Little Known Holidays in October

Most kids are looking forward to Halloween this month. But why wait until the 31^st to have a celebration? October is filled with special days. In fact, if you want to, you can celebrate something every single day! In fact, on some days, you might find yourself celebrating several different things! Here is a handy list of fun October holidays, and a few suggestions on how to celebrate.

1^st: Fire Pup Day. This is a day to celebrate the dogs who help out the fire department! Unfortunately, most fire stations don't actually have dogs anymore. But you can rent the movie Firehouse Dog, and visit the website Sparky The Fire Dog!

1^st: International Day of Older Persons. Pay a friendly visit to an older neighbor or relative. Visit a retirement community and spend some time talking to the people there. Or, if you don't actually want to go anywhere, stay home and make some colorful cards and other works of art, and send them to a local retirement community or senior center for them to hang up!

1^st: Balloons Around the World Day. This is a day when balloon artists around the world hand out free balloon art to cheer others up. If you know how to do balloon art, why not sign up for this cause at Balloons Around the World? If you're not a balloon artist, maybe you could just get some balloons and have some fun with them at home. Everyone loves balloons, right?

2^nd: Guardian Angels Day, aka Feast of the Guardian Angels. This is a traditional Catholic feast day, and if you're Catholic you might have your own way of honoring it. But you don't have to be Catholic to have a guardian angel! You and the children in your life can draw pictures of your guardian angels, write letters to your guardian angels, and make cookies with an angel shaped cookie cutter.

3^rd: World Smile Day! This day has its own website at WorldSmileDay.com. The point of this day is to make a point of doing something special to make another person smile. One idea is to make World Smile Day cards, and deliver them to an area hospital to be delivered to patients.

4^th: Frugal Fun Day. This is a day to remind us all that we don't need to have a lot of money to have a lot of fun! Plan this day ahead of time, and brainstorm with your children and others to come up with some fun things you can do, without spending any money.

5^th: World Teachers Day. Teacher Appreciation Week isn't until May, but the beginning of the school year may be an even better time to show your kids' teachers how much you appreciate them! Sit down with your kids and take some time to make special cards or gifts to give to their teachers.

6^th: Mad Hatter Day. This is a great day to read Alice In Wonderland! Or, watch the movie, I suppose. Then, make yourself some crazy hats!

7^th: Bald And Free Day. Hmm, not quite sure what to do with this day... unless you'd like to shave your head!

8^th: National Bring Your Teddy Bear to Work And School Day. When I was young, a wise man once told me that the world would be a better place if everyone, even business men, were brave enough to walk around with teddy bears in their arms. So true, so true! Today, bring your teddy bear with you wherever you go!

9^th: World Post Day. Celebrate the postal services that carry our mail to wherever in the world we want it to go! This would be a good day to have a Post Office Themed Day for your whole family.

10^th: Today is National Angel Food Cake Day and National Cake Decorating Day. How much more simple does it get? Make an angel food cake with your kids, and then decorate it!

11^th: Reptile Awareness Day. A lot of nature centers have reptiles. So does the local pet store, the zoo, and the aquarium. Go look at the different types of reptiles that exist in the world!

11^th: Universal Music Day. What would the world be like if music didn't exist? Today, check out some CDs of types of music you rarely or never listen to, and listen to them. World Music is a good choice! You can also make your own musical instruments, and play along with the music you listen to!

12^th: Cook Book Launch Day. What a great day to create your own cook book! Have your kids make up some recipes, tell you their favorite recipes, or cut out delicious looking recipes from magazines. Compile them into a binder or notebook! If you want to get fancy about it, invite your friends, relatives, neighbors, etc, to contribute their favorite recipes, then type them up and self-publish your own cookbook at Lulu.com!

13^th: Columbus Day. Christopher Columbus sailed across the sea... and frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee... Oh, wait, that wasn't him, was it? At any rate, today is Columbus Day. This is now a pretty controversial holiday, which 17 states refuse to celebrate. Today might be a good day to do some research with your kids, and talk about the real story of Christopher Columbus,

13^th: National Kick Butt Day. If you smoke, take a day off from it. If you know someone who smokes, spend this day urging them to take a day off from it! Visit thei National Kick Butts Day website to see if your community has any special events going on for Kick Butts Day.

14^th: National Dessert Day. Why not skip dinner, and go straight to dessert? Make your favorite dessert, or go someplace special where everyone can order their own favorite dessert.

