Summer Fun! Silly Holidays to Celebrate with the Kids

Summer is a great time to relax and spend some time with your family. There are several holidays in the summer that are meant to do just that. There are a few other days of recognition, however, that often go unnoticed.

Have you ever heard of National Root Beer Float Day? What about Sewing Machine Day or Eat a Peach Day? Check out some of these holidays, such as Cow Appreciation Day and Potato Day and see how they might be able to bring some additional fun to your family.

Some of these are only celebrated in America, but many of them are recognized around the globe. Why not consider some of these special days when making plans for your family this summer?

International Children’s Day is set aside to bring about awareness of children in the world who are living in poverty and need. What are some things that you and your family can do to help others in need? Can you sponsor a child from a third world country? Can you volunteer at a local homeless shelter or donate food and clothing? Help your children reach out to children in need on this day. Teach them about the importance of compassion and helping others.

Celebrate your own family on this day! This day is set aside for families to spend time together and to sit down and enjoy a meal with their children. Go on a family outing to the park or take a hike in the woods. Plan a special family fun night. Fix everyone’s favorites for dinner and dessert. Turn the T.V. off for the night and enjoy an evening of games or storytelling. Whatever you do today, be sure to enjoy each other and celebrate your time together as a family.

Be sure to get up on the right side of the bed on Upsy-Daisy Day! No grouches allowed! Let the kids be as silly as can be on this fun holiday. Share the joy and make daisy cards for your friends and neighbors. Celebrate your cheerful selves and have an upsy-daisy party! Invite the neighborhood kids and serve fun treats and cookies.

Don’t walk. Don’t run. Don’t jog. Saunter on this day. Take a stroll around the neighborhood or at your local park. Stop and smell the flowers. Take your time, take it easy. Enjoy the beautiful weather and the company of your friends or family. Take a deep breath and take it all in. Celebrate the beauty around you today. Challenge your kids to notice something different right under their nose. Sit and watch a bug or an ant hard at work. Watch the ducks at the park. Whatever you do or where ever you go, be sure to saunter!

This holiday is out of this world! Stay up late on this night and see if you can see any meteor showers in the sky. Visit an observatory after dark and peer into the universe. Get out your own telescope and gaze into the stars. Pick up some books on meteors from the library. Host a meteor party and have everyone dress up like an alien from outer space.

Celebrate your tongue on this silly holiday! See who can touch their nose with their tongue. Who can curl their tongue? Take pictures of the kids sticking their tongues out. Don’t forget all the great foods we can treat out tongues to. Why not indulge in some lollipops while those tongues or out. Ice cream cones would work too. What other lick-able foods can you think of? Try having a hands free meal where you can only eat your food with your mouth!

Everyone loves the cow and all the great things cows give us. Besides leather and beef, we have milk, ice cream, and cheese. Cows are an incredible resource that is honored on this crazy holiday. How can you celebrate Cow Appreciation Day with your kids? Create some cow costumes and have your own cow parade around the block. Serve some ice cream treats to the neighbor kids. Pour a glass of ice cold milk and enjoy its nutritional goodness.

Keep your eye out for great deals at local restaurants in honor of this day. Many Chick-fil-a restaurants offer special promotions such as the best cow costume. Whatever you do on this day, don’t forget to say “Moo!”

Get out those joke books and start laughing! Teach the kids an age appropriate comedy routine and let them perform for you at dinner. Celebrate good humor and be sure to laugh until your sides hurt. Watch a funny movie. Read a silly book. See who can make up the best knock-knock joke. Have a giggle contest.

Yum! This delicious treat deserves its own special celebration. Serve ice cream sandwiches to your kids on this fun holiday. Get creative and make your own cookies and stack them with ice cream inside. Invite some of the kids’ friends over and have an ice cream sandwich party.

Celebrate the waffle iron and the delicious waffles it makes. Start your day off right by serving waffles for breakfast, or have them as a treat for lunch or dinner. Make your own waffles by adding blueberries, strawberries or chocolate chips. No time to make your own? There’s no waffling on this holiday. Pick up a package of frozen waffles or indulge with a meal at your local Waffle House.

Pick up some vanilla ice cream and root beer and create your own root beer floats! Have a root beer float party. Check out some local deals at restaurants and let them create a root beer float for you at a discount. Get creative and try different sodas such as cola, orange or grape. Everyone can enjoy a treat on this day.

Celebrate the invention of the sewing machine! If you have one lying around the house collecting dust, why not break it out and sew a stitch or two. Together with the kids you can make some throw pillows or placemats. If you’re not sure how to use your sewing machine, check out sewing classes at your local arts and crafts store. Don’t have a sewing machine? Try a no-sew craft project using fusible web and an iron.

There’s no better day to enjoy a tasty frozen treat like a Creamsicle than National Creamsicle Day! This vanilla ice cream filled Popsicle covered with a fruit flavored shell is perfect for a hot sticky day in mid August. Orange is the most popular Creamsicle, but there are other flavors as well. Pick up a box or two from your grocer’s freezer and share them with the kids.

Check out some on-line recipes on ways to make your own creamsicles!

Stock up on some brats, fire up the grill and host a National Bratwurst Day cookout! See who can come up with the best grilled brats. Put on some fun German-fest music and be sure to serve some traditional German side dishes such as sauerkraut or pretzels. Serve beer to the grownups and root beer to the kids. If you’re not up for grilling, there may be some good German restaurant deals or festivals in honor of National Bratwurst Day.

There are so many varieties of spuds to celebrate on Potato Day! Start your day off with some breakfast potatoes. Serve French Fries with your lunch. Bake some potatoes with all the fixin’s for dinner. Do a science project by placing a seed potato in a glass of water. Cut a potato in half, carve out a design and create a potato stamp with your kids. Dig Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head out of the toy box and invite them in on the fun!

Celebrate this delicious, nutritious, fuzzy fruit! Eat some fresh peaches. Bake your own peach pie or cobbler. Eat peach preserves with toast. Make some peach smoothies. Visit a local orchard and pick some fresh fruit.

Hit the trails and don’t forget the trail mix! Go on a family campout at a nearby campsite or even in your back yard. For the occasion, purchase a bag of this delicious, nutritious, convenient snack item that is known for its energy benefits. You can also make your own trail mix from your favorite ingredients. Host a trail mix party! Ask everyone to bring one ingredient and then mix them all together for your own unique mix.

However you spend your summer days, I hope that you take some time to enjoy it with your friends and family. These days of remembrance can be some fun additions to your schedule to celebrate with those you love, learn something new, or share with someone else.

Let me know how you plan to celebrate these special days or if you have any ideas to add. I’d love to hear from you in the comment section below. If you enjoyed this Hub, be sure to vote it up! Thanks for reading!

Check out my other fun Holiday Hubs for Fall, Winter, and Spring!