I don’t know how they all come about, but there are celebrations for almost every day of the year. Here are some ideas for Hatting Hoots you could do for these. You could plan well in advance for some of these, to make sure you have a Hoot to coincide with a themed day you’d like to celebrate.

If you can’t celebrate on the day, that’s ok! We’re a disorganization, so feel free to break the rules and celebrate whenever you like.

[You can download the whole list here]

(More months will be added soon!)

January
  • 1st – Polar Plunge Day – This day is for taking a plunge or swim in cold water… which isn’t really an issue for us here in Australia – but it sounds like a good excuse for a pool party anyway!
  • 2nd – Buffet Day \ Science Fiction Day – Have a buffet meal. To celebrate Science fiction you could watch a Sci-fi movie or have a themed dressup.
  • 3rd – Fruitcake Toss Day \ Festival of Sleep Day – What a waste of a perfectly good fruitcake, but it could be a lot of fun! Rather than just tossing them around the backyard, you could turn this weird idea into some fun games. Cut fruitcake into chunks and have ladies take turns to throw them into a bowl in the centre. If any ladies are game, you could pair them up and have one lady (gently) throw a small piece while the other tries to catch it in her mouth. If you have a big enough yard, you could have each lady throw an equal sized fruitcake to see who can throw theirs the furthest (the prize should of course be a fruitcake!) For Sleep day, have a nice sleep in, and you could have a pajama party!
  • 4th – Trivia day – See if you can find a trivia night at a local pub, or hold your own trivia challenge. You could use trivia boardgames or an online service such as TriviaNerd.
  • 6th – Bean Day – Celebrate the versatility of the humble bean by having a meal that champions beans. Coffee beans count! If you can find a cafe with “bean” in the name that could be a great place for a hoot on this day.
  • 7th – Old Rock Day – Celebrating fossils and old rocks. You could collect some nice smooth rocks to make into “pet rocks”. Swapping them with other Hatters or perhaps leaving some in a local park with a note underneath to let the finder know they can keep the rock.
  • 9th – Static Electricity Day \ Word Nerd Day – Have fun playing with static (like rubbing a balloon in your hair) for Static Electricity Day. For Word Nerd Day, learn a new word for the day, do crosswords and other word puzzles.
  • 11th – Learn Your Name in Morse Code Day – Celebrating the invention of Morse Code. You could set some simple phrase challenges for members by printing one sheet out for each member with a code sheet for them to use to decode them. Perhaps the first to finish can win a prize. Temporary name badges could be made with the names in Morse Code.
  • 12th – Marzipan Day – Whether you like to eat it or not, you could have a cupcake decorating day where you use marzipan to craft flowers and other decorations.
  • 13th – Make your Dreams Come True Day – Each member could create a short list of things they would like to do (a bucket list of sorts) – things that might be easily achievable, and see if you can work out a plan to fulfill as many of them as possible in future Hoots.
  • 15th – Strawberry Ice cream Day – Indulge in strawberry ice cream, perhaps with an outing to an ice cream parlour that specialises in gourmet ice cream.
  • 18th – Soup Swap Day – Members could make a batch of homemade soup and bring it along in an insulated pot to all share a meal of soup and rolls. Afterwards, everyone can take home containers of soups to keep in the fridge or freezer for other meals.
  • 19th – Tin Can Day \ Popcorn Day – For Tin Can Day you could hold a pot-luck lunch where everyone has to bring something that comes in a tin can. Could make for an interesting meal! Some ideas could be: Sardines, dolmades, fruit, creamed rice, meats, tinned asparagus, soup etc. You could expand the foods to bringing dishes made from canned foods, which then allows for a wider range of dishes such as bean salad, potato salad made from tinned potatoes.
  • 20th – Penguin Awareness Day – Perhaps a trip to the zoo to go see the penguins, watch a movie about penguins and dress up in black and white.
  • 22nd – Hot Sauce Day – For lovers of spice! Celebrate with chili sauces or perhaps an outing to a Mexican restaurant, Nandos or a Chinese restaurant for some Sichuan.
  • 23rd – Handwriting Day – Another day where you could have a ‘pen pals’ letter swap with another Chapter. Gather around for a nice lunch, put some music on and everyone can write a card or letter to another Hatter, and post them on the way home.
  • 24th – Compliment Day – (Also on 1st March) You could give sincere compliments, or you could instead make some funny and over the top compliments to make everyone laugh.
