Card DayDec. 9

Did You Know?: The first Christmas cards were sent in 1843 in London. The most expensive Christmas card ever cost $35,800. Over 2 billion Christmas cards are mailed annually in the United States.

©Tara West

©Tara West

Gingerbread House DayDec. 12

Did You Know?: The largest gingerbread house was 67 feet tall! The concept of gingerbread houses came about due to the Brothers’ Grimm tale of Hansel and Gretel. Ginger, one of the key ingredients in gingerbread, is sometimes used as a medicine.

Activities:• Have students decorate gingerbread houses at home as a family project and

bring them to school to display.• Allow students to make their own gingerbread houses at school. Thoroughly

wash and clean empty milk cartons (1 per student). Have them add icing to the sides and top and place graham crackers on it. Then provide them with a variety of candies and icing to decorate their house.

©Tara West

Activities:• Read a non-fiction book about monkeys such as National Geographic Readers:

Monkeys by Anne Schreiber or enjoy a fiction book such as the Five Little Monkeys series by Eileen Christelow.

• Have students play Barrel of Monkeys. • Teach students how to play Monkey See, Monkey Do (see December additional

resource).

Monkey DayDec. 14

Did You Know?: Monkeys are a type of primate. Other primates include gorillas and chimpanzees. There are around 260 different monkey species. Monkeys like to spend their time in trees. Monkeys made it to space before humans did!

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Cupcake DayDec. 15

Did You Know?: The largest cupcake weighed over 1,200 lbs. There are places that offer cupcakes out of ATMs! The name cupcake came from a recipe in which all ingredients were by the cupful. Fairy cakes are the names of cupcakes in Britain. In Australia they’re patty cakes!

Activities:• Bring in a variety of cupcake flavors and allow students to sample them. Have

them decide on their favorite.• Provide students with cupcake liners and playdoh. Allow them to create their

own cupcake art.

©Tara West

Activities:• Read a book about the Wright brothers such as The Wright Brothers (Great

Scientists and Inventors) by Emily James.• Have students design their own flying invention and allow them to share with the

class (see December additional resources).

Wright Brothers DayDec. 17

Did You Know?: This day was designated in remembrance of the day the Wright brothers made their first in a mechanical airplane. The Wright brothers were Orville and Wilbur Wright. This day has been observed since 1959.

©Tara West

©Tara West

Crossword Puzzle DayDec. 21

Did You Know?: Arthur Wynne is considered the inventory of published crossword puzzles. These puzzles are great way to exercise and challenge the mind.

Activities:• Provide students with a variety of crossword puzzles and work together as a

class to solve them (see December additional resources).• As a challenge have students try to create their own crossword puzzles and

allow them to share with a friend.

©Tara West

Activities:• Allow students to familiarize themselves with a deck of cards. Allow them to

sort them by color, suit, number, etc.• Teach your students how to play a variety of different card games.

National Card Playing DayDec. 28

Did You Know?: Discoveries have shown that people in China were playing with cards as early as the 9th century. During WWII playing cards were sent to American prisoners. These were special because when they got wet, they would peel apart to show a map that could lead them to freedom!

December Additional Resources

©TaraWest

December 4: National Sock Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Design your own pair of socks.

©TaraWest

December 6: Put on Your Own Shoes DayPrimary Celebrations Directions: Copy the shoe on heavy cardstock and laminate for durability.

Punch holes for the shoe laces to go through.

©TaraWest

December 7: Letter Writing DayPrimary Celebrations

Date

Greeting

,

Closing

,Name

©TaraWest

December 8: Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day


Dear Families,On December 8 we will be enjoying Pretend to be a Time

Traveler Day. Students are encouraged to dress from a different time period. They may dress like a period from the past or you can be creative and dress futuristic. Make sure that your child is ready to share about what time period that are dressed for.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

__________________________________

©TaraWest

December 8: Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day


Dear Families,On December 8 we will be enjoying Pretend to be a Time

Traveler Day. Students are encouraged to dress from a different time period. They may dress like a period from the past or you can be creative and dress futuristic. Make sure that your child is ready to share about what time period that are dressed for.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

__________________________________

©TaraWest

December 14: Monkey Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Choose one student to be “it” and have them leave the room.

Designate one student to be the “Main Monkey.” He or she will make movements and the other students will have to do what that person does. The object of the game is to not let the person who is it know who the Main Monkey is.

Have the Main Monkey start a movement and once everyone has started have the person that is “it” come back in and stand in the middle. The Main Monkey should change their movement when they think the “it” person isn’t watching and everyone else should change their movement, too.

Allow the “it” person 3 chances to guess who the Main Monkey is. Then the Main Monkey will become it and a new Main Monkey will be selected.

©TaraWest

December 17: Wright Brothers Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Draw a picture of your own unique flying invention.

©TaraWest

December 17: Wright Brothers Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Draw and write about your own unique flying invention.

©TaraWest

December 21: Crossword Puzzle Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Across:1. A mammal that flies at night.4. What a red light means.7. The part of your body that has your knees and helps you walk.8. The opposite of yes.9. The opposite of bottom.11. A pet that swims in a bowl.

1

4 5 6

2

3

7

8

9 10

11

Down:2. What you do to dirty clothes and dishes.3. What you do when you put your hands to together.5. The opposite of off.6. Something you can boil water in or cook soup in.10. The opposite of on.

©TaraWest

December 21: Crossword Puzzle Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Across:1. A mammal that flies at night.4. What a red light means.7. The part of your body that has your knees and helps you walk.8. The opposite of yes.9. The opposite of bottom.11. A pet that swims in a bowl.

b a t w

u c a

s t o p l e g s

n o a h

t o p

f

f i s h

1

4 5 6

2

3

7

8

9 10

11

Answer Key

Down:2. What you do to dirty clothes and dishes.3. What you do when you put your hands to together.5. The opposite of off.6. Something you can boil water in or cook soup in.10. The opposite of on.

©TaraWest

December 28: National Card Playing Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

High Challenge(also known as War)

Number of Players: 2

Cards: A regular deck with all face cards removed. The Ace will count as the number 1.

Instructions: • Divide the deck in half between the two players.

They will keep their half together face down.• Each player will turn over the top card from the

deck at the same time. The person whose card is higher will collect both cards, turn them over face down, and place them at the bottom of their deck.

• If both players turn over cards with the same number, they will turn over their next card. The person with the higher number collects all of the cards.

• Play will continue until one person is out of cards.

©TaraWest

December 28: National Card Playing Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Go Fish

Number of Players: 2-6 playersCards: A regular deck.

Instructions: • Pass out seven cards for 2 players or six cards for

3-6 players. Place the rest of the cards in a pile face down in the middle of the players. Decide who will go first.

• On your turn look at your cards and ask any player if they have a certain number in their hand. • If they do, they must give you all of the cards of

that number. You then get another turn.• If they do not, they will say, “Go fish.” You will

draw a card from the pile. If that card is the number you asked for, show everyone and your turn continues. If it isn’t, then the next person goes.

• Once you have four of a number, you show everyone and set that pile out.

• The game continues until someone has no more cards left.

