October is just around the corner and there are so many October holidays and fun days to celebrate other than just Halloween! Pick and choose the October days that you want to celebrate or just use them to add a little fun to your everyday life!
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Fun Holidays in October
October is one of my favorite months of the year because the weather has finally cooled down, pumpkin patches are open, and it’s just expected that you’ll be eating treats all month long thanks to Halloween!
It’s the perfect month to get outside with your family, plan a ghoul’s night or two, and make all sorts of fall treats! This month has tons of themed days that are great excuses to do all of those things!
Oh and one thing to note – I know not every one of these holidays and activities is going to work for all of you. These are just meant to be ideas for various lifestyles and types of families and people.
Looking for More Halloween Ideas?
This post includes ideas for Halloween but the idea was to give people other things to celebrate than just Halloween. If you really want to go all for Halloween, check out all our Halloween party ideas instead! There are Halloween crafts, Halloween party food ideas, and of course plenty of Halloween games!
October 1 – National Homemade Cookies Day
I know December is cookie season but that doesn’t mean you can’t get a jumpstart on the holiday baking on Homemade Cookies Day! You can make homemade cookies with your family, schedule a cookie swap, or even just share your favorite homemade cookie recipes with your group chat!
If you need some delicious homemade cookie recipes, these are my personal favorites:
October 2 – National Pizza Month
While not an actual day, October is National Pizza Month and Friday is pizza night in our house, so I recommend having a pizza night on Friday, October 2nd!
Meet friends to try a new pizza place somewhere, make Halloween pumpkin pizzas at home, or make the entire day all about pizza with breakfast pizza for breakfast, homemade pizza (with this homemade pizza dough) for lunch and/or dinner, and fruit pizza for dessert!
Or if you want to get creative, here are some other variations on pizza people love!
- Pizza loaf recipe (you could even make a mummy pizza loaf to make it spooky)
October 3 – World Card Making Day
Invite friends over to make homemade cards and write notes to their friends and family! You could provide all the supplies or just have everyone bring their own paper and decorations that you could all share!
Or you could make it a service project with your own family and make homemade cards for an organization like Cards for Hospitalized Kids that collects and distributes handmade cards to kids in hospitals around the country.
October 4 – National Cinnamon Roll Day
I told you October is just an excuse for eating extra treats all month! October 4th falls on a Sunday, which in my opinion is the perfect day for making and enjoying cinnamon rolls!
You could make classic cinnamon rolls with heavy cream, these viral cinnamon rolls (that take way less time), chocolate rolls, or even these fun Halloween cinnamon rolls! Then share them with your family or make a double batch (it doesn’t take much more time) and take some to neighbors or friends!
October 5 – National Do Something Nice Day
Remember those cinnamon rolls? Make them on Sunday then take them to friends on National Do Something Nice Day! Or just do something else nice!
Take treats to a friend with one of these thank you tags, compliment everyone you see, do some of these random acts of kindness cards, or really just go out of your way to be nice. You could make a challenge out of it with your kids – challenge them to do nice things then have a fun dinner to talk about the nice things they did and how it made them feel!
Or you could make boo-buckets for friends with these cute you’ve been booed tags!
October 6 – National Taco Day
Hello Taco Tuesday! Make homemade tacos (this taco meat is the best) for dinner.
Do a taco tour in your city where you go try out one taco at a bunch of places to decide which one is the best. I know Kansas City has a taco trail, this would be the perfect night for this!
Or just meet up with friends for tacos of course. National Taco Day is on a Tuesday so Taco Tuesday is a must this month!
October 7 – National Chocolate Covered Pretzel Day
Make these cute Frankenstein Halloween pretzels as a fun surprise for your kids or just make your own chocolate dipped pretzels of any sort!
Or skip the chocolate kind and celebrate October being National Pretzel Month and make homemade pretzel bites or pretzel dogs for dinner. Or just meet up with friends to enjoy pretzels out somewhere! You could even have a little mini Oktoberfest celebration (even though it ends earlier in the month).
October 8 – National Hero Day
Do something nice for the local heroes in your life. Write them a thank you card, bake them treats, volunteer to help, or donate something they be in need for.
It’s also a great time to learn about all the heroes doing amazing things out there and how we can all be a hero to others.
October 9 – National Curious Events Day
This one is super niche, but I think it could be super fun! Read a book or watch a documentary about curious events that have happened in history.
Meet friends to visit a local spot that’s known to be haunted or have its own curious history. It’d make a great Halloween outing! Or invite friends over to share conspiracies and strange happenings that they’ve heard of to debate together.
October 10 – World Music Day
This is another favorite day of mine because I love music so much! There are so many things you could do for this day especially since it falls on a Saturday this year! Just a few ideas to get you started:
- Meet somewhere for dinner or drinks that has live music
- Go to a local concert or smaller gig to support someone’s music
- Learn a new song to sing or play on an instrument
- Play one of these music party games or even something like music bingo!
