There are some really fun national days in March to celebrate as a family!
Check out our fun printable March National Day calendar and some great ideas for things you can easily do with your kids to celebrate every day of the month.
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What are National Days?
While the United States only recognizes 10 official national holidays and 44 national observances per year, National Days have been growing in prominence since 1984 when President Ronald Reagan created National Ice Cream Day (which was supposed to be a one-time thing!).
Today, thanks to websites such as the National Day Calendar, self-proclaimed National Days have become super popular.
Even Facebook and Instagram promote different National Days throughout every month, which is definitely giving them a big boost.
Every day of the year has at least one unofficial National Day associated with it, and most days have three or four different National Days to celebrate.
March National Days for Kids Free Printable
Join thousands of other families and get your copy of the Free March National Days for Kids calendar by filling out the form below!
(And YES, you get all of the calendars for the ENTIRE year! Yay!)
Once you’ve got your calendar printed out, take a look at it as a family, and circle the days you’re interested in celebrating together.
Keep reading to see our fun and simple ideas for each National Day in March!
March National Days to Celebrate with Kids
We’ve found a day to celebrate for every one of March’s thirty-one days!
Often, there is more than one National Day for each date, so we went through and picked the ones that we thought were the most kid-friendly.
To find out more background information about all of the National Days in March, go here!
March 1 – National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day
Yum! What a great day to start off the month of March! If you need an excuse to make peanut butter and Nutella sandwiches for your kids, here it is! Or try a 3-ingredient peanut butter cookie recipe like this one from Cooking Classy.
If you have peanut allergies in your home, you could celebrate National Pancake Day or Fat Tuesday instead!
March 2 – Dr. Seuss Day
It’s time to pull out your copy of Green Eggs and Ham, Cat in the Hat, or Fox in Socks and have a Dr. Seuss storytime!
Or check out some of Dr. Seuss’s lesser-known books from your local library!
Some of our favorites are:
Of course, you could also color your eggs green for breakfast by adding a little green food coloring to take it up a notch!
March 3 – National Anthem Day
Here are a few great facts to share with your kids for National Anthem Day:
- The original title of the song was “The Defense of Fort McHenry.”
- There are five total verses to the National Anthem, and the fifth verse wasn’t added until the Civil War.
- The National Anthem was performed at the first World Series in 1903.
- The Star-Spangled Banner didn’t officially become the National Anthem until March 3rd, 1931 (which is why today is National Anthem Day!)
You could also read more National Anthem facts here, play the National Anthem, and teach your kids how to put their hands over their hearts!
March 4 – National Day of Unplugging
The National Day of Unplugging is a great day to spend some extra time connecting with your kids!
Turn off the TV, put down your phone and the iPads, and do something together!
We recommend a board game, a dance party, or a walk in the park!
March 5 – National Cheese Doodle Day
Okay, so National Cheese Doodle Day is exactly the random type of holiday that kids love!
We’re not quite sure why there needs to be a National Cheese Doodle Day, but the silliness of it won’t be lost on your kids!
Grab your favorite brand of cheese doodles and go to town!
March 6 – National Oreo Cookie Day
Did you know that there are over 65 flavors of Oreo cookies?
To make this March National Day special, grab some varieties that you haven’t tried yet and have an Oreo-tasting experience at home with your kids!
Maybe Birthday Cake, Carrot Cake, or Hazelnut Creme will top your list?
March 7 – National Cereal Day
On this Monday morning, instead of feeling guilty that your kids are getting cereal for breakfast, let yourself feel awesome for celebrating National Cereal Day with your kids!
You could have your kids each pick out a cereal they’ve never tried before or something that they know you don’t typically buy and let them have a bowl (or two)!
March 8 – International Women’s Day
International Women’s Day is a day for everyone to celebrate!
Help your kids choose an influential woman in their lives, such as a teacher, grandmother, aunt, or friend, and help them write a letter or draw a picture for them!