January Celebrations

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Drinking Straw DayJan. 3

Did You Know?: The oldest drinking straw found was dated back to 3,000 B.C. At one point, drinking straws were made out of grass, until Marvin C. Stone made one of out of paper in 1888. That drinking straw is similar to the ones we use now!

Activities:• Setup a STEM challenge. Provide students with drinking straws and tape. Give

students the task of building the tallest structure. • Create blow art. Place drops of liquid watercolor on cardboard or cardstock

using a pipette or dropper. Take a straw and blow the liquid around to create beautiful art.

©Tara West

Activities:• Teach students the song, “On Top of Spaghetti” (see January additional

resources).• Have students sequence the steps they would take to create spaghetti (see

January additional resources).• Allow students to create their own spaghetti recipe (see January additional

resources).

National Spaghetti DayJan. 4

Did You Know?: The word “spaghetti” comes from an Italian word that means “thin string.” Eating spaghetti with tomato sauce started around the 1800s, but people were eating pasta as far back as 5,000 B.C.!

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Bird DayJan. 5

Did You Know?: There are over 10,000 species of birds! This day was created to bring attention to the fact that almost 12% of bird species are endangered.

Activities:• Go on a nature walk around school to see if you can spot any birds in the area.

If you have the technology, allow students to take pictures and create a class slide show.

• As a class or independently research endangered species of birds. Create class posters to help bring awareness to these birds.

©Tara West

Activities:• Combine a variety of different types of beans. Have students sort the beans.• Have a bean guessing contest. Place beans in a small jar and have students

estimate how many beans are in the jar.• Create bean art. Allow students to make pictures by gluing down the beans.

You can also write students’ names or sight words on sentence strips and have them glue down the beans over your writing to create a tactile resource.

National Bean DayJan. 6

Did You Know?: People have been growing and eating beans since 7,000 BC! There are over 40,000 different varieties of beans. Beans are a very good food to eat because it has lots of fiber which is good for our body but they are also low in fat.

©Tara West

©Tara West

National JoyGerm DayJan. 8

Did You Know?: We know that people spread germs but they can also spread kindness, too. This day was created by a woman named Joan White as a way to “infect” people with happiness and kindness.

Activities:• Have students create cards of happiness for staff members around the school

(and don’t forget custodians, office staff, and cafeteria workers!).• Sit in a big circle and have students share kind words about the person sitting

to their right. Then, go back around and have students share kind words about the person sitting to their left.

• Read Have You Filled a Bucket Today? A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids by Carol McCloud and discuss additional ways that students can fill buckets.

©Tara West

Activities:• Create a class list of different products that contain milk.• Have students draw and/or write about their favorite way to enjoy milk (see January

additional resources).• Read the book Spilled Milk. Give each student a blue sheet of construction paper. Give each

student a small bit of white paint in the middle of the paper. Close the paper and open it again to resemble the spilled milk art.

• Thoroughly clean out milk cartons from lunch. Allow students to cover them with construction paper and create houses that could be used to make a little town for exploratory play.

National Milk DayJan. 11

Did You Know?: On January 11, 1878 the first bottle of milk was delivered. Over 6 billion people across the world drink milk or eat products that contain milk. Most milk comes from cows but some people get their milk from buffalos, goats, reindeer, camels and donkeys.

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Sticker DayJan. 13

Did You Know?: Stickers were fist used in Europe around the mid 1700s. The first stickers were made from gum glue. They were used to make things look better. Stickers come in all shapes and sizes and smells!

Activities:• Give every student a sticker chart for the day and allow them to earn stickers

for various tasks (completing assignments, lining up quietly, helping others, etc.). • Have students complete sticker stories (see January additional resources).

Place a sticker in the middle of the paper. Have students illustrate a scene around the sticker. If they are able to, have them write a brief story about their picture.

©Tara West

Activities:• Allow students to wear fun hats to school.• Bring different types of hats that serve different purposes and have students

identify who would wear them (e.g., chef’s hat, hard hat, a helmet, etc.)• Read Cap’s for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina. Take a picture of students and glue

them onto the writing prompt page (see January additional resources). Allow them to decorate a hat and glue it on their picture. Then complete the writing prompt using an adjective to describe the hat.

National Hat DayJan. 15

Did You Know?: Hats can be worn for many reasons: safety, protection, ceremonies, and fashion. A person that makes hats is a called a “milliner.” Millions of people around the world participate annually.

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Winnie the Pooh DayJan. 18

Did You Know?: This day was created in honor of the author who created Winnie the Pooh, A. A. Milne who was born on January 18, 1882. Winnie the Pooh was named after a real life bear that was at the London Zoo. Christopher Robin was actually named after the author’s real son.

Activities:• Throughout the day read a variety of Winnie the Pooh stories to students.

Have students share who their favorite character is and why.• Have a special snack that includes honey flavored graham crackers or honey

flavored cereal in honor of a special bear’s favorite snack.

©Tara West

Activities:• Bring in a variety of popcorn flavors for the class to try. Have them vote on

their favorite flavor.• Bring in a popcorn popper so that students can actually see the kernels turn

into popcorn. Have students use their five senses to describe their experiences with the popcorn (see January additional resources).

National Popcorn DayJan. 19

Did You Know?: Popcorn has been around since the year 400. Popcorn used to be used to make headdresses. In the 1900s popcorn was called Pearls. Popcorn is generally served buttered but it can also be covered in caramel, chocolate, and cheese. It’s the official snack food of Illinois.

©Tara West

©Tara West

Squirrel Appreciation DayJan. 21

Did You Know?: Squirrels can be found on every continent in the world except Antarctica. Squirrels come in all different sizes. However, one species of squirrel can be almost 3 feet long! If you ever see a group of squirrels together, they are called a scurry.

Activities:• Read a fun book about squirrels such as the Scaredy Squirrel series by

Melanie Watt. Students may also enjoy Nancy Rose’s books on squirrels in which she takes real pictures of squirrels doing very human like things!

• Play the Squirrel Memory Match game (see January additional resources) and have students match the squirrel to the correct number of nuts.

• Instead of using regular math manipulatives on this day, allow students to use acorns.

©Tara West

Activities:• Encourage students to provide their very best handwriting throughout the

entire school day.• Provide a variety of writing utensils (such as pens, markers, colored pencils,

chalk) for students to write with during the day.• Bring in a feather and an ink to show students what people used to write with a

long time ago. Allow students an opportunity to write with the feather and ink.

National Handwriting DayJan. 23

Did You Know?: This day was chosen because it is the birthday of John Hancock, the first person to sign the declaration of independence. Everyone’s handwriting is as unique as their fingerprints!

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Compliment DayJan. 24

Did You Know?: Compliments are a great way to share with someone how much you truly care and appreciate them. Compliments mean a lot to people when they are genuine and heartfelt. The word “compliment” comes from a word meaning “to fill up.”

Activities:• Encourage students to compliment others around the school. For example,

they can compliment the cafeteria workers for making delicious food or the custodial staff for super clean halls.

• Have students give their best work and draw a picture. Allow them to share their picture with a partner. Ask them to provide a genuine compliment about their partner’s picture.

