I hope you get some ideas of fun things you can do with friends and family from these dates.
For example, on March 1, make food with peanut butter in it. Make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, peanut butter cookies, use peanut sauce on your meat or vegetables for dinner. Make homemade peanut butter with your children by purchasing some peanuts and processing them in your food processor or blender. If you homeschool, teach them about George Washington Carver who came up with hundreds of uses for the peanut. These are simple, but fun ideas. You can take them as far as you like.
On Good Samaritan Day, March 13, you and your children or friends can look for good deeds to do for others, especially strangers. Help people to their car with their groceries. Go to an elderly person’s house and clean for them or bring someone dinner.
If you homeschool, you can do little lessons on the historical things mentioned.
MONTH LONG OBSERVANCES IN MARCH
American
Red Cross Month
Irish-American
Heritage Month
Music
in our Schools Month
National
Craft Month
National
Frozen Food Month
National
Noodle Month
National
Nutrition Month
Woman’s
History Month
Youth
Art Month
National
Peanut Month
Poetry
Month
The second week of March is Bubble Gum Week.
SPECIAL DAYS IN MARCH
March 1 – Peanut Butter Lover’s Day
Share a Smile Day
March 2 – Dr. Seuss’s Birthday
Employee Appreciation Day
National Banana Cream Pie Day
March 3 – National Anthem Day
I Want You To Be Happy Day
National Cold Cuts Day
March 4 – National Poundcake Day
Hug a GI Day
March 6 – Oreo Cookies go on sale for the first time in 1912
National Frozen Food Day
Michaelangelo’s birthday in 1475
National Chocolate Cheesecake Day
March 7 – Telephone patent was granted to Alexander Graham Bell in 1876
Purim begins at sundown
National Cereal Day
March 8 – Working Women’s Day
Popcorn Lover’s Day
March 9 – Barbie’s Birthday (first introduced in 1959)
No Smoking Day
National Crabmeat Day
March 10 – First Paper Money Issued 1862
Genealogy Day
National Blueberry Popover Day
March 11 – First Public Basketball Game in 1892
Johnny Appleseed Day
Daylight Savings Time Begins
Eat Your Noodles Day
March 12 – Girl Scout Day
Plant a Flower Day
March 13 – Good Samaritan Day
Uranus Discovered in 1781
March 14 – Albert Einstein’s Birthday
Potato Chip Day
March 15 – Incredible Kid Day
National Peanut Lover’s Day
March 17 – St Patrick’s Day
March 18 – First Walk In Space in 1965
National Lacy Oatmeal Cookie Day
March 19 – St. Joseph’s Day
Swallows return to San Juan Capistrano
Poultry Day
National Chocolate Caramel Day
March 20 – Big Bird’s Birthday
First Day of Spring
International Earth Day
National Ravioli Day
March 21 – National Teenagers Day
Single Parents’ Day
Fragrance Day
National French Bread Day
March 22 – National Sing-Out Day
National Water Day
March 23 – National Chip & Dip Day
March 24 – National Chocolate Covered Raisin Day
March 25 – Greek Independence Day
Pancakes First Made in 1882
Pecan Day
Waffle Day
March 26 – Make up your own Holiday Day
National Spinach Day
March 27 – National Spanish Paella Day
March 28 – National Black Forest Cake Day
March 29 – Coca-Cola was invented in 1886
Pickle Day
National Lemon Chiffon Cake Day
March 30 – Alaska Purchased in 1867
Take a Walk in the Park Day
March 31 – Tater Day
Taken from:
http://familycrafts.about.com/library/spdays/blmardayslong.htm
http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/march.htm
http://foodimentary.com/2011/03/02/march-2/
PURIM PARTY
This year Purim is celebrated from sunset March 7 – sunset March 8
Purim is one of the most joyous, fun holidays on the Jewish calendar. It commemorates a time when the Jewish people living in Persia were saved from extermination. The history of what occurred can be read in the bible book of Esther.
Traditionally the Jewish people re-enact the story with their children. Anytime the wicked, Haman’s name is mentioned everyone boos, hisses, stamps their feet or rattles noisemakers. It is customary to hold carnival-like celebrations, perform plays and hold beauty pageants.