  • 25th – Opposite Day – Do the opposite of what you would normally do. Have an evening meal of breakfast foods, or a breakfast meal of dinner foods. Perhaps dress in reversed colours.
  • 27th – Chocolate Cake Day – Indulge in chocolate cake! Perhaps you could have a baking day and bake chocolate cupcakes.
  • 28th – Data Privacy Day – A good opportunity to discuss how to keep your private information private while online!
  • 29th – Puzzle day – Have a comfy day at home doing puzzles. You could have a selection of small quick jigsaw puzzles available, or also have some other forms of puzzle like crosswords, Sudoku etc.
  • 30th – Croissant Day – Celebrate by eating these delicious pastry delights. Sweet or savoury, eat them at a home-based meal or go out to a cafe or restaurant.
  • 31st – Backwards Day – A day to do everything sdrawkcab. Wear your clothing inside out, try and write backwards, greet people with a “goodbye” and say “hello” when you leave. Have dinner for breakfast and breakfast for dinner – and of course eat dessert first before the main meal!
February
  • 1st – Eat ice cream for lunch day – An easy one! Indulge in all manners of ice cream goodness.  Go out to an ice cream parlour or have an ice cream sundae making gathering at home.
  • 2nd – Day of the Crêpe \ Play Your Ukulele Day – Try out some delicious sweet and/or savoury crêpe recipes. If anyone in your chapter owns a ukulele, bring it along! If having a home-based hoot, perhaps you could find ukulele songs on youtube/spotify to play.
  • 3rd – Carrot cake day – Celebrate with yummy carrot cakes.
  • 4th – Stuffed Mushroom Day – A great opportunity to try some vegetarian dishes and have a meal based around stuffed mushrooms.
  • 5th – Chocolate Fondue Day – Anyone still have a fondue set? if so, grab it and have an indulgent fondue party! Need further ideas, try here and here.
  • 7th – Send a Card to a Friend Day – A lovely opportunity to send some love to brighten the day of a friend. Perhaps your chapter could organise a card swap with another chapter. You could hold a get-together with your chapter where you all write your card and post them on the way home, or you could have the cards already written and have a larger get together with another chapter and swap the cards in person.
  • 9th – Bagel Day – Try out some tasty bagels!
  • 10th – Umbrella Day – Grab your brightest and best umbrella! Perhaps you could go for a walk showing off your lovely umbrellas (hopefully shading you from the sun, but if it’s rainy, then they have you covered for that too!). Do a fancy photo-shoot using them. You could have an umbrella hat decorating workshop while watching Singin’ in the Rain.
  • 11th – Make a friend day – This could be a lovely opportunity to get out and about and talk to strangers and share information about Red Hatting! Bring along some Hatting business cards (You can find some to downloads: Customisable business cards, general Hatting business cards, and Hatter info cards) Perhaps your chapter could organise to be “pen pals” with another chapter from a different state or country! You could have members write a short note/card giving some information on themselves, how they discovered Hatting, what activities and things they like to do and some photos. They could all be sent together in the one envelope to the Queen of the other Chapter, then when each Chapter receives their envelopes they can have a get-together where the cards are read – sharing the stories from other Hatters.
  • 12th – Darwin day – Celebrating the birthday of Charles Darwin. You could go to a museum.
  • 13th/14th – Galentine’s Day – A day to celebrate friendships with female friends. A great opportunity to have a “valentines” themed Hatting get together to share the love with your Hatting sisters.
  • 14th – Radio Day \ Ferris Wheel Day \ Library Lover’s Day – Celebrate the invention of the radio by listening to the original radio broadcast of the ‘War of the Worlds‘. To celebrate the debut of the Ferris Wheel, take a ride on a Ferris Wheel! For Library Lover’s day you could go visit a local library or take a special trip to your state library. If your library has a storytelling session you could join in.
  • 15th – Gumdrop Day – Celebrate by eating gumdrops of course! You could also make a trip to a special lolly shop – often you’ll find an old fashioned lolly shop in quaint little towns that can be fun to visit.
  • 17th – Random Act of Kindness Day – Have a day out where you try to do a few acts of kindness. A chapter could go out for a lovely stroll around shops in a small town, doing random acts of kindness. Some Kindness ideas are below.
Random Acts of Kindness Ideas

Here’s some ideas for “Random acts of Kindness”