©Tara West

Activities:• You can purchase inexpensive kazoos in the party supply section for students to

play in class.• Have students make their own kazoos (see January additional resources).

National Kazoo DayJan. 28

Did You Know?: The first kazoo was made in the 1840s. In order to play the kazoo, you hum a song into it.

©Tara West

National Puzzle DayJan. 29

Did You Know?: Puzzles are great way to challenge and exercise our brains. Puzzles come in different forms. They can be puzzles that you put together with pieces (jigsaw) or they can be other types such as crosswords or Rubik’s cubes.

Activities:• Bring in a couple of Rubik’s cubes and allow students to explore.• Place students into small groups and allow students to work together to solve

them. See which team can solve their puzzle first.• Have students create their own puzzle and give it to a friend to solve. For

added durability have them draw it on cardstock (see January additional resources).

January Additional Resources

©TaraWest

January 4: National Spaghetti Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

On Top of Spaghetti

On top of spaghetti all covered with cheeseI lost my poor meatball when somebody sneezed.

It rolled off the table. It rolled on the floor.And then my poor meatball rolled out of the door.

It rolled in the garden and under a bushAnd then my poor meatball was nothing but mush.

The mush was as tasty as tasty could be,And early next summer it grew to a tree.

The tree was all covered with beautiful moss.It grew great big meatballs and tomato sauce.

So if you eat spaghetti all covered with cheese,Hold on to your meatball and don't ever sneeze.

©TaraWest

January 4: National Spaghetti DayPrimary Celebrations Spaghetti sequencing cards

Pri

mary

Cele

bra

tions

©Tar

aWes

t

Janu

ary

4: N

ati

ona

l Spaghe

tti D

ay

Nam

e:

Dir

ect

ions

: Seque

nce t

he c

ard

s to

sho

w h

ow

to p

repare

sp

aghe

tti.

©TaraWest


Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Draw a picture of your own spaghetti dish.

©TaraWest


Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Draw a picture of your own spaghetti dish. List the ingredients and directions on how to prepare it.

©TaraWest

January 5: National Bird Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Create a poster about an endangered species of bird.

©TaraWest

January 11: National Milk Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Draw a picture showing how you enjoy milk.

©TaraWest

January 11: National Milk Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Draw a picture and write about your favorite way to enjoy milk.

©TaraWest

January 13: National Sticker Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Place a sticker in the middle of the paper and create an illustration around the sticker that tells a story.

©TaraWest

January 13: National Sticker Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Place a sticker in the middle of the paper. Create an illustration around the sticker and write a brief story about it.

©Tara West

Our Class Hat Book

©Tara West

I have a _____________

hat on top of my head.

©Tara West

©TaraWest

January 19: National Popcorn Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Use your five senses to describe your experience with popped corn.

1 2

3 4

5 6

7 8

9 10

11 12

13 14

15 16

17 18

19 20

1 2

3 4

5 6

7 8

9 10

11 12

13 14

15 16

17 18

19 20

c

©TaraWest

January 28: National Kazoo Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Follow the directions in order to make your own kazoo.

n

Materials:• Toilet paper roll (1 per student)• Markers or paint• Waxed paper cut into squares larger than the

opening of the toilet paper roll (1 per student)• Rubber band (1 per student)

Directions1. Provide each student with a toilet paper roll

and allow them to decorate it.2. Place a wax paper square at the end of the

roll and secure it with a rubber band.3. Adult job: Poke a small hole in the middle of

the toilet paper roll so that air can come out in order to make noise.

c

©TaraWest

January 29: National Puzzle Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Draw a picture and cut out the pieces. Give it to a friend to solve.

n

February Celebrations

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Serpent DayFeb. 1

Did You Know?: Snake venom is used in some medicines. Snakes don’t have eyelids. They are found on every continent except for Antarctica. Rattles of rattlesnakes are made of the same material as our hair and fingernails.

Activities:• Read a story about snakes such as Verde by Janell Cannon.• Have students complete a research report on a species of snake (see

February additional resources).

©Tara West

Activities:• If possible, arrange a field trip to the local post office so that students may

thank mail carriers in person. If you are not able to take a field trip, see if a mail carrier may be able to come and visit your class.

• Have the class create cards to the school’s mail carrier or package delivery person.

National Thank a Mail Carrier DayFeb. 4

Did You Know?: It is believed that letters were delivered to people as long ago as 2000 BC. Some of the earliest postal carriers delivered their mail by horse. They were called the Pony Express.

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Kite Flying DayFeb. 8

Did You Know?: Kites were believed to have been around since 400 BC in China. Kites have been made from everything from bamboo to leaves and silk. Some places have kite festivals at different points of the year.

Activities:• Have students decorate a kite (see February additional resources).• Provide students with a kite building STEM challenge. Give groups of students

supplies (tissue paper, card stock, straws, string, crayons, glue, tape). Have students take them outside on a windy day and see if they will take flight.

©Tara West

Activities:• Have students create a new pizza flavor (see February additional resources).• Make a pizza display. Allow students to build their favorite type of pizza (see

February additional resource). Attach the writing prompt to their pizza.

National Pizza DayFeb. 9

Did You Know?: The most popular pizza flavor is pepperoni. A popular pizza topping in Japan is sushi. Other unique pizza toppings have included eggplant, oysters, and dandelions. 94% of people in America eat pizza. The largest pizza ever was over 122 feet!

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Umbrella DayFeb. 10

Did You Know?: Some people consider it bad luck to open an umbrella inside. The word umbrella comes from a Latin word meaning shade. Umbrellas used to only be used by royalty.

Activities:• Read a book about umbrellas such as Ella’s Umbrellas by Jennifer Lloyd.• As a class make an acrostic poem about umbrellas.• Have students create the umbrella craft (see February additional resources).

©Tara West

Activities:• Read books about making new friends such as The Sandwich Swap by Queen

Rania of Jordan Al Abdullah or Yoko by Rosemary Wells.• Encourage your students to play with students that they don’t usually play with

at recess or during center time.• Provide students with pipe cleaners and beads so that they can make a

friendship bracelet and give it to a new friend.

National Make a Friend DayFeb. 11

Did You Know?: Making a new friend can expose you to people with new and creative ideas. New friendships can also help us become more diverse and tolerant of other people’s differences.

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Gumdrop DayFeb. 15

Did You Know?: Gumdrops are typically used to decorate gingerbread houses during the Christmas holiday. Gumdrops are gelatin that has been covered in sugar. They come in a variety of different flavors.

Activities:• Have students play Candy Land.• Provide a bridge building STEM activity for students. Give them gumdrops,

toothpicks, popsicle sticks and teddy bear counters. Have students construct a bridge and see how many teddy bear counters their bridge can hold.

• As an additional STEM activity have students place their gumdrops on a plate and add water. Allow them to observe the changes.

©Tara West

Activities:• Read a book about random acts of kindness such as Kindness Counts: A Story

for Teaching Random Acts of Kindness by Bryan Smith.• Encourage families to complete random acts of kindness during the entire week.

