How to Make September Holidays The Best For Kids

Looking for fun September holidays for kids? These 17 Fun September holidays for kids offer easy family ideas and wonderfully goofy celebrations that make it easy to laugh, connect, and create family memories throughout the month.

But that doesn’t mean family fun has to disappear!

September’s calendar is filled with wonderfully goofy holidays that give families an excuse to pause, laugh, try something different, and enjoy time together. You don’t need to plan an elaborate party or spend a lot of money. A special snack, a five-minute game, or a little silliness around the dinner table can turn an ordinary day into a memory.

Here are some fun September days your family might enjoy celebrating.

September 1: No Rhyme (Nor Reason) Day

This wonderfully silly day celebrates words that don’t rhyme—and things that don’t necessarily make sense!

Simple ways to celebrate:

• Take turns naming words that are difficult to rhyme, such as orange, purple, silver, and month.
• Hold a “No Rhyme or Reason” dinner and let everyone wear two completely mismatched items.
• Write a silly family poem in which absolutely nothing rhymes.
• Serve foods that don’t normally go together and let everyone vote on the strangest combination.

There is no wrong way to celebrate a day devoted to things that don’t make sense!

September 2: Blueberry Popsicle Day

Even though fall is getting closer, September can still bring plenty of warm afternoons. Blueberry Popsicle Day is a tasty excuse to enjoy one more frozen treat.

Simple ways to celebrate:

• Buy blueberry popsicles for an after-school surprise.
• Blend blueberries with yogurt or juice and freeze the mixture in popsicle molds.
• Create a small popsicle topping bar with sprinkles, crushed cereal, or mini chocolate chips.
• Eat your treats outside and talk about everyone’s favorite summer memory.

No popsicle molds? Small paper cups and craft sticks work, too.

September 5: Cheese Pizza Day

A cheese pizza makes a wonderfully simple starting point for a family meal—and children can help make it.

Try a Make-Your-Own Pizza Night:

Set out small pizza crusts, English muffins, bagels, or tortillas. Add sauce, cheese, and a few toppings, and let everyone create a personal pizza.

For a little extra fun, challenge family members to arrange their cheese or toppings into a picture, funny face, or initial before baking.

September 6: Read a Book Day

A celebration doesn’t always have to be noisy. Sometimes, gathering with a good story is exactly what a family needs.

Simple ways to celebrate:

• Build a family reading fort with blankets and pillows.
• Let each person choose a favorite book to read aloud.
• Pair books with a special snack or mug of cocoa.
• Hold a “flashlight reading night” after dark.
• Ask grandparents or other relatives to read a story over a video call.

Older children who have outgrown picture books can read a funny short story, comic book, or chapter aloud to the family.

September 9: Teddy Bear Day

Today is the day for bears to come down from the shelves and join the fun!

Simple ways to celebrate:

• Hold a teddy bear picnic in the backyard or living room.
• Invite the bears to the dinner table.
• Read a favorite bear-themed story.
• Hide several stuffed animals around the house for a “bear hunt.”
• Let children make name tags or tiny paper hats for their bears.

Children could also choose a stuffed animal they have outgrown, clean it carefully, and—with a parent’s help—find an appropriate organization accepting toy donations.

September 12: Video Games Day

Video games can become a shared family activity instead of something everyone does separately.

Choose a game that family members of different ages can play and hold a friendly tournament. You could also bring a favorite video game into the real world.

Try one of these ideas:

• Build an obstacle course inspired by a game.
• Draw a new character or game level.
• Create pixel art with building blocks or graph paper.
• Play an active game that requires dancing, racing, or movement.
• Ask children to invent a brand-new family video game.

Let children explain their favorite game to the adults. They may enjoy being the family experts for the evening!

September 13: Grandparents Day

In 2026, National Grandparents Day falls on Sunday, September 13. It is observed on the first Sunday after Labor Day and celebrates the important connection between grandparents and grandchildren. Generations United

Meaningful ways to celebrate:

• Call or video chat with a grandparent.
• Make and mail a homemade card.
• Look through old family photographs together.
• Ask a grandparent to share a childhood story.
• Cook a family recipe that has been passed down.
• Make a short “What We Love About You” video.

If grandparents live nearby, plan a simple game afternoon, family meal, or walk together. The most important gift is time.

September 13: Kids Take Over the Kitchen Day

September 13 gives families two celebrations in one! Kids Take Over the Kitchen Day is a chance for children to help prepare a snack or meal.

They don’t have to take over the entire kitchen. Even young children can wash produce, stir ingredients, arrange food on a plate, or decorate cookies.

