Leap Day Activities for Kids

Leap day, that extra day added to February 29 every four years, exists for a very important reason: to keep our calendar in sync with Earth’s actual orbit around the Sun.

A year isn’t exactly 365 days long. It takes Earth roughly 365.2422 days to complete one revolution around the sun. That extra 0.2422 days might seem tiny, but over time, it adds up. If we didn’t account for it, our calendar would slowly drift out of sync with the seasons.

But the good news is that extra day gives us something fun to celebrate! Leap Day activities often have to do with frogs, as you’ll see below, but you don’t have to include frog themed things if you don’t want to. Let’s check out some fun Leap Day activities for kids.

The teacher behind Tejeda’s Tots is actually a leap day baby, so reading about what she does in the classroom (post includes links to paid resources) is a lot of fun. Ask your kids what day you think leap day babies should celebrate their birthdays and see if you get different answers.

Mama’s Learning Corner has a printable leap day unit study activity book that works for elementary school kids. It includes information on why we have leap year and how cultures have dealt with time through history. You can download a personal copy free when you sign up for emails, or buy a license for classroom use.

Teach Beside Me also has a little printable book about leap year and why we need that extra day.

Woo Jr. has some printable leap year activities including mazes and a word search, as well as a collection of frog coloring pages, a tracing page and other crafts.

If you want to go all in on frog things, try making a paper plate frog (Our Kid Things), a frog fly catch game (Toucan Box) or try your hand at making origami jumping frogs (Origami Fun).

If it’s warm where you live or you have space for jumping inside, you can have a long jumping contest, play leap frog or hopscotch. Spend some time in math counting to 29 or doing math problems that add up to 29. Do some leap year STEM with Science Schoolyard. And don’t forget to read a leap year book like Leap’s Day or tell some leap year jokes!

Explaining Dia de Los Muertos to kids can be difficult because most of us don’t generally talk about death or what happens when we die a lot with our kids. But Dia de los Muertos is actually a happy, not scary occasion that allows us to remember loved ones, share stories and come together as a community.

While it is mostly celebrated by people of Mexican heritage, the day has become more well known thanks to movies and other media representations. And there are some great children’s books to help explain and allow you to celebrate the holiday if you want.

Dia de Muertos by Jaque Jours, illustrated by Alejandra Ruiz (48 pages, hardcover, published 2025 by words & pictures, suggested retail price $14.99) tells the story of a family getting their ofrenda (altar for the dead) ready and how they remember people who have died through decorations, food and sharing stories.

It covers the classic decorations and rituals of Dia de los Muertos including using cempasúchil (in English we call them marigolds) and papel picado (cut paper banners), pan de muerto and la catrina, the elaborately dressed, skull faced women that are a common site at Dia de los Muertos gatherings.

The back of the book explores how the day is celebrated throughout Mexico as well as the meanings of different symbols. There’s a recipe for pan de muerto, a tutorial for making papel picado and tips for doing makeup to look like like la catrina/el catrin.

Want to try more traditional foods? The Dia de Los Muertos Cookbook is a companion to The Dia de Los Muertos Story, both of which are by Andrea Jáuregui de la Torre and illustrated by Laura González (52 pages, hardcover paper over boards, published 2026 by becker & meyer kids!, suggested retail price $19.99).

The book opens with some discussion of the meaning of Dia de los Muertos and why food is an important part of the day. The recipes included are easy enough for kids to make with minimal help, and all based on food memories from her childhood.

There are recipes for hibiscus iced tea, Mexican corn and salsa, tortillas, molletes (open faced sandwiches with beans and cheese), jicama fries and sugar skulls to name a few.

Other activities in the book include papel picado, coffee filter marigolds, making your own playlist and making an ofrenda.

Together these books give young readers insight into this holiday that might be new or confusing to them, while also giving you a chance to get in the kitchen together and make your own Dia de los Muertos memories.

Have you read?

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