Have students share what they did. Keep a chart of all of the acts they have performed. At the end of the week have students share how they felt performing these acts.

National Random Acts of KindnessFeb. 17

Did You Know?: A random act of kindness means you do something for others without expecting anything in return. When you perform a random act of kindness, it not only makes the other person feel good but it also makes you feel good too.

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Love Your Pet DayFeb. 20

Did You Know?: Most homes in America have at least one pet. Dogs can be found in more homes than any other pet. Although most people have cats, dogs, birds and fish as pets, there are some that have more unique pets such as ferrets, wallabies, goats and pot belly pigs!

Activities:• Read books about having a pet such as Not Norman: A Goldfish Story by Kelly

Bennett or The Octopuppy by Martin McKenna.• Allow students to bring in pictures of their pets.• Create a chart of comparing and contrasting how different pets would need

to be cared for such as dog vs. fish (see February additional resources).• Have students write about what the best pet would be and why (see February

additional resources.

©Tara West

Activities:• Read a variety of fairy tales throughout the day. As you read them, have

students start to notice recurring themes that pop up in some of them such as certain phrases (“once upon a time” or “happily ever after”) or how many times there were sets of threes (three bears, three pigs, three Billy goats).

• Create a fairy tale as a class. Have everyone sit in a circle. Start off the fairy tale and have the student next to you provide the next sentence. Continue around the circle until it comes back to you and provide the conclusion.

National Tell a Fairy Tale DayFeb. 26

Did You Know?: Fairy tales have been around for centuries. Before they were written down they were told orally and these tales were passed from generation to generation. Although many fairy tales are fiction, there are a few, such as Snow White, that might have been based on real people.

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Polar Bear DayFeb. 27

Did You Know?: Polar bears are aquatic mammals. They spend lots of time on the ice and sea hunting for food. Polar bears will eat a variety of animals such as seals, walruses, and sometimes even whales.

Activities:• Read books about polar bears such as National Geographic Readers: Polar

Bears by Laura Marsh.• Allow students to see live polar bears by watching the polar bear cam from

the San Diego zoo.• Have students complete the polar bear craft (see February additional

resources). Allow students to cover the face with either cotton balls or a mixture of shaving cream and glue.

©Tara West

Activities:• Read books about the tooth fairy such as You Think It’s Easy Being the Tooth

Fairy? by Sheri Bell-Rehwoldt.• Provide students with a variety of different colors of construction paper and

allow students to create a tooth fairy. Be sure to encourage them to use their imaginations.

• Have students write about what they think the Tooth Fairy does with all of the teeth that are collected (see February additional resources).

National Tooth Fairy DayFeb. 28

Did You Know?: The Tooth Fairy has a busy job collecting teeth from boys and girls across the world. Many times there is something left in exchange for the tooth.

February Additional Resources

©TaraWest

February 1: National Serpent Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Snake Report

Snake Name: ____________________

Snake Length: ____________________

Snake Habitat: ____________________

Snake Diet: ______________________

Interesting Fact: ___________________

©TaraWest

February 8: National Kite Flying Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Decorate your kite.

©TaraWest

February 9: National Pizza Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

My Pizza Creation

My Ingredients:

©TaraWest

February 9: National Pizza DayPrimary Celebrations Pizza crust – Copy on brown or tan paper.

©TaraWest

February 9: National Pizza DayPrimary Celebrations Pizza sauce – Copy on red paper.

©TaraWest

February 9: National Pizza DayPrimary Celebrations Cheese – Copy on yellow or orange paper.

©TaraWest

February 9: National Pizza DayPrimary Celebrations Mushrooms – Copy on tan or gray paper.

©TaraWest

February 9: National Pizza DayPrimary Celebrations Pepperoni – Copy on red paper.

©TaraWest

February 9: National Pizza DayPrimary Celebrations Olives – Copy on black paper.

©TaraWest

February 9: National Pizza DayPrimary Celebrations Peppers – Copy on green or red paper.

©TaraWest

February 9: National Pizza DayPrimary Celebrations Onions – Copy on white or purple paper.

©TaraWest

February 9: National Pizza DayPrimary Celebrations

My Favorite Type of PizzaMy favorite type of pizza is ___________________

____________________________________.

I like it because __________________________

____________________________________.

©TaraWest


My Favorite Type of PizzaMy favorite type of pizza is ___________________

____________________________________.

I like it because __________________________

____________________________________.

©TaraWest

February 10: National Umbrella DayPrimary Celebrations Umbrella canopy

©TaraWest

February 10: National Umbrella DayPrimary Celebrations Umbrella handle

©TaraWest

February 20: National Love Your Pet Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Compare and contrast the needs of two different types of pets.

©TaraWest


Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Draw a picture of what the best pet would be.

©TaraWest


Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Draw a picture of what the best pet would be and why.

©TaraWest

February 27: National Polar Bear DayPrimary Celebrations Polar Bear Head – Copy on white cardstock.

©TaraWest

February 27: National Polar Bear DayPrimary Celebrations Polar Bear Ears – Copy on white cardstock.

©TaraWest

February 27: National Polar Bear DayPrimary Celebrations Polar Bear Eyes – Copy on white paper.

©TaraWest

February 27: National Polar Bear DayPrimary Celebrations Polar Bear Nose – Copy on white paper.

©TaraWest

February 27: National Polar Bear DayPrimary Celebrations Polar Bear Nose – Copy on black paper.

©TaraWest

February 28: National Tooth Fairy Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Draw a picture of what you think the Tooth Fairy does with the teeth that are collected.

©TaraWest

February 28: National Tooth Fairy Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Draw a picture and write about what you think the Tooth Fairy does with the teeth that are collected.

March Celebrations

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Pig DayMar. 1

Did You Know?: Pigs are very smart animals. Some pigs have been taught to tell time, count and do other tricks. Some people have pigs as indoor pets and have even trained them to use litter boxes similar to cats. A female pig is called a gilt.

Activities:• Enjoy a book about pigs such as Hogwash! by Karma Wilson or the fairy tale

of the three little pigs. • Have students sort pigs by those that have pictures that rhyme with pig and

those that don’t (see March additional resources).

©Tara West

Activities:• Provide students with a sticky note. Encourage them to write a nice message to

someone in a different class and stick it on their locker or desk.• Teach students some jokes that they can share with others to make them smile

and laugh (see March additional resources).• Have students draw happy pictures and post them around school to brighten

everyone’s day.• Listen to the song “Happy” and have a dance party in class.

National I Want You to be Happy Day

Mar. 3

Did You Know?: Happiness is an emotion that is felt by anyone regardless of their background; however, what makes people happy can be different depending on the person. When people say, “happy as a clam,” it is because clams look like they’re smiling when they are open.

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Dentist’s DayMar. 6

Did You Know?: Dentists are some of the oldest medical professionals. Hesy Ra is the first dentist recorded in history. He practiced in Egypt in 2600 BC. Barbers used to be dentists as a side business and would often extract people’s teeth.

Activities:• Invite a dentist to come speak to students about his or her job.• Have students write kind notes to local dentists or even to their own personal

dentist.• Read a book about visiting the dentist, such as The Berenstain Bears Visit the

Dentist by Stan Berenstain.• Have students fill in the tooth with ways they can keep their teeth healthy and

make their dentist proud at their next visit (see March additional resources).

