Happy March! It’s the month of all-things green. Celebrate the time of year when shades of green return as new life on the lawn and burst forth from trees and shrubs in the yard, too. Look for four-leaf clovers and new blossoms to welcome the coming of spring. Enjoy a month of celebrating with unique family festivities and add in some of the wacky, but real holidays below.
National Pig Day – Create a fun pig-errific craft to celebrate the day. On pink construction paper, have each person trace around one hand. Cut out the print, rounding off the edge where the wrist is located. Use a round cookie cutter or biscuit cutter to trace and cut out a head from pink construction paper. Cut two small triangles for ears. Glue the circle onto the thumb part of the print. Glue ears in place and use a marker to embellish the pig’s face. Use a black marker to create hooves by coloring each of the four fingertips. Curl a small piece of pink pipe cleaner and glue it into place for the tail. Read a few pig books to culminate the celebration. Read What If, Pig? by Linzie Hunterd; Dream Big, Little Pig! by Kristi Yamaguchi; If You Give a Pig a Pancake by Laura Numeroff, and Too Many Pigs in the Pool by Wendy Lanier.
National Peanut Butter Lovers Day – Who doesn’t love peanut butter? Create a peanut butter buffet for a morning or afternoon snack. Stir in some of these ingredients to small bowls of peanut butter, and then dip crackers, celery, or croutons into the combinations for snacky nibbles. Add jelly, jam, marshmallow fluff, powdered sugar, miniature chocolate chips, marshmallows, raisins, or honey. Enjoy!
National Words Matter Week – Hopefully, you’ll consider celebrating this one for more than just a week. Perhaps it should be a daily though process! As a family, talk about the importance of words. Discuss positive and loving words we can say to family members. Talk about encouraging and kind words we can say to others. Then have each family member write down five affirmations for every person in the family. Collect them all in a basket. Throughout the rest of the month, pull slips of paper occasionally, like at dinner time, and read the statements aloud. Consider saving to re-read later in the year, too.
Learn about Butterflies Day – It’s that time of year when butterflies begin to dot the air with their grace and beauty. Research and read online together about the butterflies in our area. Consider making your backyard conducive to regular visits for local butterflies. For example, add these to your collection for caterpillars to feed on: Buy passion flower for gulf fritillaries, variegated fritillaries and zebra longwings. Add a few dill, fennel and parsley plants for black swallowtails. Zebra swallowtails adore paw paw trees. And continue to make your yard friendly by adding lots of pollinator-friendly flowers, like lantana, zinnia, verbena and salvia.
National Goof Off Day – Now doesn’t this sound like a fun holiday to celebrate? Springtime is coming and warmer days are here to prove it! Get outside and do nothing productive except spend quality time with your family. Don’t answer texts or phone calls and just play. Go for a walk. Hike a new trail. Shop with the family in a new place you’ve never shopped before. Eat a few unhealthy snacks between meals, then make up for it with a vegetable- and fruit-heavy meal later in the day. Watch a silly show together and belly laugh. Lie on the floor and color in coloring books. Swing on the porch and sing, off-key and loud. Make the best, goofiest memories you’ve made with the family in quite some time. HAVE FUN!
Celebrate the love of family all month long with silliness, barrels of laughs, outside playtime, and dancing in the rain with umbrellas. Give thanks for the gift of family and treasure those times spent together. Make memories in March!
Julie Lavender, Statesboro native, loves making memories and having fun with family. She is the author of books and articles, and she especially loves writing with her husband of lots of years, now that he’s retired.