March 2025 Events
1st March: St David’s Day
St David is the patron Saint of Wales, March 1st is a day of celebration of both his life and the Welsh culture in Wales. Celebrate the day with children incorporating one or both of Wales’ national emblems – the Daffodil and a Leek. Dancing and dragon displays are a large part of this festival so why not google a range of Welsh music for the children to listen and move to throughout the day. Active Azra is always ready to move and dance along. This is also a great time to introduce children to leeks and explain that they count towards our Fay 5 a day. Some activities that you could do are making a leek and potato soup, chopping up leeks and do leek printing or a simple leek sensory activity.
1st – 31st March: National Bed Month
Many of you may be wondering why Startwell, who want us to have active lifestyles, is promoting bed month. The answer is because it is so important to get a good night’s sleep. If you are sleep-deprived you are less likely to be active and more likely to eat high sugar/fat foods so National Bed Month is an important time to talk about good bedtime routines and the importance that sleep has on our bodies. Check out our sleep page for more information
1st – 31st March: Walk All Over Cancer
Cancer affects so many families and lots of settings like to do fundraising events in their setting. Walk all over Cancer month is about raising money towards the fight against all cancers. If you are looking for a fund-raising idea to support a charity and get active then this might be the one for you. Cancer Research UK asks participants to gather sponsorship and walk 10,000 steps every day during the month, and all proceeds from the fundraising are donated to the charity. You could do the 10,000 steps per room or challenge families to take part at home as well. Active Azra would love to join in with this event. Click here for more info.
2nd March: Dr Seuss Day
March 2nd is Dr Suess Day where people read his books and celebrate his life. Dr Suess was best known for his writing, poetry and his quirky cartoons. Why not introduce the children to one of his classics. A favourite of the Startwell team and their children’s is Green Eggs and Ham. This is a great book to start talking about our food preferences and what food we like. This is an opportunity to encourage children to try new foods or foods they think they don’t like; they may be surprised and enjoy them. Especially since our food preferences change over time! Remember to link in our Startwell Food Characters.
6th March: World Book Day
Children usually love celebrating this day as they get to dress up in a host of characters from their favourite stories. This year’s theme is Read your way. It is a great opportunity to practice a range of different dressing skills and encourage imagination as the children and staff get the opportunity to be someone else for the day. Lots of settings use different themes for different rooms which can then be developed throughout your snacks and meal opportunities. Try linking your themes back to a Startwell character e.g. make pirate boats out of fruit on the snack table with Fay 5 a Day to a book about pirates.
3rd – 9th March: British Pie Week
We all love a food awareness day and British Pie week is no different. Do you know what the best loved pie is in the UK? Believe it or not it’s cottage pie. Why not check out our Startwell Cottage Pie or Chicken Polka Dot Pie recipe this week too! Remember to link in Micky Me Size to make sure you are serving me size meals.
7th March: Global Day of Unplugging
At Startwell we often talk about technology and how lots of children and adults are moving less due to the amount of time spent on technology. Unplugging days have a focus on interacting with people and stepping away from technology. They encourage you to unplug for an hour or more where possible. Early Years Education state “By the age of five, the average young person has spent 3,500 hours in front of a screen and will have spent around 60 per cent of their time sitting while at nursery or other pre-school settings. It’s clear that change is necessary to help young children develop lifelong habits that will allow them to become healthy, happy adults” Why not have movement focus days linked to the Startwell Physical Characters and encourage the parents to do so at home as well on these dates.
10th – 16th March: Brain Awareness Week
On Startwell physical training we often talk about brain development and this week is the perfect week to ensure the staff and children are keeping their brains active. There are 3 main parts of the brain – Cerebellum, Brain Stem and Cerebrum. Do you know what each of these do?
11th – 17th March: Nutrition and Hydration Week
This Nutrition and Hydration Week why not create a hydration chart in your setting where children can gain a tick every time they drink some water. This is also a great initiative to do with staff too! Why not also review your menu’s to see if they are still meeting Startwell’s and the Government guidelines in relation to Early Years nutrition – if you need any help please speak to your Startwell lead. Children learn by watching those around them, so it’s really important that practitioners are good Suzy Startwell role models and regularly drink water in front of the children and encourage the use of open cups as well as eating healthy meals and using the appropriate cutlery. Check out our hydration resources here.
13th – 14th March: Holi
Holi is a Hindu festival that is known as The Festival of Colours. It celebrates the arrival of Spring after Winter. It signifies the victory of good over evil and is celebrated to spread happiness, love and colour. Be prepared to get messy and experiment with colour. Can you set up a colour splat area indoors or outdoors where children can throw water balloons filled with paint or undertake splatter painting on a large scale. Can the children dance to Bollywood music with colourful streamers and move like 180 Katie? Check out our Pinterest page for extra ideas:
17th March: St Patrick’s Day
How about making some delicious Irish soda bread with the children in your nursery? Soda bread is really easy to make and as there is no kneading or proving required it can be ready in as a little as an hour. Bread gives us energy to keep playing and learning so remember to eat your lovely homemade soda bread at snack time with 2 Snacks Max alongside your fruit and vegetables and 5 a day Fay. Check out this easy soda bread recipe on the BBC Foods website!
20th March: Oral Health Day
This World Oral Health Day has a focus on how a happy mouth contributes to a happy mind. The campaign will explore the connection between oral health and mental well-being using their mascot Toothie. You can see his video here.
Promote the following Smiley Shen key messages with your families:
• Start brushing teeth from 6 months or when the first tooth appears
• Brush teeth twice a day, last thing at night and on one other occasion
• Visit the dentist regularly
• Reduce sugary foods and offer milk or water to drink
30th March: Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day is the day that we get the opportunity to say thank you to our mums for all that they do for us. It is traditional to give cards at Mother’s Day, why not check out our Spring Pinterest page for some new craft and card ideas. Remember if you are undertaking baking activities, look at our Startwell recipes and why not send some healthy recipes home for families to try.
30th – 31st March: Eid al-Fitr
Eid al-Fitr is celebrated by Muslims from sundown of Sunday, March 30th ending at sundown on Monday, March 31st. To celebrate Eid al-Fitr special morning prayers are held and people greet each other with “Eid Mubarak”. Sweet dishes are prepared and shared as people break their fast. Gifts are given to children and to those less fortunate. Remember to think about Smiley Shen and encourage good toothbrushing practice whilst sharing sweet dishes and include lots of healthier fruits/ fruit dishes.
