by Playrific
Each month we look for special events, holidays and celebrations as well as seasonal items to feature at Playrific. We’ll often highlight and celebrate the birthday of a someone in children’s literature. If we miss a birthday, we may wish the author or character(s) a Happy Belated Birthday.
August is jam packed with notable events. Although we are not, unfortunately celebrating Ice Cream Day again, we will celebrate Ice Cream Sandwich Day. Some of the events are listed below. Be sure to check back to see others we’ve found and for links to media that relates to the events.
Birthdays this month include:
- Aug 1: Francis Scott Key, author of the “Star Spangled Banner,” the US national anthem (1779)
- Aug 5: Neil Armstrong’s Birthday – 1930
- Aug 6: Alfred Lord Tennyson – 1809
- Aug 6: Odie (Garfield’s best friend)
- Aug 9: Betty Boop (1930)
We found a biography of Betty Boop at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Aug 10: Herbert Hoover
- Aug 11 : Hulk Hogan
- Aug 13 : Annie Oakley (1860)
- Aug 15: Julia Child
- Aug 17: Davy Crockett
- Aug 19: Bill Clinton
- Aug 19: Mr. Snuffleupagus
- Aug 19: Orville Wright – 1871
- Aug 21: Wilt Chamberlain
- Aug 27: Mother Teresa 1910
- Aug 29: Speedy Gonzales’ Birthday
- Aug 30: Herry Monster
- Aug 31: Alan Jay Lerner
Other events:
- MTV debuted on August 1, 1981. Happy Birthday MTV!
- Aug 2, celebrate National Ice Cream Sandwich Day and Chocolate Chip Cookie Day on the 4th.
- Aug 3: Columbus Set Sail on his 1st voyage – 1492
- Aug 23: First Photograph of Earth From the Moon – 1966
Birthday Celebrations Around Us Currently Featured General Science Silly (?) Holidays Space
by Playrific
July, when the “Dog Days” start, is a month full of celebrations in the US. Here’s a short list of the month-long celebrations:
- National Picnic Month
- National Hot Dog Month
- National Baked Bean Month
- National Blueberry Month
- National Ice Cream Month
- National Recreation Month
- Anti-Boredom Month
All of these celebrations are meant to help bring you and your family out of the air conditioning and away from the electronics to have fun and relieve the boredom that afflicts kids after only a few short weeks of summer vacation.
A great idea for breaking up the “dog days” doldrums: pack your picnic basket and go out to a local park. If it’s within easy reach, visit one of your state or national parks. If they’ve got grills available (be sure to check ahead), bring along some hot dogs for grilling. Don’t forget plenty of liquids.
Celebrations Around Us Currently Featured Fun things to do at a party General Silly (?) Holidays Summer Things to do
by Playrific
Some holidays seem a bit silly so we’re celebrating this one in a toast to silliness.
From theultimateholidaysite.com: Socks are the trickiest part of any laundry day’ aside from folding fitted sheets. Socks have a tendency to lose their mates, resulting in a whole drawer full of sad singles. And it doesn’t matter how hard you try to keep track of them, one will always get sucked into the vortex that opens up at some point during the spin cycle. So today, as you look over all the solo socks you’ve been hanging on to for all these years, pay your respects to the ones you’ve loved and lost.
Things to do to celebrate and find a use for the single socks
Make sock puppets. 
We found some videos to get you started:
Do you have a dog? Lost Sock Memorial Day is a great day to take all of those mismatched socks in everyone’s drawers and create great new toys for your family dog.
Fun things to do at a party Silly (?) Holidays Things to do
