Unofficial April Holidays to Celebrate with the Kids

You don't need a real holiday in order to have fun with your children. There are many unofficial holidays that make ordinary days meaningful and fun. This article will focus on some extraordinary days in April to celebrate with your kids. Here are suggestions to consider for making unofficial holidays extra special in your home.

1. Expand your celebrations by incorporating ideas and activities of your own or brainstorm with your children for additional projects.

2. Find children's books and stories that relate to the celebration. Reading should be an important part of your daily activities, so why not use story time as part of your holiday.

3. Sing, sing, sing! Why not make up some "piggyback" songs to sing during your celebration. Remember, piggyback songs are new words that are sung to a familiar tune.

4. Invite other children to your April holiday celebrations and really make it a party. Involve your own children in the planning, decorations, and even writing invitations or e-vites on the computer.

So, let's get started. Pick a special day in April and plan an exciting day. This website will give you a list of unofficial days to choose from. Here are a few of my favorites:

April Fools Day is on April 1^st. It's a favorite day for playing tricks. Simple things like wearing clothes backwards or greeting each other with a "good-bye" instead of "hello" is fun for the kids, but there are other projects that make this day extraordinary. How about a crazy meal? How about a cake that is really a dinner?

Meatloaf Cake

Ingredients:

Two cake pans, round

Your favorite meatloaf recipe

Prepared mashed potatoes

Ketchup

Cherry tomatoes, cut in half

Prepare your favorite meatloaf recipe. Divide the mixture into the two round cake pans. Bake as usual, but shorten the cooking time since the meatloaf is thinner and you will be making two smaller ones. While the meatloaf is in the oven, make some mashed potatoes. Whip them with an electric mixer to make them smooth and creamy. When both meatloaves are done, invert one of them onto a round serving dish. Frost the one meatloaf cake with a layer of mashed potatoes. Place the other meat circle on top of the potato layer, and finish frosting it with the remaining potatoes. Place halved cherry tomatoes to look like cherries as the cake decorations. You can even write a personalized message to the family using a squirt bottle of ketchup or just a simple "Happy April Fool's Day" will do.

Cherry Blossom Festival (the month of April)

If you visit Washington, DC in the spring you will be in awe of the beautiful cherry trees in blossom. These trees were given to the United States by Japan as a memorial of friendship. April signifies the annual Cherry Blossom Festival since the trees are in full bloom. Festivities include parades, musical concerts, and plenty of opportunities to view the beautiful trees. Do a little celebrating in your home, whether you have cherry trees in your area or not.

Cherry Blossom Art

Have the kids draw a tree bark using brown crayons or markers on a sheet of construction paper. Add beautiful blossom using either of these two methods. First you can tint popcorn by shaking the popped kernels in a bag with a mixture of baby powder and red powder tempera paint. Or, let the children make blossoms by twisting squares of pink tissue paper around a pencil eraser and make a wad-type blossum. In either art form, glue the pink blossom to the tree bark on the paper.

Cherry Blossom Cookies

Make or purchase some round sugar cookies. Prepare some white frosting and tint this pink using red food coloring. Let the kids frost the cookies with the pink icing and then sprinkle on shredded coconut to make "cherry blossom" cookies.

Litterbag Day

The month of April is "Keep America Beautiful Month" and the last Friday of the month is National Litterbag Day. This day works in sync with Earth Day on the 22^nd. Throughout the month neighborhood volunteers get together on Litterbag Day to clean up parks and play areas, as well as, educating the community about handling trash and you can even adopt the slogan, "Don't Be a Litterbug - Use a Litterbag."

Decorate Litterbags

Invite the children to make litterbags to hang in their rooms or give as gifts for family members and friends to hang in their cars. Let the children decorate their bags as desired. Make use of crayons, markers, construction paper shapes, and other art material that can be glued on. Older children can draw pictures of ways to keep the Earth clean or draw the recycle insignia on the bag. When finished punch two holes (about 3 inches apart) near the top of the back of the bag and thread yarn or ribbon to use as a hanger.

Arbor Day

This celebratory holiday is usually the last Friday in April, however, some states vary the day. It's a time to think about planting new trees in the community or even at home. Arbor Day is a time to enjoy the beauty of nature and appreciate trees for their beauty and usefulness. Explain to your children how trees help provide food, shade to cool us, and are used to make paper, houses, and furniture.

Tree Rubbings

Go outdoors and find some trees. Give children some thin white paper and crayons. Place the paper onto the bark of the tree and let the kids use unpeeled crayon to rub across the paper. Notice the designs this creates. Go to another type tree and repeat the process. Do the rubbings look alike or different?

Tree Plaque

Give the children a piece of cardboard (square or rectangle shape). Invite them to draw a tree and color or paint it brown. To make the leaves and blossoms, help the kids to punch out paper dots using a hole punch and colorful construction paper. Glue these dots randomly on the tree. It's a fun craft and helps develop finger dexterity. Punch two holes at the top and thread with ribbon. Hang these plaques as a decoration in the home or on a bedroom door.

These are only a few of the many unofficial holidays for the month of April. Check the calendars online and plan projects for fun celebrations at your house. The kids will learn that everyday can be special and to enjoy every moment in life.

Sources:

http://allrecipes.com//HowTo/april-fools-day-dinner/Detail.aspx

Special Day Celebrations by Elizabeth McKinnon [Warren Publishing House]

Personal Experience

Note: Parents need to supervise very young children when making crafts. Use safety scissors and non-toxic art materials. Watch that toddlers and preschoolers do not mouth the art materials.