Ways to use this list
- Celebrate something every week: spin on Monday, then mark the day with one small thing, like pancakes, a pirate voice at dinner or a kindness challenge.
- Classroom calendar: each month, pupils spin a holiday, find out where and why it's celebrated, and make a one-page poster for the wall.
- Party theme picker: spin for a holiday and throw a party for it at the "wrong" time of year. A Halloween party in May is surprisingly fun.
- Writing prompt: spin and invent a brand-new tradition for that day, then describe how your family would celebrate it.
- Learn about other cultures at home: press Festivals, spin one, and cook, read or make something connected to it.
Press Spin the wheel, tap the game or press the Space bar. Change the list in the box as you
like: add your own, delete what doesn't suit you, or write *2 after an entry to give it double the
chance. The game buttons switch the same list to a duck race, hat, claw machine and more.
The full list (37 entries)
- New Year's Day – 1 January
- Lunar New Year – late January or February
- Groundhog Day – 2 February, in the US and Canada
- Valentine's Day – 14 February
- Pancake Day – February or early March
- Leap Day – 29 February, in leap years
- World Wildlife Day – 3 March
- World Book Day – 23 April; early March in the UK and Ireland
- Holi – spring, usually March
- Pi Day – 14 March
- St Patrick's Day – 17 March
- International Day of Happiness – 20 March
- Mother's Day – usually March in the UK, May in many countries
- Easter – late March or April
- April Fools' Day – 1 April
- Earth Day – 22 April
- World Bee Day – 20 May
- World Environment Day – 5 June
- World Oceans Day – 8 June
- Father's Day – June in many countries
- Longest day of the year – around 21 June in the north, 21 December in the south
- World Emoji Day – 17 July
- International Day of Friendship – 30 July
- Talk Like a Pirate Day – 19 September
- World Animal Day – 4 October
- World Teachers' Day – 5 October
- Thanksgiving – October in Canada, November in the US
- Diwali – October or November
- Halloween – 31 October
- Day of the Dead – 1 and 2 November, in Mexico
- Bonfire Night – 5 November, in the UK
- World Kindness Day – 13 November
- Hanukkah – November or December
- Christmas Day – 25 December
- Boxing Day – 26 December
- New Year's Eve – 31 December
- Eid al-Fitr – about 11 days earlier each year
Questions people ask
Why don't some holidays have a fixed date?
Many follow the moon or a rule rather than a set day. Lunar New Year, Holi, Diwali, Hanukkah and Eid follow calendars based on the moon, so they shift against the usual calendar. Easter depends on the first full moon of spring, and US Thanksgiving is always the fourth Thursday in November.
Is Pi Day a real holiday?
It's not a day off, but schools and maths fans around the world mark it on 14 March, because the date written the American way, 3/14, matches the first digits of pi, 3.14. Baking pies, circle crafts and contests to recite the most digits are popular ways to celebrate.
Is this a random holiday destination generator?
No: here "holiday" means a day to celebrate. If you mean a trip, as people in the UK and Australia often do, spin the vacation destination wheel or the random place to go generator.
What are fun holidays to celebrate at school?
Pi Day, World Book Day, Earth Day, World Kindness Day and Talk Like a Pirate Day are easy to mark in class, and each comes with a ready-made activity: reciting digits of pi, dressing as a book character, a litter pick, kind notes, or talking like a pirate for a lesson.