Going Rogue

Explo­ration is real­ly the Essence of the Human Spirit.”

—Frank Bor­man

’Tis the sea­son for fall themes such as pump­kins, leaves, and turkeys.  As I was plan­ning pro­grams for Octo­ber and Novem­ber, I decid­ed it was time to go rogue and think of new themes. I start­ed search­ing terms such as “fun­ny fall cel­e­bra­tions” and “unusu­al hol­i­days.” From Nation­al Mad Hat­ter Day to Nation­al Cake Dec­o­rat­ing Day, my search helped me devel­op new pro­gram oppor­tu­ni­ties for fam­i­lies to enjoy including:

Nation­al Mad Hat­ter Day, Octo­ber 6, 2019

Jour­ney down the rab­bit hole and make Won­der­land come to life. This is a per­fect oppor­tu­ni­ty to host a Mad Hat­ter tea par­ty. For the tea par­ty, use paper cups with han­dles, choose a sim­ple tea fla­vor such as Con­stant Com­ment© decaf or make cold brew tea and let it sit to get to room tem­per­a­ture. For games, you can cre­ate a Mad Hat­ter hat, cut the top off, and have chil­dren throw play­ing cards into the hat. Vis­it Brid­get Read­ing for more infor­ma­tion about host­ing a Mad Hat­ter tea par­ty. This pro­gram is rec­om­mend­ed for ele­men­tary chil­dren, 2nd through 4th grade.The fol­low­ing are my rec­om­mend­ed books to use for this program:

Mad Hatter's Tea Party

Nation­al Rep­tile Aware­ness Day, Octo­ber 21, 2019

Each year, rep­tile enthu­si­asts have an oppor­tu­ni­ty to cel­e­brate these crea­tures and to share their love with oth­ers. This offers a good oppor­tu­ni­ty to work with a zoo, an exten­sion office, or a pet store to bring rep­tiles off­site for chil­dren to see and learn. Rep­tile Mag­a­zine has excel­lent resources.  This pro­gram is rec­om­mend­ed for all ages. You might enjoy using these books for this program: 

National Reptiles Day

World Jel­ly­fish Day, Novem­ber 3, 2019: 

Did you know that jel­ly­fish are not actu­al­ly fish? Do you know that a group of jel­ly­fish can be called a smack? Cel­e­brat­ing World Jel­ly­fish Day pro­vides fam­i­lies an oppor­tu­ni­ty to learn about these amaz­ing crea­tures and oth­ers liv­ing under the sea. You can pro­vide an inter­ac­tive expe­ri­ence with this pro­gram where chil­dren pre­tend to move like a jel­ly­fish, enjoy view­ing videos from NOAA’s Ocean and Explo­ration Research and/or enjoy a glow-in-the-dark jel­ly­fish dance par­ty. This pro­gram is rec­om­mend­ed for all ages. The fol­low­ing are my rec­om­mend­ed books to use for this program:

National Jellyfish Day

Nation­al Dough­nut Day, Novem­ber 5, 2019:

Fam­i­lies can enjoy a tasty pro­gram cel­e­brat­ing donuts.  This is a per­fect pro­gram for kids to explore their cre­ative side.  For this pro­gram, chil­dren will cre­ate their own dough­nut using a paper plate and a selec­tion of sup­plies includ­ing pom-poms, mark­ers, crayons, con­struc­tion paper, glue, and even sprin­kles. This pro­gram is rec­om­mend­ed for all ages. Vis­it The Spruce Crafts for craft ideas to cel­e­brate Nation­al Dough­nut Day. Vis­it with a local bak­ery or gro­cery store to see if they can pro­vide dough­nuts for all ages to enjoy. Here are a few good books to use for this program:

National Doughnut Day

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