Easy possibilities include:

• Personal pizzas
• Sandwich faces
• Fruit kabobs
• Yogurt parfaits
• Trail mix
• Decorated cupcakes
• Pancakes for dinner

Choose jobs that are safe and appropriate for each child’s age, and expect the kitchen to look a little less than perfect. The goal is time together—not a spotless countertop.

September 16: Play-Doh Day

Play-Doh isn’t only for preschoolers. Give the whole family a container and a challenge, and you may be surprised by how quickly everyone joins in.

Hold a family Play-Doh challenge:

• Build an imaginary animal.
• Create a tiny meal.
• Make something beginning with a selected letter.
• Sculpt another family member.
• Build the tallest structure possible.
• Create something in 60 seconds.

Place all the creations on display and give out funny awards such as “Most Likely to Make Us Laugh,” “Most Mysterious,” or “Best Use of Purple.”

September 18: Rice Krispie Treat Day

Celebrate with a classic batch of crispy cereal treats—or turn them into a simple family activity.

Set out small treats with frosting, melted chocolate, sprinkles, candies, and other decorations. Children can create monsters, animals, funny faces, or early fall designs.

You can also shape the treats into balls, stars, or simple pumpkins. Don’t worry if every creation looks different. That is part of the fun!

September 19: Talk Like a Pirate Day

Talk Like a Pirate Day is celebrated every September 19 and may be one of the goofiest holidays on the calendar. Timeanddate.com

Simple ways to celebrate:

• Greet everyone with “Ahoy, matey!”
• Give family members pirate names.
• Draw a treasure map of your home.
• Hide a small treasure and organize a scavenger hunt.
• Make pirate hats from newspaper or construction paper.
• Serve fish crackers, “pirate punch,” or chocolate coin treasure.
• Watch a family-friendly pirate movie.

For an easy dinner activity, require everyone to talk like a pirate while asking someone to pass the food. Even reluctant participants may find it difficult not to laugh.

September 21: Miniature Golf Day

Visit a local miniature golf course, or create your own course at home.

Use cups or small containers as holes and cardboard tubes, books, blocks, and toys as obstacles. A broom, wrapping-paper tube, or toy golf club can become a putter, while a lightweight ball helps protect lamps and furniture.

Let each family member design one hole for the course. The homemade obstacles may be even more entertaining than the game!

September 22: Ice Cream Cone Day

Ice cream is fun in a bowl—but eating it from a cone feels like a celebration.

Set out two or three ice cream flavors and a few toppings for a miniature ice cream cone bar. If you want to keep things very simple, buy a box of cones and let everyone choose one topping from the pantry.

You can also fill cones with fruit, popcorn, cereal snack mix, or small candies. The cone is really just an edible party container waiting to happen!

September 23: Checkers Day

Pull out the checkerboard for a quick family game. If younger children aren’t ready for traditional checkers, use the board and pieces in a different way.

Try these variations:

• See who can build the tallest tower with the pieces.
• Create patterns on the checkerboard.
• Hide one different-colored piece and play a guessing game.
• Hold a family checkers tournament.
• Make a giant checkerboard with paper squares on the floor.

Simple games are a wonderful way to slow down and connect without needing a lot of preparation.

September 26: Pancake Day

Pancakes don’t have to wait for breakfast. Celebrate with pancakes for dinner or set up a pancake topping bar.

Offer a few simple choices such as sliced bananas, berries, whipped cream, chocolate chips, sprinkles, cinnamon sugar, or peanut butter.

Children can also use fruit and toppings to turn their pancakes into funny faces. Give each creation a name before it disappears!

September 27: Chocolate Milk Day

This may be one of the easiest celebrations of the month!

Make chocolate milk and enjoy it with an after-school snack. For something different, try a chocolate milk taste test using different syrups, mixes, or milk varieties.

You could also blend chocolate milk with ice for a frosty drink or add a scoop of ice cream for an extra-special dessert.

September 30: Chewing Gum Day

Finish September with bubble-blowing fun.

Give everyone a piece of gum and hold a family bubble contest. Award titles for the biggest bubble, smallest bubble, funniest bubble, or most determined bubble blower.

Young children who cannot safely chew gum can join the celebration with bubbles of another kind—soap bubbles!

Choose one of the 17 Fun September Holidays That Fit Your Family

You certainly don’t need to celebrate every fun day on the September calendar. Choose one or two that make your family smile, write them on the calendar, and keep the celebration simple.

A popsicle after school, a teddy bear at the dinner table, or five minutes spent talking like pirates may seem like a very small thing. But these ordinary little moments of silliness help families laugh together, connect, and create the stories they will remember later.

That is always worth celebrating.

It is September, and if you would like ideas, here are some useful back-to-school tips!