Special Days for January
Are you looking for some special days for January to celebrate and get some fun thematic learning in at the same time? We’re going to take a look at the special days to celebrate this January in the UK and to give you some fun ideas to fit in some learning at the same time!
The first special day for January: New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day
Okay, so this one is technically in December but only just. What better way to kick off January than on New Year’s Eve! New Year’s Eve is a great, special day to celebrate with children. The whole concept of time can be a tricky one and bringing in the New Year together can be a great way to learn about old and new, past and present and the concept of a “year”. Let’s take a look at some special days activities you can do specifically on New Year’s Eve.
New Year’s Eve Activities for Toddlers
Sensory play is a fantastic way for your toddlers to get involved in the learning. Sensory play is so important in the early developing years. It strengthens brain development, cognitive growth, language development, awareness… I could go on and on!
How about making your own New Year’s Eve sensory bin or bottle? Pinterest has lots of inspiration and how-to guides to make your own. You could try out our New Year’s Eve Sensory Poem activity. It has a poem to read to your little one with recommended sensory items to follow with each part of the poem. This would also be a perfect way for children with SEN to get involved in the celebrations and learning.
Take a look at this sensory firework game or this sensory firework video with lovely relaxing piano music.
New Year’s Eve Activities for 4-7 year olds
We love a good craft and New Year’s Eve is no different! How about making your own recycled rockets out of toilet paper tubes? Or the good old fashioned chalk on black paper firework pictures always go down a treat! We liked this app to create your own firework display. How about learning about different New Year’s Eve traditions around the world with our project? We loved setting up different activities around the room and visiting them to try out the traditions throughout the day (All our projects are age differentiated for ages 1-11)!
New Year’s Eve Activities for 7-11 year olds
For a geography and maths twist to your New Year’s Eve learning, find out when New Year is celebrated throughout the year. You could record it on this map or this table. Try making your own firework displays with this step by step computing project (it’s also age differentiated for the younger ones to join in and make their own too!) End the day looking at everyone’s different firework displays!
World Braille Day is a January Special Day that Emphasises Empathy
World Braille day is on the 4th of January and we think it is an excellent special day to celebrate in January. It’s so important for our children to understand that we are all different and to encourage them to grow up to be tolerant, understanding human beings. You can download our World Braille Day activity completely free. It includes information about Louis Braille and a fun activity to explore the sense of sight.
January Special day activities that Emphasise Empathy for Toddlers
Develop the sense of touch with your toddlers to celebrate World Braille Day. Why not make some texture cards with them. Grab some spare bits of card or cardboard and some materials with different textures to glue to the card. You could use bubble wrap, sand paper, felt and anything else you have lying around the house! This great sensory touch activity is also great for encouraging language development.
January Special day activities that Emphasise Empathy for 4-7 year olds
Follow this up with watching a video about children who are blind on Youtube. We like this one. This activity puts children in the shoes of others which develops their emotional intelligence and empathy.
January Special day activities that Emphasise Empathy for 7-11 year olds
Why not use our free World Braille Day activity as a springboard into a research project about Louis Braille or different disabilities? This website has some great information and is easily accessible for children. Learning some of the Braille alphabet can be great fun. Write some notes to each other in code using Braille.
Epiphany is a Christian Special day in January
What is Epiphany? Well, Epiphany is a Christian festival that celebrates the day the three wise men visited the baby Jesus. It is celebrated on the 6th of January all around the world. In some parts of the world it is known as Three Kings Day and in some parts of the world is a major part of the Christmas calendar.
Epiphany Activities for Toddlers
A lovely way to celebrate this special day with the little ones is to make a crown. Cut out a template and provide some bits and pieces for them to decorate the crown with. (We always save our Quality Street wrappers to do this with!)
Epiphany Activities for 4-7 year olds
You can celebrate this special day in January with some great crafts. Try making some finger puppets or lolly pop stick puppets of the three wise men and act out the story. We found this great tutorial to make them out of felt here.
Epiphany Activities for 7-11 year olds
Just like the three kings followed the star of Bethlehem, you could learn how to navigate using the stars. There’s some great apps and to start you off take a look at this video.
Burns Night is a January Special day that is mostly celebrated in the UK
What is Burns Night? Burns Night is a special day on the 25th of January and celebrates the Scottish poet Robert Burns. Download our FREE Burns Night activity to celebrate one of our favourite special days in January.
Burns Night Activities for Toddlers
Tatties and neeps (potatoes and turnips) is a traditional Scottish dish served at a Burns Night supper. Get your child to put the potatoes in the pot, ready to cook. Make some tatties and neeps and get your little one to mash them up, ready to serve.
Burns Night Activities for 4-7 year olds
We love the tartan placemat craft in our free Burns Night printable. Make them and use them for your Burns Night supper! Here is great site for kids to research Burns Night themselves.
Burns Night Activities for 7-11 year olds
Get writing some poems and have a poetry reading with your Burns Night supper. You could use one of Robert Burn’s poems for inspiration or choose a theme of your own. What a great way to nurture and celebrate poetry in your home!
Holocaust Memorial Day for kids
Holocaust Memorial Day can be a difficult day for children to learn about, but it is one of the most important special days for January. www.hmd.org.uk recommends that children under the age of 12 focus on celebrating and learning about Jewish culture. This provides children with a good knowledge and understanding of Jewish life that helps them when they are old enough to begin to comprehend the holocaust. We have carefully crafted this free resource to celebrate Jewish culture on Holocaust Memorial Day. Children can make their own dreidel, learn the dreidel song and make latkes; a traditional Jewish dish!
RSPB Bird Watch is a January Special day that celebrates nature.
The RSPB is a nature conservation charity in the UK that runs the Bird Watch campaign each year. Bird Watch is another of our favourite special days to celebrate this month. You can usually join in with the RSPB Bird Watch on the last weekend of January. Don’t forget our free Bird Watch activity!
RSPB Bird Watch Activities for Toddlers
Go on a nature walk and close your eyes. Try and listen to the sounds of the birds around you. Take some binoculars and be ever so quiet as you watch the birds. How about making a bird feeder with a stick, peanut butter and some bird seed?
RSPB Bird Watch Activities for 4-7 year olds
Do a tally of all the birds you see with our free download. This is a great counting and data collection activity. We love to use a clipboard when we’re out and about in the forest being scientists! https://www.rspb.org.uk/ has some great identification resources you can use to help identify all the different birds you might see.
RSPB Bird Watch Activities for 7-11 year olds
We love using data we’ve collected and using our maths skills to analyse the data! Once you’ve done a tally of the birds, use the information to see which birds are most and least common in the area. You could even research information about the birds and make your own trading card game!
So now that you know all the special days to celebrate in January, you can add some variety and spice up your everyday learning. You can download our free special day calendar so you don’t miss these great learning opportunities and springboards into passions and interests!
Keep an eye out for future posts on the special days to celebrate each month with lots of free activity downloads and fun learning inspiration.
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