A cookie called, Hamentaschen is made. These are triangular fruit-filled cookies, which are supposed to represent Haman’s three-cornered hat.
Gifts of food, drink and donations to charity are encouraged during this time.
So….have a little play. Boo the villain. Make some cookies and give to others. What a fun family activity!
Trivia
– Did you know that corned beef and cabbage is an American dish? They
do not eat it in Ireland, but don’t let that stop you from serving it
at your party.
Ask everyone to wear green.
Food
Serve Irish Breakfast tea.
Make
a punch with a liter of 7-UP, mixed with a can of frozen limeade made
according to the directions on the can. Put scoops of lime sherbet on
top.
Serve plenty of green food – Broccoli, green beans, peas,
celery, zucchini, Green Goddess dressing, guacamole, avocado, cabbage,
spinach, all lettuce.
If a cake has Jell-O as an ingredient, use lime Jell-O. Frost with Cool Whip with green food coloring in it.
Make lime Jell-O Jigglers.
Make green shamrock-shaped sugar cookies.
Decorations
Decorate with crystal vases and white and green flowers.
Use white cut lace for tablecloths.
Play Irish music.
Have River Dance playing on a big screen TV.
Hang shamrocks, put them on the tables, the walls and any place else you can think of.
Place dark pots with candy gold coins in them on tables.
Get some Irish flags and put them up and put small flags on the tables and in plants.
String up green Christmas lights.
Hang rainbows.
Games
Have an Irish Jig contest or see who can do the Irish Jig the longest.
Divide
people into teams. Have two black pots 10 or so feet away from the
contestant line. Give each player a gold candy coin. Have them stand at
the beginning of the line and take turns tossing the coin into the
pots. The team that has the most in wins. A variation of this would be
to give each person 5-10 coins. Have them toss the coins in the pots.
Keep a tally of how many each person got in the pot. The person with
the most in wins.
Play “Hot Potato.” Gather everyone in a
circle. Play some Irish music. Pass the potato from person to person
while the music plays. Contestant left holding the potato when the
music stops leaves circle. Play continues until one person is left.
Play Pin The Shamrock on the Leprechaun.
Get a poster/picture of a leprechaun. Place it on the wall. Have a
designated spot for a shamrock to be placed on the leprechaun.
Blindfold each participant and give them a shamrock to stick on the
leprechaun. The person, who puts it nearest to that spot, wins.
Fill
a large glass jar or container with gold candy coins. Ask guests to
guess how many coins are in the jar. Winner is the one who comes
closest to guessing the correct amount.
This would be lots of fun for children and it doesn’t have to be a birthday party.
The children could come dressed like characters from Dr. Seuss, Barbie or Sesame Street
Decorations:
Decorate
with Dr. Seuss books, pictures and Dr. Seuss dolls. If it’s a Barbie
party, use Barbie, Ken, Skipper and the rest of Barbie’s family,
friends and paraphernalia as decorations. Do the same with Big bird by
using Sesame Street characters, dolls, books, pictures.
You might find plates with these characters on them.
Games:
Dr. Seuss Party:
• Make party hats.
• Have them go fishing. Make fish out of construction paper and put paper clips on them. Make a homemade fishing pole with a magnet on the end to catch the fish with. Give children 10 seconds to catch the fish. The child who catches the most fish wins.
• Make turtles out of paper plates and construction paper.
• Stack the hat game - Have a stack of hats for each team. Each child on the team places the stack on their head walks to a designated spot and comes back to the next child in line. The team to finish first wins.
Barbie Party:
• I think the best thing to do at a Barbie party is to play dress-up and/or to play with their Barbie dolls. The girls can dress-up, do hair, put on nail polish and maybe a little lip gloss. They can have a tea or play house. You supply what they will need and allow their imaginations to think of the rest. If they are going to play with their Barbie dolls, ask them to bring their Barbie dolls to the party.
Big Bird Party:
• Play songs from Sesame Street.
• Play musical chairs with songs from sesame Street.
• Put rubber ducks in a tub with water in it. Write numbers on the bottom of each duck with permanent marker. Have each child pick a duck. Prizes can be awarded for certain numbers.
• Purchase “Big Bird’s Favorite Party Games” video. Play the games on the video.