©Tara West

Activities:• Take a vote by students and see what cereal is the class’ favorite.• Collect old cereal boxes. Cut off the front and then cut them into pieces to

make a puzzle. Place each set in a baggie and have students put the pieces back together.

• Explain to students that our bodies need iron. One way we can get iron is through cereal. Complete the science activity with students so that they can see the iron contained in cereal (see March additional resources).

National Cereal DayMar. 7

Did You Know?: The first cereal grains were grown 8,000 years ago. The first cereal made to be sold to consumers had to be soaked overnight before people could actually eat it. Corn flakes were eaten by the Apollo 11 crew as they went to the moon.

©Tara West

©Tara West

International Women’s DayMar. 8

Did You Know?: International Women’s Day was first observed in the early 1900s. One of the purposes of this day is to celebrate the many achievements of women from all around the world.

Activities:• Invite female community helpers to come speak to the class about their jobs

and accomplishments.• Read books about accomplished women, such as She Persisted: 13 American

Women Who Changed the World by Chelsea Clinton.• Have students research a woman who has helped make the world a better

place. You may have students work individually, in small groups, or as a class (see March additional resources).

©Tara West

Activities:• Allow students to plant flower seeds and watch their growth over time. • Have students press flowers. Have them place flowers (make sure they are

dry) between two pieces of paper and place them between the pages of a book. Place something heavy on top. Wait 2-4 weeks for flowers to fully dry.

• Use the sequencing cards so that students can order the steps for planting a flower (see March additional resources).

National Plant a Flower DayMar. 12

Did You Know?: Many centuries ago tulips were worth more than gold in Holland. Not all plants need soil to grow. Orchids get all of their nutrients from the air. Some flowers are carnivorous and will eat bugs and other small animals. Some flowers can be eaten!

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Children’s Craft DayMar. 14

Did You Know?: Crafting is a great way to relax and relieve stress. Crafts also help to develop a person’s imagination. It helps to promote fine motor skills and is a way to have fun without the use of electronics.

Activities:• Read books to help inspire creativity, such as titles by Peter H. Reynolds (The

Dot and Sky Color).• Provide students with a variety of crafting materials (e.g., construction paper,

markers, stickers, pipe cleaners, etc.) and let them use their imagination to create.

• Place students in small groups and give each group a shoe box. Provide them with materials and time to transform the box into something else.

©Tara West

Activities:• Complete research about giant pandas (see March additional resources).• Quite a few zoos (Smithsonian’s National Zoo, Zoo Atlanta, and San Diego Zoo)

have live streaming panda cams so that students can watch them eat and play.

National Panda DayMar. 16

Did You Know?: Pandas are native to China. They are currently endangered with an estimated 2000 living in the world. Pandas are omnivores and love to eat bamboo. Pandas spend more time eating than sleeping. Baby pandas are born with white fur.

©Tara West

©Tara West

World Storytelling DayMar. 20

Did You Know?: Storytelling Day initially started in Sweden in the early 1990s. This day usually coincides with the March or Spring Equinox. Storytelling is a great way to learn about different cultures and histories.

Activities:• Encourage the art of oral storytelling in class. Partner students up and give

the first partner 5 minutes to orally tell a story and then have them switch. To make it more fun, give students a topic and have them come up with a story about the topic.

• Invite students’ family members to come visit and share an oral story with the class (see March additional resources).

©Tara West

Activities:• Use inexpensive salt and pepper shakers and place cotton balls on the inside with

different scents (peppermint oil, perfume, lemon juice, pickle juice). Have students try to guess the scents.

• Mix Kool-Aid packets with a few teaspoons of water and allow students to paint pictures. Once their pictures are dry, allow students to sniff the different colors of their art work.

National Fragrance DayMar. 21

Did You Know?: Memories are often connected to smells. The olfactory bulb in our brain helps us process our smells. Not all smells are created equal. Our nose can detect over one trillion different smells.

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Puppy DayMar. 23

Did You Know?: If National Puppy Day falls on a weekend, then it is observed on Friday or Monday. This day encourages people to take great care of their furry friends and also encourages puppy adoption. A puppy’s nose print is as unique as a person’s fingerprint.

Activities:• Encourage students with puppies to bring photos of their pets to share with

the class.• As a class come up with a list of things a person would need to consider

before deciding to bring a new puppy home.

©Tara West

Activities:• Have students share their favorite unofficial holiday they have learned about

thus far.• Each student will develop their own holiday (see March additional resources).

For added fun, try to observe some of their holidays throughout the remainder of the school year.

Make Up Your Own Holiday DayMar. 26

Did You Know?: This day was designed to encourage people to be creative and come up with something to celebrate or observe. Holidays can be official which means they are recognized by the government. If they are unofficial, businesses don’t usually close for them.

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Pencil DayMar. 30

Did You Know?: Most of the pencils made in America are yellow. Thomas Edison had specially made pencils that were thicker than a regular pencil. The word “pencil” comes from a Latin word meaning “little tail.” Before erasers were invented, bread crumbs were used to fix mistakes.

Activities:• Allow students to write with colored or scented pencils.• Trick students by making them think that you can break a pencil in a glass. Fill

a glass halfway with water and then pour vegetable oil on top of it. Place a pencil straight down into the glass then move it so that it looks broken.

• Provide small groups of students with pencils and have them use the pencils only to make a tower. For younger students, have them use the pencils to make shapes, such as squares and triangles.

©Tara West

Activities:• Read books about crayons such as Red by Michael Hall or The Day the Crayons

Quit and The Day the Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt.• Give students a folded piece of paper. Have them draw a picture using only one

color on one side. On the other they’ll draw the same picture using many colors. • Peel the paper off of old crayons. Break them into small bits, place in a silicon

mold, cover and microwave for two-three minute increments until melted. Refrigerate until they are solid. Allow students to color with the new crayons.

National Crayon DayMar. 31

Did You Know?: The largest crayon in the world is 15 feet long and is called Big Blue. It was made from old blue crayons that came from kids all over the world. Blue is also America’s favorite crayon color. People used to apply all crayon labels by hand.

March Additional Resources

©TaraWest

March 3: National I Want You to Be Happy Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

What do you call a fake noodle?An impasta!

What did one pencil say to the other pencil?You’re looking sharp!

Why did the computer go to the doctor?Because it had a virus!

What do you get when you cross a cow and duck?Milk and quackers!

What do you call a funny mountain?Hill-arious!

What do you call cheese that is not yours?Nacho cheese!

What music are balloons scared of?Pop music!

What goes up when the rain comes down?An umbrella!

©TaraWest

March 6: National Dentist’s Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Draw pictures of ways to keep your teeth healthy until your next dental visit.

©TaraWest

March 6: National Dentist’s Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Write about ways to keep your teeth healthy until your next dental visit.