March 9 – National Barbie Day
If your kids have any Barbies around the house, today is the day to get them out and spruce them up!
Spend some time getting them all dressed, brushing their hair, and creating a fun scene for them to act out.
March 10 – National Mario Day
A perfect follow-up to National Barbie Day on the 9th, National Mario Day is a fun throwback to the main character from Super Mario Bros!
If you have a Nintendo system, spend a few minutes playing your kids’ favorite Mario game with them!
March 11 – National Johnny Appleseed Day
To celebrate Johnny Appleseed Day, your kids might like to have an apple variety taste-testing session. Or make a fun apple dessert, like this delicious and mostly healthy apple crisp!
There are some great Johnny Appleseed books available for kids! If your kids are younger, check out the classic picture book from your local library, or snag it right here from Amazon.
If your kids are reading chapter books, the popular Who Was series has a great book on Johnny Appleseed too.
March 12 – National Plant a Flower Day
Even if the weather isn’t quite warm enough to plant flowers where you live, you could help your kids plant a simple flower in a small pot to start indoors!
March 13 – National Good Samaritan Day
This is one of our favorite National Days in March for sure!
On National Good Samaritan Day, help your kids be on the lookout for opportunities to do a good deed for someone at school or in the community.
You could return runaway grocery carts in a parking lot, give a small grocery gift card to a homeless person, or pay the Starbuck’s bill for the person behind you in line.
March 14 – National Pi Day/ Children’s Craft Day
Even though this is National Pi Day and not National Pie Day, why not celebrate with a pie anyway?!
And if your kids are too young to appreciate Pi Day, you could celebrate National Children’s Craft Day instead.
March 15 – National Shoe the World Day
National Shoe the World Day is a great day to go through and declutter all the unworn and too-small shoes in the house.
Donate any shoes that are in good shape to a local shelter or donation center.
March 16 – National Panda Day
To celebrate National Panda Day, check out this awesome list of fun facts about pandas from Easy Science for Kids. (Did you know baby pandas are blind for almost two months?)
And if time permits, today would be a great day to watch any of the hilarious Kung Fu Panda movies as a family!
March 17 – St. Patrick’s Day
St. Patrick’s Day can be a great day to do something fun for or with your kids!
You could tint the milk in their cereal green, make a leprechaun trap, leave little chocolate coins on their pillows, or search for four-leaf clovers in the yard together!
Related article: 15 Fun St. Patrick’s Days Games for Kids You Can Pull Off Quickly
March 18 – National Sloppy Joe Day
If you have Sloppy Joe fans in your house, put them on the menu for dinner today and you’ll be celebrating a National Day!
Our very favorite recipe for homemade sloppy joes is right here from 100 Days of Real Food.
(And if you have anyone in your family who is gluten-free, you can make a Sloppy Joe baked potato instead!)
March 19 – National Let’s Laugh Day
National Let’s Laugh Day is such a perfect one to celebrate with kids because it’s a known fact that kids laugh WAAAAAYYYYY more than adults do! (Although the whole “fact” about kids laughing 400 times a day while adults only laugh about 17 times a day is likely an urban myth.)
Regardless of whether or not this is true, today is a perfect day to grab a great joke book like this one for kids and get to laughing!
And remember this famous quote from Michael Pritchard:
“You don’t stop laughing because you grow old, you grow old because you stop laughing.”
March 20 – First Day of Spring
Celebrate the first day of spring by creating a Spring Bucket List with your kids!
March 21 – World Down’s Syndrome Day
We love that this is a special day in March! Teaching our kids to be kind means teaching them about people who may be different from they are and looking for the good in everyone.
To support World Down’s Syndrome Day, you could have a discussion with your kids about what Down’s Syndrome is and how it affects those who have it. Ask them if they’ve ever met anyone with it and how they felt about their experience.
March 22 – National Goof Off Day
Think of National Goof Off Day as a precursor to April Fool’s Day coming up soon!
