By Mallory Lundien From the big to the small here is a list of holidays in April you can celebrate or learn about with your students! Read below for ideas of how to incorporate these into your classroom!
Month long holidays Autism Awareness Month: Awareness and inclusion are popular words in education, this month is a great opportunity to participate in fun activities that make your classroom more inclusive!
Dress up in blue! The organization Autism Speaks uses it’s campaign “Light it Up Blue” to increase awareness and theme fundraisers.
Read books to educate your students and learn about Autism. Reading Rockets has a great article with books and ideas for implementation!
Organize a No-Bullying Campaign in your classroom or school. You could have students make posters, talk on the announcements, or even have a community circle with other classrooms in your school.
National Poetry Month: If my classroom library is lacking anything, its poetry. This month is a great opportunity to read, write, and learn about poetry! Poets.org has a HUGE selection of resources and activities, and they include virtual or in person options. I always love to use this month to have my students write or read a poem everyday to expand their knowledge and build their confidence as a poet. Not all poems have to rhyme :)
April Holidays World Autism Awareness Day (2nd) Wear blue to spread awareness and use a read aloud book to spark discussion with your students. National Library Week (3rd - 9th) This holiday is sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA). The theme for 2022 is “Connect with Your Library.” Talk to your school librarian or visit the ALA website for more information. National Wildlife Week (3rd- 9th) Celebrate wildlife’s diversity in your classroom with books, drawings, and discovery of their favorite animals. Click here to learn more. Qingming Festival (5th) Celebrated in Chinese culture, this festival has over 2,500 years of history. In English the festival is referred to as “Pure Bright Festival.” On this day many will go and sweep the tombs of their ancestors to show respect. Little Passports has crafts ideas and provides more information about this long standing holiday! Read a Road Map Day (5th) Great opportunity to review the cardinal directions or learning about maps! National Walking Day (6th) Take your class on a walk, whether you go around the school or outside it can be a fun time to get up and move. Have students make observations on their walk and turn the activity into a science lesson or community circle on perspective! World Health Day (7th) Annual celebration around the world to promote a healthy lifestyle and awareness of health. Celebrate in your classroom with a science lesson about healthy eating habits, encouraging physical activities, following a guided meditation, or having a community circle about the importance of health. National Zoo Lovers Day (7th) Check out the Smithsonian’s National Zoo website to see webcams of animals and download their “Animal Cam Bingo Cards” to play with your class! Day of Silence (7th) A national student-led demonstration where LGBTQ+ students and allies vow to be silent in protest of issues in school related to discrimination and harrassment. At the end of the day students participate in Break the Silence rallies to share their experiences and discuss ways for their communities and schools to be more inclusive. While this may be difficult to celebrate in the classroom, it is important to be aware as a teacher, ally, and advocate for inclusivity in your school. National Encourage a Young Writer Day (10th) Phenomenal opportunity to dust off those pencils and encourage our young authors to enjoy writing again! Support creativity and promote community by having the students share their work. Palm Sunday (10th) A Christian holiday in honor of Jesus entering into Jerusalem. This holiday falls on the Sunday prior to Easter. Ram Navami (10th) A Hindu festival to celebrate the birth of Lord Rama. There are many ways that this holiday is celebrated, from fasting, to creating a family shrine with offerings. In some parts of India, a pot full of money will be tied to the top of a tree and local youth work together in teams to reach the top by forming human pyramids! National Pet Day (11th) Perfect holiday to celebrate during your morning meeting, encourage students to share about their pet or a pet they wish to have in the future. National Librarian Day (12th, 16th, or 25th) Okay, so there are multiple days online that are listed as National Librarian Day. Talk to your school and figure out which day your community will be celebrating the Librarians! Students can write cards or create posters to show appreciation. National Scrabble Day (13th) Not many students know how to play scrabble anymore, but it is great for practicing spelling and trying to think ahead. There are even math skills involved. Consider adding this game to your centers or have students play in small groups. International Moment of Laughter Day (14th) Learning is meant to be fun! Take today to add some extra giggles and laugh along with your students. Encourage them to come up with jokes or share funny memories. Jackie Robinson Day (15th) April 15th marks Jackie Robinson’s debut into the MLB. Honor the day by having students learn about Jackie Robinson and the impact he had on communities. Pesach (15th) Also called Passover, is a Jewish Holiday that celebrates the liberation of slavery in Eygpt. Passover will begin on the 15th and continues until the evening of Saturday the 23rd. National Volunteer Week (17th- 23rd)
During this week you can have your students write thank you notes for volunteers in your schools
Spark student conversation about what it means to volunteer and how they could volunteer at the school or in the community.
Scholastic has a fabulous article linking read alouds about the Power of Volunteering
Easter (17th) A Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Often celebrated with the legend of the Easter Bunny and an Easter Egg hunt. International Haiku Poetry Day (17th) Challenge your students to try out this short style of poetry. Have fun and get creative! Wear Pajamas to Work Day (19th) Okay, who doesn’t want to do this? Let your administration know! National Look-Alike Day (20th) Twins day would look good on this day. National Kindergarten Day (21st) Show those Kinders some love! Have older students cheer for them, read to them, play together, or even just give them cards. Earth Day (22nd) There are many ways to celebrate Earth Day. This holiday is a great opportunity for your school to work together as a community to clean up, host an Earth Day campaign, or plant some flowers. Prodigy Game has a great article outlining 20 activities that could be done in the classroom or at home in honor of Earth Day. World Book Day (23rd) Share your favorite read aloud or give students some extra free reading time! Get Organized Day (26th) Great day to have students clean out those desks!! Who even knows what’s in there! National Tell a Story Day (27th) Fun holiday to celebrate during morning meetings or to be used for a writing activity! Babe Ruth Day (27th) Dating back to April 27th, 1947, the Yankees hosted “Babe Ruth Day” as a national event to honor this baseball legend. You can honor Babe Ruth in your classroom by encouraging students to learn about how Babe’s impact goes far beyond the baseball field. Administrative Professionals Day (27th) Write cards or posters to Admin at the school, let them know we appreciate them! Great Poetry Reading Day (28th) National Poetry Month is almost over so if you haven't had a chance to celebrate, today is the perfect opportunity to add in a fun poetry lesson or activity. National Superhero Day (28th) Easy holiday to celebrate in morning meeting, community circle, writing, or reading. Add in some of your students favorite superheroes to the math problems of the day and it'll help to shake up the day. National Arbor Day (29th) This holiday is celebrated by planting trees! You can celebrate in the classroom by reading about trees, a science lesson about trees, or a nature walk. If you’re able to plan ahead, maybe the school can celebrate by planting trees! My elementary school once did this and I love to drive by and see my tree still standing tall and strong! International Dance Day (29th) Get up and groove today! Learn about the history of dance, celebrate different kinds of dance, and most importantly, turn up the jams so your class can shake it off! Leave a comment and let me know what holidays your class loves to celebrate! … remember that you are treasured and loved by the AtoZ fam ❤️️