- Play name that tune in the car with your kids as you drive around or this Halloween name that tune game that all sorts of Halloween party songs!
- Meet up to make a music video with friends
October 11 – It’s My Party Day
It’s your party so do what you want to! But if you feel so inclined, hosting a party would be a fun thing to do! It’s a Sunday so maybe a football watch party, a movie night, or even a craft night (try these framed fall sketches or mug candles).
Invite who you want, do what you want, eat what you want, and literally just make it the party that you want! Or skip the party altogether if that’s not what you want and just spend the day doing all of the other things you enjoy most!
You could also make this a really fun family activity by rotating through who gets to choose things. One person chooses the activity, one person chooses lunch, one person chooses what you want for movie night, and so on.
October 12 – National Book Month
October 12th is Columbus Day. If you want to do something fun for Columbus Day, go for it. I couldn’t come up with a ton of ideas, but I thought it being a federal holiday and so many people off makes it the perfect day to celebrate National Book Month!
Spend the day reading books, going to local bookshops (assuming they’re open), or doing reading activities inspired by your favorite books. Or plan a reading retreat with friends when you have a free day or two!
October 13 – Practical Magic 2 Movie Night
Practical Magic 2 is out on digital on the 13th, so it’s the perfect time to invite friends over for some chocolate cake and midnight drinks to watch the sequel to the original movie together!
If you need some witchy treats, try our witch hat cookies, our Halloween dessert board, or our cauldron cupcakes.
October 14 – National Dessert Day
Another chance to eat desserts? Yes, please! This one falls on a Wednesday so meet up with friends after the kids are in bed for dessert or make a special dessert to enjoy with your own kids!
Or do a dessert challenge night where you get some sweet ingredients and everyone has to come up with the best dessert they can with what you’ve provided! You could even specifically make it a Halloween dessert night!
These are some of our most popular desserts that would be great for share with friends:
October 15 – National Arts & Humanities Month
There are a handful of specific days you can celebrate on October 15th like I Love Lucy Day, but I love the idea of celebrating the arts and culture and October 15th seems like the perfect day to do that!
Go to a local art show (or art festival – there are a ton of them in October), museum, or something else to appreciate your local culture. Learn about things at home or practice your own art skills at home with your kids. Just let their imaginations go!
You could also host a painting party or a craft night that includes arts of some sort like making the viral ghost or pumpkin paintings! It’s easily one of my fall party ideas!
October 16 – National Sports Day
Embrace sports throughout the day! Meet up with friends for a little game of tennis, pickleball, or even bowling! Or host your own family Olympics with all sorts of different at home sports. Or just play ball games inspired by sports!
Or head to your local high school to watch a Friday Night Lights football game or stay home and watch re-runs of the hit drama. You could also go see a minor or pro league team play if there’s one with a game or even just go out and play with your own friends and family!
October 17 – Adventure Day
Remember the movie Up? Embrace the adventure today! There are plenty of local events happening where you can do things like explore nearby parks, go geocaching, and take part in other adventurous activities.
Or go on a day trip to somewhere you’ve never been and have a brand new adventure. Or make it a local adventure and just explore parks, trails, and even indoor adventures you’ve been wanting to do but haven’t.
Bonus points if you give yourself some merit badges for completing the adventures!
October 18 – Emotional Wellness Month
Take Sunday October 18th to rest and take stock of your emotional wellness before the crazy holiday really hits! Think about what you can do to minimize stress of holiday planning, travel, and a busy work season (if it’s busy for you).
Put dates on the calendar to take care of yourself even amidst the busy season and make sure to plan in fun activities and days for your family too!
And if that’s not your thing, October 18th is also National Chocolate Cupcake Day (this chocolate cake makes great cupcakes), National Mashed Potato Day (these mashed potatoes are the best), and Sunday School Teacher Appreciation Day!
October 19 – National New Friends Day
It may be a Monday, but I think everyone should host a girls night or a get together this week and send the invites on new friends day. The trick? Invite people you know and tell every one of them to invite one of their friends so you can meet new people. I’ve heard of so many people doing this, and it’s been a great way to widen your circle!
Don’t want to host a party? You could just meet people somewhere on this Monday night as well and make sure to invite a new person or two! Everyone could use new friends, so I love this day!
October 20 – International Chef Day
Celebrate all the chefs out there by going out to eat! It’s literally an excuse to go out to eat (or at least order in). Or you could meet up with friends for a cooking class from a local chef, embracing the chef inside each of you!
Or make it a little chef night at home and have your kids help you make dinner or dessert. Who knows you might just inspire your own little chefs at home!
