In the Victorian era, rituals and traditions played an important part of daily life in a number of areas. From daily life to rites of passage like birthdays and weddings, annual customs or holidays and pastimes associated with the four seasons, rituals and traditions have been a part of our lives for centuries! And while there’s no big holiday in March this year, there are still many wonderful rites of passage and celebrations to turn into family traditions.
Our lives are busy, so how do we weave rituals and traditions into our daily lives in a month like March when there’s not that much going on? All it takes is whipping out a planner, doing a bit of research (hint, we’ve done that for you already!) and adding some fun family activities to your March calendar. You’ll find that every month in fact lends itself to creating new family traditions, even without big holidays as the anchor. March, for example, is synonymous with the start of Spring bringing with it beautiful blooms and warmer weather for outdoor fun. It’s also a month that starts the lead up to Easter, opening up a world of fun activities in preparation for the first big holiday of the year.
Shrove Tuesday
Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday and is known around the world as “Pancake Day.” It was one of our favorite school days when our teachers would hand out piping hot and syrupy pancakes to gobble down. Keep the Shrove Tuesday tradition going in your own home by serving pancakes with cinnamon sugar and syrup for breakfast. If you’ve never made pancakes before, don’t be intimated, it’s actually really easy! Try Lou’s simple and delish pancake recipe and whip up a tasty treat for your family this Pancake Day.
Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday is observed around 6 weeks before Easter and marks the start of the first day of Lent (which we’ll get to next!). In France, families traditionally make a Lenten calendar which looks like a nun with 7 feet to mark off the 7 weeks of Lent. Each week one foot is folded back under the nun’s gown to cross off another week of Lent.
In the 5th Century, it was customary to eat pretzels on Ash Wednesday because they were thought to resemble hands folded in prayer. In modern times, serving pretzels on Ash Wednesday can be a fun way to mark the start of Lent and start the countdown to the chocolate coma that awaits on Easter! You could opt to bake your own homemade pretzels to serve, otherwise store-bought is perfectly fine and a real time saver!
Celebrate Lent
Lent was traditionally a time of fasting in the 40 days before Easter but nowadays, how it is observed has changed quite a bit. Many families observe Lent by committing to giving up some of their vices for 40 days. This could be junk food, soda, alcohol, gaming, screen time or really any bad habit that could do with some improvement. Some of our favorite modern ways to observe Lent include:
- Taking a social media detox – social media can be exhausting and constantly seeing the highlight reel from people’s lives only can get you down. Instead focus on being present and grateful for the life you do have!
- Making Friday night family night – often on Fridays you’ll find yourself at a dinner party with friends or the kids out at various play dates, leaving now time for connection after a busy week. During Lent, make Friday night family night and do fun activities together like going to the cinema, beach, for ice cream etc.
- Read a book instead of watching TV – we often find ourselves not even paying attention to a TV show and having it on as background noise. For 40 days, ditch the soapies and read a book instead! As a bonus, you’ll brush up your vocab.
- Cook up your best Lent dishes – traditionally, Lent was a time of avoiding most meat and dairy, however fish was allowed. During Lent, set aside one meal a week where you create a Lent-friendly meal by trying out some new recipes! Why not give Lou’s kid-approved fish cakes a try?
Mardi Gras Party
Now that you know all about Lent, there is in fact a fun party the precedes Lent…Fat Tuesday! Because Lent was a time of fasting and food restriction, a big carnival called a Mardi Gras party was held the night before the start of Lent for people to gorge on all the food they enjoyed before fasting! Even if you’re not fasting or giving any food up during Lent, you can still get in on the fun and create a new family tradition by hosting a Mardi Gras party in the days before Lent.
A quick Google search of Mardi Gras parties will show you the general color scheme tends to be purple, green and gold. People also often wear eye masks for Mardi Gras parties. We have this bright and colorful Fat Tuesday themed digital paper set for you to make place cards, bunting, masks and other cool DIY Mardi Gras party décor for the celebration.
If you’re not mad about the traditional Mardi Gras color scheme, stick to a general carnival theme and be inspired by our cute carnival ticket party invitations for your big bash.
Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day
The Irish holiday of St. Patrick’s Day is a fun day to observe even if you’re not of Irish heritage. It is in fact a great opportunity to expose your children to the holidays and cultural practices of people from other countries to their own. The Irish sure do know how to party and St. Patrick’s Day celebrations do tend to involve lots of beer and pub hopping traditionally! Obviously, not a suitable way for kids to celebrate!
Some kid-friendly St. Patrick’s Day traditions include:
- Send a St. Patrick’s Day treat and card to school in your little one’s lunchbox. Get your free download here.
- Attend a St. Patrick’s Day parade
- Wear green
- Plant shamrock seeds
- Make a traditional Irish dinner of corned beef and cabbage
Welcome Spring
March ushers in the start of Spring in the northern hemisphere and long-awaited warmer days! You’ll watch as flowers start to bloom, and gardens are awash with color once more. To mark the start of spring, consider making spending some time in the garden with your kids a tradition. Pull out any dead plants and replace with some new bright and colorful blooms. You could also opt to make a beautiful Spring wreath to hand on your door with the kids to welcome the new season in.
