I’ll be honest, guys. I am always looking for an excuse to have a party. Since you’re in youth ministry, I’m going to go ahead and assume that you agree with me.

In youth ministry, we probably all celebrate at least a few big holidays each year. Like Christmas, perhaps? Maybe Easter rings a bell? Okay, yes, these are definitely the most important holidays in existence. But listen. There are also other holidays out there. More holidays than you could possibly imagine.

So this year on my blog, I’m going to introduce you to some of these hidden holiday gems. Every month, actually, I’ll be highlighting a handful of lesser-known, possibly weird, and definitely wonderful, holidays – and how we might want to celebrate them in our youth ministries. So let’s get started. Let’s talk about JANUARY.

January is Oatmeal Month! If your volunteers serve on Sunday mornings, treat them to a fancy DIY oatmeal station one Sunday this month! Now, some of you may still need to be convinced of the awesomeness of oatmeal, so let me take a stab at it. Apples. Cinnamon. Pumpkin. Berries. Peanut butter. Dried fruit and nuts. Chocolate chips. YOU GUYS. The mix-in possibilities are endless! Here’s a list of recipes, if you need some inspiration.

It’s also Soup Month! If your volunteers serve in the evenings, choose a week and help them warm up with a yummy selection of soups! I would definitely recommend homemade soups, by the way. If you’re not much of a chef, that’s okay. Find an amazing home cook or two in your church who might want to help you bless your volunteers this month. Gather a handful of different soups (three or more, if you can!), some crock pots, and set up a little soup station for your volunteers.

To celebrate the very important holiday known as Backward Day (every January 31), celebrate your volunteers by writing them a little note of thanks. But, like, backward. You probably don’t want to try to hand-write these things, though. Instead, type them up, flip the image so the text is backward, and then print. Also, I designed a Backward Day Note Card for you, if you’d like it.

National Rubber Ducky Day is every January 13! Go ahead and use this very important national holiday as an excuse to play a fun game with your students… involving rubber duckies, of course. Kenny (my husband and favorite game-inventor) actually came up with a pretty epic one, which you can find in our Absurd Holiday Game Pack (Volume 2).

National Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day is the last Monday in January! Popping those happy little bubbles is fun just by itself, but when you combine bubble wrap with a quick up-front game, it gets even better. Grab the (FREE!) instructions for Bubble Wrap Roulette from FunNinja.org to help you get started!

And there you have it for January! Hope some of these ideas have inspired you celebrate more often with your volunteers and students. Because, hey, there’s a whole lot of stuff to celebrate, you know? Oh and don’t forget to check back in a few weeks for a list of weird February holidays, too!

So how about you? Got any good ideas for celebrating these weird holidays? Know of any good January holidays I didn’t mention?