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

_____________________ _______________________

____________________ ___________________

_________________ _________________

_____________ _____________

©TaraWest

March 7: National Cereal Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Iron in Cereal Experiment

Materials:• Cereal with 100% DV (Daily Value) of iron• 1-4 Strong magnets• Clear jar or cup• Water• Tape• Stirrer or spoon

Instructions: • Fill the jar halfway with cereal and then the rest

with water.• Let the cereal sit overnight to turn it into mush.

Use a spoon or stirrer to finish mashing it.• Tape the magnets on the outside of the jar.• Gently swirl the mush around.• Carefully pour out the mush and rinse out the jar.• There should be iron flakes stuck to the side.

Extension:• Try different varieties of cereal to see the

difference in the amount of iron collected.

Name: _________________________________________________

Birthplace: _____________________________________________

Dates: _________________________________________________

Accomplishments: _____________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

______________________________

______________________________

______________________________

______________________________

______________________________©TaraWest

March 8: International Women’s Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Picture

Directions: Research a woman who has helped make our world a better place.

Prim

ary

C

ele

bra

tio

ns

©Tar

aWes

t

Mar

ch 12

: Nat

iona

l Pla

nt a

Flo

wer

Day

Nam

e:

Dire

ctio

ns: S

eque

nce

the

card

s to

sho

w h

ow t

o gr

ow a

flo

wer

.

©TaraWest

March 16: National Panda Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Panda Report

Size: _____________________________________________________

Habitat: _________________________________________________

Diet: _____________________________________________________

Interesting Fact: ________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

©TaraWest

March 20: World Storytelling Day


Dear Families,On March 20 we will be enjoying World Storytelling Day.

This day is meant to celebrate the tradition of oral storytelling. If you have a story that has been passed down in your family, I would love for you to come share it with our class on this day.

Please provide your name and contact information below and return it by: _________________________________.

Name: _______________________________________________________Contact Information: _______________________________________

©TaraWest

March 20: World Storytelling Day


Dear Families,On March 20 we will be enjoying World Storytelling Day.

This day is meant to celebrate the tradition of oral storytelling. If you have a story that has been passed down in your family, I would love for you to come share it with our class on this day.

Please provide your name and contact information below and return it by: _________________________________.

Name: _______________________________________________________Contact Information: _______________________________________

Illustration of Holiday

©TaraWest

March 26: Make Up Your Own Holiday Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Holiday Name: ___________________________________________

Holiday Date: ____________________________________________

How it is celebrated: _____________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

April Celebrations

©Tara West

©Tara West

National One Cent DayApr. 1

Did You Know?: Benjamin Franklin designed the first one-cent coin. It was made of 100% copper and was larger than the penny we have today. Current pennies are made of a combination of copper and zinc.

Activities:• Place some pennies in a cup and have students predict how many will land on

heads and how many will land on tails.• Mix vinegar and salt in a bowl. Dip a penny halfway into the bowl for about ten

seconds and observe what happens.

©Tara West

Activities:• Have a class party just to celebrate life! It can be as simple or extravagant as

you like. Have students create invitations to invite other classes or family members to celebrate.

• Enlist the help of parent volunteers to send in donations for snacks.• Provide students with crafting materials so that they can make decorations for

the party.

World Party DayApr. 3

Did You Know?: The inspiration for this holiday came from a novel by Vanna Bonta that ended in worldwide celebration. This day is designed to encourage people to enjoy life through joyous celebrations.

©Tara West

©Tara West

National School Librarian DayApr. 4

Did You Know?: School librarians are an important part of the school community. They help students find resources to different topics as well as literature that appeals to things they are interested in.

Activities:• Make thank you cards for the school librarian. Have students share why the

librarian is important to them or a favorite book that he/she has read to them.• Invite the librarian to visit your classroom and share information such as their

favorite books to read when they were your students’ age.

©Tara West

Activities:• Visit a local tourist center and collect road maps so that your students can

explore. Point out the different features on the map, such as the legend, the scale, the compass road, etc.

• Using the maps you collected challenge small groups of students to come up with directions to get from one spot to another.

• Allow students to create their own fictional road map (see April additional resources).

National Read a Road Map DayApr. 5

Did You Know?: One of the first road maps was made in the 1600s. Road maps have changed over the times, especially with the creation of GPS (Global Positioning System). Although GPS is very handy, it is still a handy skill to be able to read a map.

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Zoo Lovers DayApr. 8

Did You Know?: The oldest operating zoo is the Vienna Zoo in Austria. It was opened in 1752. There are over 300 zoos in the United States. The Monterey Bay Aquarium has the largest number of animals in the world.

Activities:• If possible, schedule a class trip to the zoo. If you are unable to take a trip,

contact your local zoo to see if someone can come speak with your class.• Many zoos have live web cams so that you can watch the animals right in your

classroom. The Smithsonian’s National Zoo, the Houston Zoo, and the San Diego Zoo are just a few that have animal web cams.

• Have students research their favorite zoo animal (see April additional resources).

©Tara West

Activities:• When students arrive, pass out blank nametags. Allow students the opportunity

to change their name for the day. They can use a regular name or a nickname if they prefer. Have them wear their nametags throughout the day and encourage the use of their “special name” for the day.

National Name Yourself DayApr. 9

Did You Know?: This day was designed so that a person could give themselves a new name for one day.

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Encourage a Young Writer DayApr. 10

Did You Know?: Two of the world’s youngest bestselling authors are twins. The Guptara twins wrote their first draft of a trilogy at 11 and turned it into a bestseller at the age of 17. Another set of twins wrote their first novel at 12 and had it nationally distributed at 13!

Activities:• Provide students with a journal. It could be a composition book, a spiral

notebook or even stapled pages. Encourage students to write in their journal daily about anything that inspires them.

• Sometimes students may experience writer’s block so offer writing prompts to help get their creative juices flowing.

• Allow multiple opportunities for students to share their writing with both adults and their peers.

©Tara West

Activities:• Teach students how to play Scrabble. It is a great way to improve spelling and

vocabulary skills. There is also a Scrabble Junior version for younger students.• Use Scrabble tiles to integrate math with language arts. Have students use

scrabble tiles to build their spelling words, sight words, or content specific words and add up the total for each word.

National Scrabble DayApr. 13

Did You Know?: Scrabble was invented by an architect named Alfred Butts in 1931. Scrabble was initially called Lexico. The game is produced in 31 different languages. It is the second best board game (Monopoly is first).

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Dolphin DayApr. 14

Did You Know?: Dolphins are marine mammals and its relatives include both whales and porpoises. They are highly intelligent animals and are also very social. They generally live in pods and help other dolphins that are sick or hurt.

Activities:• Read a nonfiction book about dolphins, such as National Geographic Readers:

Dolphins by Melissa Stewart.• Play Dolphin Deception with students (see April additional resources). Share

different facts with students about dolphins and have them decide whether or not the fact you shared is true.

©Tara West

Activities:• Set up a variety of guessing stations throughout the classroom. Place pennies

in a jar, cotton balls in a bowl, or mini erasers in a container. At the end of the day, reveal how many items were in the container and see whose guess came the closest.

• As an extension have students check their estimation by counting the items by 10s.

