These don’t have to be done on any specific day! But in case you want to, here’s something to do every day in November.

Holidays and Activities for Each Day in November

November 1 – Dia de los Muertos

Day of the Dead is celebrated on November 1 & 2. This joyful holiday is all about remembering loved ones who are no longer with us and celebrating their memories. Try making an ofrenda (an offering) at a home altar, which can be decorated for your ancestors and covered with candles, photos, and flowers. Make some Pan de Muerto to accompany your screening of The Book of Life to round out your celebration.

November 2 – Pumpkin Destruction Day

The Saturday after Halloween is always Pumpkin Destruction Day, the perfect day to get rid of your rotting gourds. Get creative with your kids! Some cool ways to destroy your pumpkins include: smash them, go pumpkin bowling, have a pumpkin drop with the whole neighborhood and see whose pumpkin can make the biggest splat, use a pumpkin cannon (you might need to find one near you), or create a pumpkin slingshot (here's how to build one at home)!

November 3 – Daylight Savings

Time to fall back and get an extra hour of sleep! Technically, daylight saving time ends at 2 am local time on Sunday, November 3, so set those clocks back an hour on Saturday night before bed. Since the sun sets earlier, it's a great day for extra snuggles and bedtime stories.

November 4 – Give away that extra Halloween candy

Ok, the kids have had almost a week of gorging on Halloween candy. It's time to think about giving the rest of it, or at least most of the rest of it, away! We've rounded up spots where your tooth-rotting treats will go to a good cause.

November 5 – Election Day

Take your kids to the voting booth (or let them wear your "I voted" sticker from your vote-by-mail ballot all day). To get kids in an electoral frame of mind, try these voting coloring pages or a fun "If I were President" Mad Libs.

November 6 – Make a leaf crown

Go on a walk to gather fall leaves, and make a leaf crown. 

November 7 – Cook with pumpkins    

Turn any remaining pumpkins (or cans of pumpkins) into tasty treats with our awesome pumpkin recipes that range from pumpkin pasta to pumpkin pancakes!

November 8 – Have a board game night

Board game night is perfect for fall weather, and also a wonderful reason to look at your shelf of board games and get a sense of if you need something new or more challenging for the age and stage your kids are at. We've got recommendations for the best board games of all time, from classics to new and cool games.

 
Kids are kind! Have your kids help each other, you, or a neighbor. Photo by Kelly Patino

November 9 – Do something kind

November is a month for giving thanks. Being thankful and grateful for what we have leads naturally to performing acts of kindness for others. We have a wonderful list of random acts of kindness for kids. Try doing something each week leading up to Thanksgiving! 

November 10 – Decorate for Thanksgiving with homemade crafts

Time to decorate for Thanksgiving! From easy crafts for toddlers, like handprint wreaths, to adorable decor for kids of all ages, like pinecone turkeys, we've rounded up fun crafts that keep kids busy and serve as holiday decorations.

November 11 – Veterans Day

Veterans Day is always celebrated on November 11, no matter what day of the week it falls on. Happily, this year it falls on a Monday, giving us a long weekend with which to honor all the members of our armed forces. Seek out a parade near you on your local calendar of events.

November 12 – Chicken Soup for the Soul Day

Remember when these books came out? They're really about looking for inspiration and meaning in life; which is a great topic for kids! Talk about what inspires them, what makes them happy, and what you can do to help them achieve more. You can also make some chicken soup! (It's number 28 on our list of 100 easy recipes kids love.)

November 13 – Sadie Hawkins Day

Sadie Hawkins Day is the old-fashioned holiday (started in 1938!) that was about gender reversal - you know, like girls getting to ask boys to dance. We've come a long way baby! However, this holiday is a great time to talk to kids about their own thoughts on gender, and how they feel about it.

November 14 – National Pickle Day

Pickles are the best. Here's a quick list of fun ways to honor the pickle today!

• Have a peanut butter, pickle, and bacon sandwich. They're truly delicious. Don't knock it until you try it!
• Make your own pickles! Sure you can make traditional pickles, or you can try something truly unique, like Watermelon Rind Pickles!
• Play pickleball.
• Find Pickle the Pig in Richard Scarry's Busy, Busy World.
• Watch Tommy Pickles in Rugrats.  

November 15 – America Recycles Day

At Mommy Poppins, we are ALL about recycling. Start with learning about what can be recycled, then make some recycled crafts. You'll find all this and so much more in our Earth Kids Guide to Green Activities for the Planet.

November 16 – Button Day

Here are 4 fun ways to celebrate buttons on Button Day!

• Read Corduroy, the story of a bear who lost his button.
• Button, button, who got the button? Play this classic game. 
• Eat candy buttons! (Trying to avoid the paper...)
• Make some easy button crafts for kids

November 17 – Homemade Bread Day

Make some bread today. An easy place to start, when making bread for the first time, is this miracle, never fail, no-knead bread recipe!

November 18 – Make fall leaf art

Watch our video to discover the easy and beautiful ways to make art of fall leaves with even the youngest of kids.

 
On a rainy or chilly day, nothing beats a Monopoly marathon! Photo by fotologic via Flickr 2.0 

November 19 – Play Monopoly Day

Kids can try to drive parents into bankruptcy! No, not preschool or college, it's the classic board game. Play a game of Monopoly for hours (and hours and hours) of fun.

November 20 – Universal Children’s Day - Make it Yes Day!

When my kids were little, we celebrated their half-birthday as a Yes Day. If that's not your family's tradition, Children's Day is a fabulous day to choose to have a Yes Day. This idea started with the book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, and then became a movie starring Jennifer Garner and Jenna Ortega.

November 21 – Make spice playdough

We all love playing with playdough, and have a great easy, homemade recipe here. But for fall, try our fall spice playdough recipe! It smells like Thanksgiving. 

November 22 – Love Your Freckles Day

If you don’t have freckles, draw some on! Really, this day is a way of saying "love what makes you unique." Talk about what makes everyone in your family unique, and celebrate it. Then read a favorite freckle book! 

• The Adventures of Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
• Freckle Juice by Judy Blume
• Freckleface Strawberry by Julianne Moore
• The Freckle Fairy by Bobbie Hinman
• Fun Freckles by JaLisa R Brown

November 23 – Adoption Day

Adopt a pet, adopt a neighbor to check in on, or adopt a new habit!

November 24 – Celebrate Your Unique Talent Day

Everyone has something unique they're good at! Talk about what each person in your family considers their unique talent, and then put on a Unique Talent Show!

November 25 – Tell Thanksgiving jokes

Wish-bone up on some jokes to tell on Thanksgiving. There’s not a turkey on this list!

November 26 – Have a Thanksgiving movie night

From the classic Charlie Brown football gag in A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving to the charming Jim Henson's Turkey Hollow, we've rounded up all the best Turkey Day family flicks.

November 27 – Bake your apple pie for Thanksgiving

We've got apple recipes that the kids can help make, so you can knock out that Thanksgiving dessert before the oven is occupied by the turkey!

November 28 – Thanksgiving Day

Have a wonderful, tasty day with family. Start your meal by honoring the land of the Indigenous People who originally inhabited it, and then turn on the Macy's Day Parade!

November 29 – Black Friday

No need to battle crowds at the stores, simply peruse our ultimate Holiday Gift Guide with gifts for kids of all ages and place your order online!

November 30 – Get your Elf on the Shelf ideas ready

We've got fabulous, creative, funny, and easy ideas for your elf for every day in December!

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