March is also a great time to head out to your local park and teach your kids how to fly a kite. This is a charming and rare activity to see nowadays and there’s something about it we just love. If your kids have never flown a kite before, the novelty of it all will also be fun for them!
Maple Syrup Madness
In New England, gathering sap is a tradition families practice in March but you don’t have to miss out even if there’s no maple tree in sight where you live! Have a sugaring-off party where everything you serve is inspired by maple syrup! Think maple syrup over baked ham, in a sweet potato casserole or to dip doughnuts into. It may sound like a cavity-inducing party but one night won’t hurt ya!
Mother Sunday
Mother Sunday was observed in the Middle Ages as a celebration of Mother Earth, Mother Church and Mother Mortal. Servants were allowed to visit home to see their mothers on Mothering Sunday. Nowadays, it’s probably a tradition you’ve never even heard of before. That doesn’t mean it has to stay in the Medieval times! You can celebrate Mother Sunday by showing appreciation to any Mothers in your life. Drop off a jar of cookies or handmade gift for all the hard-working mamas in your community. Check out our DIY gift ideas for some inspiration into homemade gifts, which we always find so special to receive.
Let’s not forget about Mother Earth! She puts up with a lot from us humans! Make it a family tradition to do something good for the planet on Mother Sunday. Go pick up litter together, plant a tree or donate to an environmental charity. You could also have your kids do some of our fun educational activities, like these printable Geography worksheets, to learn more about the world they live in.
Wacky and Fun Days to Celebrate in March
While most of the family traditions we’ve discussed for March revolve around the build-up to Easter, seasons and some other cultural observances, there are still more opportunities to create family traditions if none of those appeal to you! A family tradition is much like a recipe, you may have to try a few before you find the perfect one!
1 March: World Compliment Day – today encourage the whole family to give a compliment to a stranger and brighten someone’s day!
2 March: Dr Seuss Day – start the day with green eggs and ham and finish it off with reading a Dr Seuss classic as a bedtime story. We also have these adorable free Dr Seuss party printables available for download!
1 March: World Compliment Day – there’s no denying the world could certainly use a dash more kindness and positivity so pay it forward by dishing out a compliment to everyone you see today and we’ll guarantee your day will be a great one. You get what you give after all!
3 March: Caregiver Appreciation Day – if an elderly relative is under the care of a caregiver, drop off lunch or a treat with them to let them know how thankful you are for the care they give your loved one. Likewise if your littles are under the care of a nanny, relative or nursery school, give their caregivers a token of appreciation for doing the very important job they do so that you can do yours.
Employee Appreciation Day – if you own a business, show the people who contribute to its success you appreciate them with a note and sweet treat, free lunch or a half day.
4 March: World Maths Day – like it or not, we use math in daily life. From paying for our morning coffee to setting budgets for projects, it is part of life. And the 4th of March is a day thats all about math – boffins rejoice! If you’re looking for some laidback math activities to do with your students or kids, look no further than our math activity sheets.
6 March: Dentist’s Day – nobody likes to visit the dentist very much but make it a tradition to visit on Dentist’s Day to get your yearly check-up out the way.
7 March: National Cereal Day – if your kids would opt to eat cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner today is the day to make their dreams come true! Set up a cereal buffet for dinner with all their favorites.
8 March: International Women’s Day – today is a day to celebrate all the incredible women across the globe. Whether you’re raising littles, making waves in the corporate world or juggling both, you are amazing and an inspiration – don’t ever forget that!
10 March: Middle Name Pride Day – some of us have weird middle names or ones passed down through the family that we wish would remain in the past, but today is all about being proud of your middle name!
12 March: Plant a Flower Day – get the kids in on helping you plant a flower in the garden and watch it bloom.
14 March: National Pi Day – while this is a day observing the brilliance of pi in mathematical terms, nothing is stopping you from serving pie for dinner tonight! Who knows, it could open up an informative discussion on fractions!
17 March: Absolutely Incredible Kid Day – all our kids are incredible but today pop a note in their lunch boxes to remind them just how incredible you think they are.
19 March: Let’s Laugh Day – go around the dinner table and have everyone tell their favorite joke or watch a comedy show together after dinner.
20 March: International Earth Day – plant a tree, attend a tree planting ceremony or have a discussion with your kids about respecting the environment. Watching a documentary about earth is also a good way to observe Earth Day.
21 March: World Poetry Day – instead of a bedtime story, ready a poetry book tonight
23 March: National Chip & Dip Day – who doesn’t love chip and dip? Today serve it as a snack for the whole family.
25 March: Waffle Day – waffles for breakfast? Sign us up.
30 March: Take A Walk In The Park Day – with Spring in the air, take a stroll through your local park as a family.
Which of these fun March family traditions resonates most with you? Don’t forget to save this to your Pinterest board to refer back to in March!