15^th: National Grouch Day. Turn on Sesame Street... its National Grouch Day! Spend some time being grouchy and get it all out of your system. Then, make your own Grouch-In-A-Can!

16^th: World Food Day. The purpose of this day is to recognize that everyone needs food, no matter where they live or how much money they have. Find out if there is a special event going on in your community. Or, celebrate on your own by volunteering in a food pantry or soup kitchen!

17^th: Where Something Gaudy Day. Put on your most colorful, clashing garb, and head out into the public! Let your little ones pick out their own crazy outfits. They'll wonder, Why can't we dress like this every day?

18^th: Sweetest Day. This is a day to recognize the sweeties in your life. In other words, pass out candy to all of your friends and loved ones! Your children will enjoy bringing candy to school to give to their teachers and friends.

19^th: Evaluate Your Life Day. Ten years ago, where did you picture yourself being? What would you like to get out of your life? What do you need to be doing? These are the questions you should ask yourself today. With kids, it doesn't have to be that heavy. Ask them to talk about, draw pictures of, or write stories about, their goals for the future.

20^th: Birth of the Bab. This is a Bahá'í holiday celebrating the Bab, whose story is similar to the story of Jesus. It is a joyous holiday, and everyone is invited to celebrate, even if they are not of the Bahá'í faith. In fact, people who are not of the Bahá'í faith but are interested in learning more about it often visit a Bahá'í temple on this day. If your community has a Bahá'í temple, see if they have a celebration you can attend. http://www.planetbahai.org/cgi-bin/articles.pl?article=16

21^st: Count Your Buttons Day. Today, you can sit around counting buttons. Or, you can check out this page for a bunch of button crafts to do with your kids!

21^st: Pumpkin Cheesecake Day. Halloween is coming up, and what better way to get into the mood for it than to make, and eat, some pumpkin cheesecake?

22^nd: International Day of Radiant Peace. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the whole world could live in peace... radiant peace? Check out this website to learn more about this special day. Ask your children what radiant peace means to them, and then go to the website to read some quotes by other children around the world.

23^rd: National Mole Day. No, not the small, furry critters. The chemistry-related unit of measure. Science teachers use this day to get students more interested in chemistry. Why not do some simple chemistry with your kids?

24^th: United Nations Day. Visit the Cyber School Bus to find ways to teach your kids about the United Nations, and about world issues that effect children.

25^th: Make A Difference Day. Today is a day for organizations and individuals to come up with a plan to make a difference in their community or in the world. Check out the Make A Difference Day website to get ideas for your own project, or to join a project that's already happening.

25^th: Punk For A Day. Why not dress like a punk... for a day? Your kids will love it!

26^th: Mule Day. This is a day to celebrate mules. Mules are great, aren't they? Go to the zoo and visit a mule. Or, just color one!

27^th: Navy Day. If you know someone who was in the navy, give them some special attention today!

28^th: Plush Animal Lovers Day. Get out all of your plush animals and have a party with them! You might want to spruce them up with bows and ribbons, brush their fur, and let them hang out with you all day long. Or, surprise your kids and other Plush Animal Lovers with brand new plush animals!

28^th: National Chocolate Day. Give the gift of chocolate! And then eat a bunch of it yourself.

29^th: Hermits Day. A hermit is a person who stays by himself as much as possible. Traditionally, hermits have lived off in the woods, so as to avoid any human contact. Today, you and your kids can get in touch with the hermit inside you! Stay inside and don't let anyone visit. Turn off the TV and radio. Spend the day alone together. You can play games, do projects, cook, etc. Or, you can each retreat to your own rooms to read, write, draw, or play all by yourselves. Enjoy being a hermit, just for today! It can be very relaxing!

30^th: Mischief Night: This is a night for wreaking havoc in the community by egging houses, Tping people, tipping cows, etc. No, don't really do any of that. But this would be a good night to play some fun and harmless pranks on your friends and family members!

31^st: Books For Treats. Most people will be giving out candy on Halloween. Want to be a little different? Give out books! You'll have to plan way ahead of time if you want to do this. You'll have to collect a ton of gently used children's books, and sort them by age appropriateness. But kids will love it! Trust me, they won't egg your house. They'll be getting plenty of candy. A book is something pretty cool! Go to the Books For Treats website to find out more.

31^st: National Unicef Day. As long as you and your kids are going to be going door to door begging for stuff anyway, why not beg for money as well? Not for yourselves. For UNICEF! Check out the UNICEF site to find out how to get involved in this.

31^st: Halloween. Yeah, you know you love it!