As an early childhood educator, I came up with a list of 30 theme days to keep lessons and activities fun and focused. If you have more theme day ideas, leave them in the comments.
- Day at the fair – play board games, puzzles, play duck duck goose and red light green light, go on rides (make obstacle courses), face paint with washable marker, eat a treat and play at the trampolines.
- Day in another country – visit England, make flags, create travel brochure, make a passport, go on a train ride around the house holding onto family members, have a tea and cookie party
- Outside day – spend a warm day outside as much as possible – walks, tball, go on the swing set, play on a trampoline, wash it and then play in it with the windows rolled down and the music turned up
- Camping day – S’mores making – pick branches outside and sit by fire in fireplace, flashlights at night in bed making shadows, campfire stories in bed without books in the dark.
- Season day – pick your favorite season and celebrate it all day. Like Fun in the Sun – take baths in swimsuits, draw with chalk on driveway, water balloons outside, make sandcastles out of play dough, dress in summer clothes inside
- Movie day – dress as your favorite character, pop popcorn, make treat bags for every family member, get cozy and watch a movie
- Picnic day – prepare picnic foods like fruit salad, potato salad, set out picnic blanket and eat in living room. And you can even have a picnic in winter (as long as you wrap-up warm!), the views can be spectacular in winter so have an amazing winter picnic.
- Salon day – paint nails, braid hair, put on makeup, foot massages with special lotion
- Kids rule the day – kids decide what parents and kids wear for the day, kids decide what we will eat all day, kids decide how to spend the day
- Dessert shop day – make melted chocolate and dip berries, bake cookies, make ice cream sundaes
- Chore and prize day – everyone cleans and gets $$, prize, or treats after each chore completed
- Memory day – look through old albums or parents’ wedding album, make a new photo album, make a time capsule, write down favorite memories, make dated art piece of everyone’s handprint
- Kid restaurant day – kids make menus, kids help make dinner
- Recycling day – collect recyclables for a few days and use them to make instruments, paper bag dresses, art out of recycling, make toys, paint old furniture to avoid throwing it away
- Health day – do kids yoga from amazon prime or videos, count how many pushups, sit-ups we can do, go on a walk, plan healthy tasty food for the day, actually floss kids’ teeth and do mouthwash.
- Pajama day – don’t get dressed all day, make breakfast in bed for dad and the family to eat in bed, go to bed after lunch (lay on the couch and read), make pancakes and eggs for dinner
- Crazy day – wear mismatched socks and clothes, wear something of another family members, have a crazy hairstyle, eat or draw with your other hand, go on a walk backwards, eat dessert before dinner
- Dance party day – dance while cooking and eating, dance while cleaning, dance with whole family in the evening with dance clothes
- Sleepover Day – have pillow fights, make blanket forts, everyone sleeps in same room in sleeping bags or cushions and blankets
- Sports day – play catch, have different races (hopping like a bunny, balancing a ball on a spoon, skipping, etc.), make obstacle courses inside or out, make Olympic medals
- Nature day – collect flowers to make a bouquet, find rocks and paint them, go for a hike.
- Kindness day – write cards for relatives, share favorite toys with siblings, call friends and wish them a happy day
- Birthday Party day – kids pick a stuffed animal and plan a birthday party for it, write invitations, decorate a party room, rent a photo booth, make party hats, bake cupcakes, wrap a gift (old toy)
- Adventure day – drive someplace new, visit a new town and walk around or go to a distant farm, new hike
- Rainbow day – wear colorful clothes and hair bows, eat colorful foods, finger paint rainbows or do any rainbow art
- Scientists for a day – do fun experiments like lava lamps, magic milk painting, rain cloud in a jar.
- Moving day – play with every toy in the house before the “move”, then label and pack up empty boxes or suitcases full of toys you won’t miss for a month and have them move into a closet for a month
- Holiday day – celebrate your favorite holidays – have an Easter egg hunt, dance to Irish music and dress in green for St. Patty’s Day, make a Valentine for a friend, make and wrap gifts for family members for Christmas, dress up for Halloween and then ring the front doorbell and parents put a treat in your Halloween pail, have a small Thanksgiving feast and write what you’re thankful for on a paper leaf and hang
- Library day – organize book collection by color or size, read books, write and illustrate a book as a family
Cat Miller
Croton-on-Hudson