• Play “Big Bird Says”. Ask the children to do whatever motion Big Bird tells them to do. It would be good if whoever was playing Big Bird was dressed like Big Bird or at least had yellow on.
Welcome Spring Party
Decorations / Invitations / Favors:
• Send
out invitations that have pastel colors, flowers, flower pots, umbrellas,
worms, baby animals or anything associated with spring on them.
• For
decorations utilize any of the above mentioned items.
• For
favors: Give everyone potted plants or gummy worms in a clay pot or a packet of
seeds in a clay pot or chick Peeps.
Food:
• Make
sugar cookies shaped like flowers, butterflies, bunnies, frogs &/or birds.
• Serve
chips, cookies and candy in clay pots lined with cloth napkins.
• Make
a vegetable platter look like a vegetable garden by arranging them in rows.
• Make
ladybug fruit treats by slicing apples in half and coring them. Push chocolate
chips into the skin (point-side first). Poke a small hole into the skin first
with a toothpick or small knife.
• Some
fruits and vegetables that will be in season are:
Mango,
pineapple, apricot, avocado, rhubarb, strawberry, artichoke, asparagus, collard
greens, fennel, mustard greens, new potatoes, spinach, spring baby lettuce,
sugar snap and snow peas, watercress, Vidalia onions
• Lamb
is a springtime meat to eat. See our recipes in the food/ recipe section.
• Serve
Chocolate Mud Pie and Mud Parfaits for dessert.
WORM DIRT CAKE
1
to 1 1/4 lb. pkg. Oreo cookies
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
3 cups milk
1 (12 oz.) tub Cool Whip (can use chocolate)
2 (3 1/2 oz.) pkg. instant vanilla or chocolate pudding
1/2 tsp. vanilla
4 gummy worms and/or other critters
This
popular "novelty" cake is a hit at children's parties, especially
around Halloween. You'll receive many appreciative compliments from your guests
such as "Ewww, that's gross!" It
really resembles a pudding more than it does a conventional cake. If you serve
it as an everyday family dessert, rather than as a fun decorative element, it's
possible that your family may not understand it!
Crush
Oreos. Put 1/3 of the crushed Oreos into a new, clean flower pot. Set aside.
Mix
butter, cream cheese and sugar and vanilla together. Set aside.
Combine
milk and pudding mix. Fold Cool Whip into the pudding.
Fold
together pudding mixture and butter-cream cheese mixture.
Layer
this mixture (about 1/3 of it) onto the crumbled cookies in the pot. Next, add
another layer of the pudding mixture, then another layer of cookie crumbs,
continuing until all ingredients are used.
As
you're layering the ingredients, decoratively place several gummy worms and
critters in the "soil" so they will be seen emerging. If you have a
toy (clean) garden trowel, a plastic daisy, or some edible flowers, these can
also be used creatively to embellish the presentation.
Chill
in refrigerator for 3 to 4 hours before serving.
Taken
from: www.cooks.com
Chocolate
Mud Pie
Yield:
12 servings
Crust
2
cups (4.8 dl) chocolate cookie crumbs
4 tablespoons butter
Fudge
sauce
5
oz (140 g) semi-sweet chocolate (40-45%)
½ cup (1.2 dl) whipping cream
3 tablespoons butter
Filling
4
cups (1 liter) ice cream, softened (coffee or chocolate-flavored)
Taken
from www.cacaoweb.net
Games:
Springtime
Scavenger Hunt
This is best if it is played during the day. Have
guests go outside and listen and look for these items:
Bird
singing
Flowers
popping out of ground
Newborn
animal
Baby
in stroller
Screen
on window
Laundry
hanging out
People
at the park
Skateboarding
Bike
riding
Dog
or cat shedding
Frogs
Worms
Rain
Thunder
Umbrella
Car
with window open
Put
a time limit on it. Person with the most gets a prize.
Flower
Pot Toss
Divide group into 2
teams. Place 1-2 flower pots equal distance from both teams. Each member of the
team has to toss a small bean bag into the pots. The team with the most in
wins.
Singing
In The Rain
Divide the group into 2 teams. Have a raincoat, rain-hat, boots
and umbrella for each team. Members have to take turns running to the spot
where the rain gear is, put it on and then run back to the team, take it off
and give it to the next person in line. The team who finishes first wins.