National Take a Wild Guess DayApr. 15

Did You Know?: This day is dedicated to taking hunches and guesses on different things. This is a great day to learn about estimation.

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Haiku Poetry DayApr. 17

Did You Know?: It is a Japanese poem that doesn’t need to rhyme. It contains three lines and is written based on syllables. The first and last line each have five syllables and the second line has seven syllables.

Activities:• Share many examples of haikus to students. Read different books that contain

haikus, such as GUYKU: A Year of Haiku for Boys by Bob Raczka or Dogku by Andrew Clements.

• Work together as a class to create haikus about different topics and display them outside of the classroom for everyone to enjoy.

• Have students create individual haikus along with an illustration. Put them together to make a class book (see April additional resources).

©Tara West

Activities:• Have students identify each of the different animals contained in a box or

container of animal crackers.• Give students a baggie of animal crackers and have them graph how many they

have of each animal.• Taste test different brands of animal crackers (including the frosted ones!) and

have students vote on their favorite.

National Animal Crackers DayApr. 18

Did You Know?: Animal shaped cookies began in England in the 1800s and were known as animal biscuits. One brand, Barnum’s Animals, came in a box that looked like a circus train and had a string on top. The box was originally designed to be used as an ornament to be hung.

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Look Alike DayApr. 20

Did You Know?: This day came about in the 1980s from a reporter who spotted someone that looked like a famous actor. He spent part of the day asking random people who they thought that person looked like. The next day he worked on making it an unofficial annual holiday.

Activities:• Have students dress up like their favorite staff member around school.• Allow students to dress up as a celebrity and have them bring three facts

about the person they dressed up as. Allow the class to guess who they are.• Have students partner up with someone in class and allow them to dress the

same for the day.

©Tara West

Activities:• If students are not in kindergarten, have them write a kind letter to or make a

sweet card for their former kindergarten teacher. If their teacher is not at their school, then ask them to share some kind words to any kindergarten teacher on campus.

• If students are in kindergarten, use this day for children to learn through the use of playing and exploring. Provide them with some opportunities for unstructured play in class.

National Kindergarten DayApr. 21

Did You Know?: This day is the birthday of Friedrich Wilhelm August Frobel who is credited for starting the first kindergarten in Germany back in 1837. The word “kindergarten” means garden for children. The first kindergarten in America was started in 1856 and was taught in German.

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Jelly Bean DayApr. 22

Did You Know?: It can take anywhere from 7 to 21 days to make a jelly bean. Jelly beans were the first candy that was sold based on its weight. People originally purchased jelly beans based on color. Jelly Belly, a brand of jelly bean, has more than 100 different flavors!

Activities:• Bring in a variety of jelly beans for students to try. Try to make available

uncommon flavors, such as buttered popcorn and toasted marshmallow. Have students vote on their favorite.

• Allow students to design their own special flavor of jelly bean (see April additional resources).

• Play jelly bean memory. Print the jelly bean cards on cardstock and laminate for added durability (see April additional resources).

©Tara West

Activities:• Allow students to dress up as their favorite superhero.• Have a discussion with students that not all superheroes wear capes. Come up

with a list of real life superheroes who protect us every day (e.g., first responders, military, parents, etc.).

• Allow students to draw and/or write about a real superhero in their life (see April additional resources).

National Superhero DayApr. 28

Did You Know?: On this day superheroes, fictional and real, are honored.

April Additional Resources

©TaraWest

April 5: National Read a Road Map Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Create your own road map of an imaginary town. Fill in the compass rose and the map key.

Map Key

©TaraWest

April 8: National Zoo Lovers Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

My Favorite Zoo Animals

Animal Name: __________________________________________

Animal Length: _________________________________________

Animal Habitat: _________________________________________

Animal Diet: _____________________________________________

Interesting Fact: _______________________________________

Directions: Dolphin deception – Read each statement about dolphins and decide if it’s true.

©TaraWest

April 14: National Dolphin Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Dolphins are carnivores.

Female dolphins are called bulls.

Dolphins use their blowholes to drink water.

Dolphins have excellent eyesight.

Some dolphins are pink.

Killer whales are a type of dolphin.

Dolphins have three stomachs.

Baby dolphins are called dolphinis.

Directions: Dolphin deception – Read each statement about dolphins and decide if it’s true.

©TaraWest

April 14: National Dolphin Day

Answer KeyPrimary Celebrations

Dolphins are carnivores.They mainly eat fish and squid.

Female dolphins are called bulls.Females are cows; males are bulls.

Dolphins use their blowholes to drink water.They use them to breathe.

Dolphins have excellent eyesight.

Some dolphins are pink.The Amazon river dolphin is pink.

Killer whales are a type of dolphin.

Dolphins have three stomachs.Dolphins have two stomachs.

Baby dolphins are called dolphinis.Baby dolphins are called calves.

©TaraWest

April 17: National Haiku Poetry Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Write a haiku and illustrate it.

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

©TaraWest

April 22: National Jelly Bean Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Pretend you work at a candy factory and design a new flavor of jelly bean.

My new jelly bean flavor is __________________________.

Jelly Bean Memory cards. Print on cardstock and laminate.

©TaraWest

April 28: National Superhero Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Draw a picture of a real superhero in your life.

©TaraWest


Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Draw a picture and write about a real superhero in your life.

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

May Celebrations

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Mother Goose DayMay 1

Did You Know?: Mother Goose is an imaginary author of some of our most familiar nursery rhymes. It is believed that there are around 700 pieces that are part of Mother Goose’s tales. The concept of Mother Goose has been around over 300 years!

Activities:• Spend the day enjoying a variety of Mother Goose rhymes and tales. • Have students illustrate their favorite Mother Goose rhyme (see May

additional resources).• Complete a Nursery Rhyme sort (see May additional resources). Print the

cards and laminate on cardstock for added durability. Using the sorting mat, have students sort the cards based on the nursery rhyme they belong to.

• Wrap up with Terrible Titles activity (see May additional resources).

©Tara West

Activities:• Allow students to wear two different colored shoes on this day.• Have students design their own pair of different colored shoes (see May


National Two Different Colored Shoes Day

May 3

Did You Know?: This day is designed to express and celebrate one’s uniqueness.

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Weather Observers DayMay 4

Did You Know?: Watching the weather is a hobby for some people. Weather observers have even helped meteorologists and storm spotters identify potentially dangerous weather conditions.

Activities:• Read a book about different types of weather, such as National Geographic

Readers: Weather by Kristin Baird Rattini.• Have students use the Weather Recording page and observe the weather over

the course of five days (see May additional resources). Discuss any patterns the students may have noticed.

©Tara West

Activities:• Visit www.nasa.gov to view video of astronauts in space. There is even a special

section for students.• Have students create an astronaut in space (see May additional resources).• Provide students with the writing prompt “If I were an astronaut…” (see May


National Astronaut DayMay 5

Did You Know?: This day is in honor of the day that Astronaut Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. who was the first American in space in 1961. He was also the first person to play golf on the moon! The word “astronaut” means “star sailor.”

http://www.nasa.gov/

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Limerick DayMay 12

Did You Know?: This day was established based on the birthday of poet Edward Lear. He helped to make limerick poems popular in the mid-1800s. Limericks are generally short and silly poems. There are five lines. The first two and last lines rhyme and the third and fourth lines rhyme.

