How to Create Your Own Holiday as a Family
Published:
March 19, 2020
Contributor:
Jeannette Tuionetoa
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Holidays are always fun in our home. Particularly for homeschool families, we can use holiday themes to break up the monotony in our lessons, which is great. If your family is anything like ours, we use it entirely to our advantage. I challenge you to take things a step further this year. Make Your Own Holiday Day is on March 26th. Holidays are awesome; they are even better with a twist!
If you are thinking, “Man, there is a holiday for just about anything,” I agree. There are some crazy days to celebrate America, that is for sure. I mean, it’s totally weird that we have a National M&M Day (October 13th) or an I Don’t Care Day (June 9th). Some national holidays are just hilarious like National Step in the Puddle and Splash Your Friends Day (January 11th), National Pizza with the Works Except Anchovies Day (November 12th), National Lost Sock Memorial Day (May 9th), and International Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 19th). I just had to chuckle with some of these.
What about an official national holiday?
The above are all unofficial holidays. Unofficial national days are quite simple to do by a mere declaration. However, only an official act of legislature or government can make a holiday an official national day like Martin Luther King Day and Presidents Day.
Make Up Your Own Holiday Day history
The Make Up Your Own Holiday Day originated by the Wellcat founders Thomas and Ruth Roy. These people must be super cool, as they have created eighty funky holidays. The holidays are posted to their website and included in Chase’s Calendar of Events (published by McGraw-Hill). After creating so many silly holidays they thought, why not encourage people to do the same?
Make Up Your Own Holiday Day, which I have only discovered for a year or so, aspires to encourage people to make up their very own holiday. I mean, we really can’t have enough of them anyway! This day marks a time for families to develop their personal creative, eccentric, unusual, significant, and unique things to celebrate and observe. Not a bad idea at all!
You can add a new Make Your Own Holiday every year and see which one you all want to stick with. Traditions really can unite families in lasting ways. You will find that making your own holiday will be a great tradition to pass down through the generations.
Here are a few tips on how to create your own holiday as a family:
1. Show them the Wellcat Holidays list for inspiration, and some giggles.
2. Give each member of the family the assignment to think up ideas for making up their own holiday. They can have up to 5 suggestions.
3. Give them a day or two to come up with some really good ones and to keep the fun, suspense going.
4. Have everyone share their ideas. Wait for the laughter, silliness, and enjoy the family time.
5. Decide which idea to celebrate and when to celebrate.
You can all either vote for one to do per month or only for National Make up Your Holiday Day. You can also put the suggestions in a hat and pick one each month to celebrate.
Do whichever works best for your family, but either way, it will be fun, meaningful, maybe silly, may be amazing, and thoughtful. Whichever it is, doing it as a family will be epic!
You will be surprised at what you all can come up with, especially your young ones. They are way more creative than we think.
Some of my son’s suggestions were super predictable, and one melted my heart – he is ten years old. He thought of National Sleep with My Parents Day, National Play Video Games All Day Day, National Don’t Have to Pick up the Dog’s Poop Day, and National Moms Free Day (when moms get to “stop what they are doing and have a free day”). How adorable is he?! That one was my favorite, of course.
So how about your family? Do any ideas come to mind? Trust me. Your kids will have some funny, adorable, and off-the-wall ones for sure.
To give you some ideas, here are a few Make Your Own Holiday Day suggestions your family may like (some came from my family).
Bake a Giant Cookie Day
Hop on One Foot from Room to Room Day
Rub Daddy’s Flintstone Feet Day (Yeah, this one was NOT popular at our house.)
Donate Clothes Day
Minecraft Day
Surprising Educational Benefits of Minecraft
FREE Minecraft Reading Logs and Book List | Encouraging Moms at Home
Make a Meal for a Widow Day
Thumb Wrestling Day
Sleep in a Tent Outside Day (Not my favorite.)
Act Like Someone Else in the Family at the Dinner Table Day (We love this one.)
No Math Today Day
Volunteer at the Homeless Shelter Day
Cook for Mom Day (Yes!)
No Arguing Day (Yes, again!)
Bringing Multiple Age Siblings Together with a Morning Basket
Dance Party Day
Pick Up Trash in Our Community Day
This is such a fun project for the family, and it creates lasting memories. Working together to think up your family holiday is also an opportunity to be intentional about doing things that are meaningful for the family and others.
Grab these FREE resources to go perfectly with your Make Your Own Holiday Day activities.
Make Your Own Holiday Day: March 26th – Creative Writing & Social Studies | Educational Insights Today
Make Up Your Own Holiday Day: Writing Activity | Chikabee
National “Make Up Your Own Holiday” Day- Writing FREE | Hanna Raines
FREE Make Your Own Holiday Writing Prompt | The Best Days with Julie Santello
I hope your family enjoys making up their own holidays this year. Remember that there is an If Pets Had Thumbs Day (March 3rd). If this doesn’t say that anything goes into how to create your own holiday as a family, then I don’t know what does.