Try a simple practical joke with your kids or do something zany like wearing all your clothes backward or inside out.
March 23 – National Puppy Day
The best way to celebrate National Puppy Day? Go out and get a new puppy of course!
Haha, just kidding.
To celebrate this fun National Day in March, you could simply watch a few cute puppy videos on YouTube with your kids. If you have time, watch 101 Dalmations or another favorite dog movie.
If you do have a dog, scroll through their old puppy photos on your phone!
March 24 – National Chocolate Covered Raisin Day
Remember Raisinets? Go buy some and stick some chocolate-covered raisins in your kids’ lunch or backpack today!
March 25 – National Tolkien Reading Day
Are you a Lord of the Rings fan? Or maybe just The Hobbit?
If your kids are old enough, you could start reading The Hobbit together. This beautifully illustrated edition available on Amazon would be perfect!
If your kids are younger, check out the book J.R.R. Tolkien for Kids: His Life and Writings. Learn about his life and try one of the 21 different hands-on activities that are suggested in the book.
March 26 – National Spinach Day
So National Spinach Day may be a hard sell to your kids, but how about mixing some spinach into a favorite green smoothie recipe?!
It just might work!
March 27 – National Scribble Day
Spend twenty minutes having a scribble or doodle session with your kids!
You could give your kids a challenge to see what they can draw without ever picking up their pencils from their paper.
Or introduce them to a blast from the past with the 50th Anniversary Edition of the Spirograph!
March 28 – National Something on a Stick Day
We’re not sure who started this National Day, but it’s one you could definitely have a lot of fun with!
There are lots of foods that we expect to see on a stick, like popsicles or corndogs. But today is a day to get creative! Consider putting waffles on a stick for breakfast, making meat and cheese kabobs for lunch, or eating with chopsticks for dinner.
Or you could go with non-food ideas, like using a selfie stick to take some fun family photos or making wizard or princess wands from a stick.
March 29 – National Mom and Pop Small Business Day
Wherever you are, there are probably lots of local businesses that would appreciate your patronage today!
Choose one with your kids and be extra generous!
March 30 – National Take a Walk in the Park Day
Hopefully, you’ll be seeing some sunshine more frequently by now!
Get outside during the day and take a walk in the park as a family.
March 31 – National Crayon Day
National Crayon Day is the perfect day to dig out the crayons, pull out some paper, and create something with your kids!
You could also gift your kids a new pack of crayons or a cute coloring book you know they’ll love.
Finally, if you happen to live near a Crayola Experience, we highly recommend taking your kids for some awesome family fun!
The five Crayola Experience locations are:
- Plano, Texas
- Chandler, Arizona
- Easton, Pennsylvania
- Mall of America, Minnesota
- Orlando, Florida
Why Kids Love National Days
Kids absolutely love National Days because they are so perfect for making ordinary things feel special.
You’ve probably seen your kids feel so excited about something exceedingly ordinary, like a roly-poly crawling through the dirt in the backyard.
National Days are a lot like that. They bring a little extra added excitement to days that might otherwise feel pretty ordinary.
Final thoughts about National Days in March
The most important thing about celebrating these March National Days is to keep it simple!
Our mission here at Jen Bradley|MOMs is to help you find easy ways to connect with your kids and make special memories. You don’t have to do anything over the top.
Simply choose one or two National Days per week and do something small. No Pinterest perfection is required!
It’s heart-wrenchingly true that our kids are only young once, so taking the opportunity to celebrate the little things with them while they’re young is so worth it!
If you haven’t gotten your National Days calendar for March, get access by filling out this form right here:
Related articles about National Days and family fun:
The Best January National Days to Celebrate With Your Kids
The Best February National Days to Celebrate With Your Kids
30 Awesome Kid-Friendly National Days in April
31 Super Fun National Days for Kids to Celebrate in May
The Best June National Days to Celebrate as a Family
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Which March national days are you excited to celebrate with your kids?