Activities:• Read a book of limericks, such as Something Sure Smells Around Here:

Limericks by Brian P. Cleary. This book even includes a section on how to write a limerick.

• Work on creating limericks as a class.

©Tara West

Activities:• Practice frog jumps in the classroom as students transition to different

activities.• Encourage frog jumping at recess on this day.• Teach students how to play leap frog.• Get plastic jumping frogs and allow students to measure the distance that their

frog jumped.

National Frog Jumping DayMay 13

Did You Know?: This day was created based on the first short story of Mark Twain, Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog. The longest recorded jump by a frog was over 33 feet in South Africa. According to frog jump rules, they leap was a combined total of three jumps.

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Dance Like a Chicken DayMay 14

Did You Know?: The Chicken Dance was written by Werner Thomas, a Swiss composer, in the 1950s. It made it to America in the 1970s. This song is played at different celebrations, including weddings. The longest Chicken Dance line was over 1 mile long in North Dakota.

Activities:• Before having students shake their tail feathers, enjoy a fun book about

chickens, such as Chicken Little.• Have dance breaks throughout the day by playing the Chicken Song and

allowing students to dance.

©Tara West

Activities:• Spend time outside enjoying the beauty of local trees.• Allow students to take paper and crayons outside to do tree bark rubbings or

leaf rubbings.• If possible, plant a new tree on your school’s campus.

National Love a Tree DayMay 16

Did You Know?: Some trees can be over a thousand years old. The tallest measured tree is 379 ft. tall. Trees are very important because they produce oxygen that we need to breathe. Only pine trees use cones to spread seeds.

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Be a Millionaire DayMay 20

Did You Know?: This day was designed to help people take steps to plan for a financially secure future.

Activities:• Read a book about a million so that students can understand just how large the

number is. A great book is How Much is a Million? by David M. Schwartz.• Have students write about what they would do with a million dollars (see May


©Tara West

Activities:• Have students go on a scavenger hunt in either your classroom or around school

(see May additional resources). • Incorporate technology by allowing students to take pictures of the items they

are looking for.• Place students in small groups and allow them a chance to create their own

scavenger hunt. Switch their scavenger hunt with another group and allow them go on it.

National Scavenger Hunt DayMay 24

Did You Know?: The creation of the scavenger hunt was credited to Elsa Maxwell who was a professional hostess.

©Tara West

©Tara West

National Hamburger DayMay 28

Did You Know?: The word “hamburger” comes from a city in Germany called Hamburg. The world’s largest hamburger weighed 2,014 pounds. During World War I hamburgers were called “Liberty Sandwiches.”

Activities:• Read a funny book about hamburgers, such as Hamburger Heaven by Wong

Herbert Yee. After reading the story, have students come up with additional burger ideas for different types of animals.

• Have students complete an opinion writing about whether or not they like hamburgers (see May additional resources).

• Create a sweet hamburger snack (see May additional resources).

©Tara West

Activities:• Provide students with different items around the classroom and have them use

paperclips as a form of nonstandard measurement.• Using classroom magnets have students make a paperclip change and place it on

the magnet. Have students hold the magnet and see how long they can make the chain before it is too heavy and falls off. Try this out with different sized magnets.

National Paperclip DayMay 29

Did You Know?: The first patent for a paperclip was given to Samuel B. Fay who wanted to use it to attach tickets to fabric. People have used paperclips for more than just clipping papers. They have been used as screwdrivers for eyeglasses or to unclog small holes.

May Additional Resources

©TaraWest

May 1: National Mother Goose Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Illustrate your favorite Mother Goose rhyme or tale.

Jack

and

Jill

Mar

y Ha

d a

Lit

tle

Lam

b

Itsy

Bit

sy

Spid

erHu

mpt

y Du

mpt

y

Nursery Rhyme Sort cards. Print on cardstock and laminate.

©TaraWest

May 1: National Mother Goose Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

A clumsy egg was on a barrier.Humpty Dumpty

An arachnid tried to get up a gutter but had problems with the weather forecast.Itsy Bitsy Spider

A dark fleeced mammal decided to share.Baa, Baa Black Sheep

Use oars on your water transportation to travel.Row Your Boat

A girl sits on a stool and gets frightened by an arachnid while eating.Little Miss Muffet

A rodent climbs a time telling device.Hickory Dickory Dock

A girl misplaces her fleeced animals.Little Bo-Peep

A mom of many children has a home in footwear.There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.

Directions: Read the Terrible Titles and determine the correct rhyme.

©TaraWest

May 3: National Two Different Colored Shoes Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Design a pair of shoes that could be worn on two different colored shoes day.

©TaraWest

May 4: National Weather Observers Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Observe the weather over five days. What patterns do you notice?

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

c

©TaraWest

May 5: National Astronaut Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Follow the directions in order to make an astronaut.

n

Materials:• Black construction paper (1 per student)• White paper plate (1 per student)• Star stickers• Flesh-toned construction paper (1 per student)

Directions1. Have students cut out the center portion of a

paper plate and set it aside.2. Using the flesh-toned construction paper, have

them cut out a circle and decorate it as a person’s face. You may want to provide yarn for hair and wiggle eyes.

3. Glue the circle in the middle of the black paper. 4. Glue the paper plate over the circle so that the

face can be seen.5. Add stars around to represent space.

©TaraWest


Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Draw a picture and write about what you would do if you were an astronaut.

©TaraWest


Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Draw a picture and write about what you would do if you were an astronaut.

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

©TaraWest

May 20: National Be a Millionaire Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Draw a picture of what you would do if you had a million dollars.

©TaraWest


Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Draw a picture and write about what you would do if you had a million dollars.

©TaraWest


Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Draw a picture and write about what you would do if you had a million dollars.

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

©TaraWest

May 24: National Scavenger Hunt Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Complete the scavenger hunt by either drawing a picture of the item or writing the word.

Something blue Something that starts with letter “P”

Something round

Something there is two of

Something noisy Something soft

Something very small Something heavy Something yellow

©TaraWest

May 28: National Hamburger Day

Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Draw a picture and write about whether or not you like hamburgers and give two reasons why.

©TaraWest


Name:Primary

Celebrations

Directions: Draw a picture and write about whether or not you like hamburgers and give two reasons why.

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

c

©TaraWest


Name:Primary

Celebrations

n

Sweet Hamburger Snack

Materials:• Vanilla wafer cookies (bun) (2 per student)• Peppermint patty (burger) (1 per student)• Shredded coconut with orange food coloring

(cheese)• Frosting – red (ketchup)• Frosting – yellow (mustard)• Plastic knife

Directions1. Have students spread red frosting on the flat side

of one wafer cookie and yellow frosting on the other cookie.

2. Place the patty on the cookie.3. Sprinkle the coconut on the patty.4. Place the other cookie on top.

PrimaryCelebratio ns - Yonkers Public Schools

Documents

Transcript of PrimaryCelebratio ns - Yonkers Public Schools