Need a theme at a moment’s notice? Looking to create craft ideas for your meeting? Need to decorate a bulletin board? What kind of event will get your people motivated?
When you’re short on ideas and need a starting point, monthly observances can give you everything from ideas for activities to service projects.
NOTE: Be sure to archive the materials you collect so you can use them again later.
Steps
1. January.
Look at the supplement of January monthly observances in the United States. These are observances that occur all month long. For January, these include:
- Celebration of Life Month
- National Candy Month
- National Hobby Month
- National Letter Writing Month
- National Soup Month
- National Stamp Collectors Month
Review the printable to find what monthly themes you can incorporate into your own activities.
2. Your list.
Start your own list of January monthly observances, including ideas to help celebrate them. Expand on the list provided or create your own from scratch to meet the needs of your audience or group. In addition, you may with to add holidays, birthdays or other specific events that happen during the month.
3. Theme.
Any monthly observance can be a theme for your meeting or event. Look through the provided printable or your self-created list and find one that interests you. How can you build a theme around your chosen observance?
Start Planning
4. Events.
You can plan a meeting, party or event based on a monthly celebration theme. You might want to do one or more activities based on your observance. You may choose to focus an entire event around it. Make sure you have enough time to plan and carry out your event activities.
5. Create.
Use the January observances as a way to focus your creative energy. When you’re stuck for an idea, these can give you a jumping off point to start brainstorming. For National Candy Month, you can challenge everyone to make unique candies or use candies as decoration. Some things you might create include:
- Art
- Blog posts
- Club activities
- Crafts
- Ebooks
- Games
- Gifts
- Podcasts
- Printables
- STEM
- Videos
6. Education.
Teaching and leading activities about January observances gives your curriculum a new look for the month. You can find many supplements and printables that educational professionals share online. Find support for your chosen observance.
7. Sharing.
Sharing your ideas with others not only encourages participation but may bring greater variety into your activities. You can share:
- Cultural observations
- Hobbies
- Interests
- Religious observances
Explore ways to share with others in your community or group.
8. Service.
You can plan service around a monthly observance. For National Soup Month you might plan to work at a soup kitchen or collect donations to help the kitchen. Look through the observances and find one or more that allow you to bring service into your monthly activities.
9. Communicate.
Use monthly observations in your communications. You can share your thoughts and ideas to move people to action. From blog posts to emails to newsletters, keep your communication fresh by incorporating these observances in your writing.
10. Brainstorm.
Brainstorm ways to incorporate observances into your own community or group. This might be a one-time event or a series for a group, club or community.
Continue the Search
11. Explore online.
Pick a monthly observance (or more) and start your online research. What is available online that you can download and use? As you find materials for your observance, create a digital activity box so the materials will be available to you and others. See the badge program “Activity Box Digital” for more information.
12. Search.
How have other people celebrated the theme you chose? Contact them to find out what they did. Ask about what worked, what didn’t and what they might change to make it better.
Can you incorporate their ideas into your own project? If not, what adjustments can you make?
Supplements
SUPP_MO_January_2in_12up_larajla
- Avery 2.5” round label printable, 12 up
SUPP_MO_January Checklist_larajla
- Badge checklist
SUPP_Printable_01_January_larajla
- Printable sheet of monthly observances
SUPP_Printable_01_January_blank_larajla
- Printable sheet for your own observances
Sites to Explore
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:January_observances
- nationaldaycalendar.com/january-overview
- holidayinsights.com
- eventguide.com/mo/January.htm
- www.brownielocks.com
- www.holidays-and-observances.com
- www.notjustbingo.com/activity-calendars/january-calendar.html
- www.holidaysfortoday.com
- www.thenibble.com/fun/more/facts/food-holidays.asp
- www.gone-ta-pott.com
- www.welcoa.org/observances/january.php
Get the infographic here > larajla blog post
Get the PDFs of the badge program / supplements here > Full badge PDFs