October 21 – National Reptile Awareness Day
Watch movies or documentaries about reptiles, go to an aquarium or even a local park to see what reptiles you can find. Or go to the library and read all the books you can with your kids about different types of reptiles.
I’m pretty sure this is not my favorite day, but it would be my boys’ favorite!
October 22 – National Color Day
There are so many ways you could celebrate this one! Just a few ideas off the top of my head:
- Do a color walk – assign everyone a color and they have to find things of a particular color while you’re shopping, exploring, and so on.
- Do a color scavenger hunt – give your kiddos a list of colors and they have to find something in each of those colors to complete the hunt!
- Have a color night – invite friends over and have them each bring a snack to share that’s a different color.
- Play this What Color Is It Game – We’ve been playing it at home and it’s so much fun!
- Have a color dinner – make something in all the different colors to create rainbow plates of food. Think orange chicken for dinner, grey stuff for dessert, and so on.
October 23 – National Horror Movie Day
Hello Halloween movie night! You can decide what horror movie means to you but a Friday in October sure seems like the perfect time to host a Halloween movie night!
Make a Halloween charcuterie board, bloody breadsticks, this Halloween snack mix, and this vampire kiss drink to wash it all down.
October 24 – World Series Watch Party
If you’re into baseball, it’s the perfect time to host a World Series Watch party! Or meet up with friends somewhere to watch the game! It’s also National Food Day so make sure your baseball night also includes food!
October 25 – World Pasta Day
Sundays are for home cooked meals and World Pasta Day seems like a great time to enjoy a pasta dish like baked ziti, fettuccini alfredo, or even something more simple like ravioli with cream sauce.
Or you could be adventurous and meet up with friends for a pasta making class or watch a YouTube video and learn how to make pasta at home! Or just go out for dinner and enjoy the best pasta in your city!
October 26 – National Pumpkin Day
If you haven’t done it already, carve pumpkins today! Or invite friends over for a pumpkin carving contest. Or a pumpkin bake-off where everyone brings a pumpkin treat to share and you vote on your favorites! These are a few pumpkin recipes that always get rave reviews:
- Pumpkin shaped rolls
Or if you aren’t working or in school, this would be a great day to head to a pumpkin patch and enjoy some fall donuts and pick out pumpkins! You could also just do pumpkin shaped things like hosting a craft night to make sweater pumpkins or rope pumpkins!
Or just do a pumpkin hunt or one of these fun pumpkin activity pages or make pumpkins with these fall play-doh mats! Or play this roll a pumpkin game to win prizes. There’s literally so many things you could do with pumpkins!
October 27 – ACOTAR Release Party
If ACOTAR isn’t your thing, it’s also National Black Cat Day or Cranky Co-Workers Day but for me I will be reading ACOTAR Book 6 on October 27th and guessing millions of people around the world will be as well!
You could listen to the book together with friends, have a book club discussing what you think will happen in the book, or even make an entire feast from one of my favorite bookish gifts, The Unofficial Cookbook of a A Court of Thorns and Roses.
October 28 – National Chocolate Day
More treats! Go on a chocolate crawl and try all sorts of different chocolate things in your area like hot chocolate, local chocolate milk, chocolate truffles, and even chocolate ice cream!
Or just invite friends over to bring their favorite chocolate dishes. You could make it a full chocolate themed night and do chocolate face masks while you enjoy chocolate lava cakes.
Or turn it into a game. Grab a bunch of the Halloween candies and do a blind taste test to see who can guess which chocolate bar is which and the winner wins chocolate of course! It’d be like our food guessing game but chocolate only!
October 29 – National Cat Day
Celebrate all the cats or go see large cats at the zoo. Watch cat movies like Milo and Otis, Garfield, or even Hocus Pocus that heavily features a cat. Do cat crafts or really anything else to enjoy National Cat Day!
October 30 – National Wicked Day
Take this one however you want but I personally will be watching the Wicked movie! You could even host an entire Wicked party – witches are perfect for a Halloween theme! Make green velvet cupcakes, pink punch, and Halloween rice krispy treats!
Or just go out and do things that are typically considered wicked like staying up too late, drinking some fancy mocktails (or Halloween punch), and eating too many treats!
October 31st – Halloween
I don’t think anyone needs help with things to do on Halloween! Host a Halloween party with one of these fun Halloween party themes, go trick or treating, play Halloween party games, or even just stay home and watch Halloween movies all night.
Or grab our Halloween bundle full of Halloween games you can play all month long!
Grab our Halloween Bundle
Or if you’re not a Halloween person, skip it all and celebrate National Caramel Apple Day instead by making these apple pie caramel apples or setting up a caramel apple bar to let people make their own!
Which day this month are you the most excited to celebrate??
Did you miss our other monthly celebrations? You can check out all months of the year that you missed below!
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