  • Smile at strangers.
  • Give out some little “Thank You” cards to people you come across who normally have thankless jobs – such as bus drivers, receptionists, checkout operators, waitresses etc.
  • Hand out flowers to passers by.
  • Give a bunch of flowers or box of chocolates to someone.
  • “Pay it forward” with a cuppa – Many cafes will accept a “pay it forward” where you pay for a second drink when you buy yours, which is then used to pay for the next person’s drink. Sometimes cafes will have these as vouchers for impoverished people to then come in and get a free drink.
  • Donate to a charity.
  • Donate to a go-fund-me or a Kiva loan.
  • Leave a surprise gift in a friend’s letterbox.
  • Bake a meal or some cookies/cake to give to a neighbour or friend.
  • Leave a nice note of love & appreciation for your partner or children.
  • Clean up litter someone else has left behind. Perhaps even taking a walk through a local park or local streets and clean up any litter.
  • Shop at a local small store instead of a large chain store.
  • Tidy up trolleys at a shopping centre trolley bay.
  • Give money to someone in need.
  • Help a friend clean their house or yard.
  • Give a lottery ticket to a stranger.
  • Leave positive reviews for businesses you like.
  • Donate some food to a local “Free pantry”
  • Donate books to a local street library.
  • Give a generous tip.
  • Write out some inspirational poems on post-it-notes and leave a few on people’s cars/front doors.
  • Donate blood.
  • Compliment a stranger.
  • Choose to buy only eco-friendly and/or Australian made items for the day.
  • Hand out a few giftcards to strangers/neighbours/friends.
  • Share a positive quote online.
  • Keep a spare umbrella in the car to give away to someone caught in the rain without one.
  • 19th – Chocolate Mint Day – A day to celebrate the combination of mint and chocolate.
  • 24th – Tortilla Chip Day – Celebrate the corn chip or tortilla chip with a trip to a Mexican restaurant for Nachos!
  • 26th – Pistachio Day \ Tell a Fairy Tale Day – Have a meal featuring pistachios, such as these recipes here, here and here. You could bring along your favourite storybook and have a story-reading session or even volunteer to host a storytelling session at your local library.
  • 27th – Polar Bear Day – A day to raise awareness to the impact of global warming to polar bears. You could celebrate by trying to reduce your carbon impact on this day – use reusable containers/bags, walk or take public transport rather than driving around, plant trees. You can also learn about polar bears, and perhaps have a meal themed around polar bears and snow.
  • 28th – Public Sleeping Day – A weird one, but this day celebrates sleeping in public. Instead of doing that, perhaps have a pajama party! Go out to a cafe or restaurant in your pjs.
March
  • 1st – Compliment day – (Also on 24th Jan) You could give sincere compliments, or you could instead make some funny and over the top compliments to make everyone laugh.
  • 2nd – Old Stuff day – Take the opportunity to appreciate the beauty in old things. Go to visit a museum or classic art gallery. You could also have a craft session where ladies can bring old broken things that need mending and fix them to restore them to working order again.
  • 4th – March forth and do something day – A day to do a new experience. Pick something your chapter hasn’t done before and do that!
  • 7th – Alexander Graham Bell day – Celebrate the day the patent was filed for what would become the telephone. QLD Hatters in Brisbane could visit the QLD Communications Museum. In Melbourne VIC Hatters could visit the National Communications Museum. NSW may have one in Bankstown.
  • 11th – Oatmeal nut waffles day – Grab a waffle maker and indulge in some of these waffles. Recipes such as this, this gluten free recipe and this.
  • 12th – Alfred Hitchcock day – Celebrate this iconic filmmaker by watching one of his movies.
  • 13th – Jewel Day – Celebrate all things blingy – wear as many jewels as you can, dressing up in your finest and perhaps watch Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
  • 14th – Pi day – Celebrate by eating pie! Start with savoury then move on to sweet.
  • 19th – Let’s laugh day – Tell jokes, watch a comedy movie and laugh!
  • 20th – Storytelling day – If you’re lucky enough to have a library storytime on this day you could go along. If not, have one yourself! Find some short books and gather around for storytime. If you’d like some inappropriate books for a laugh, check out books like “Go the F**k to Sleep”.
    23rd – Puppy day – Celebrate puppies and dogs. Perhaps go to visit a pound or Hatters with well-behaved dogs could bring them for a playdate.
  • 25th – Waffle day \ Tolkein Reading day – Eat waffles for Waffle day. For Tolkein day you could watch The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings.
  • 27th – Spanish Paella day – An opportunity to try this dish if you haven’t before. Either find a restaurant that serves it or make it at home.
  • 28th – Something on a stick day – Celebrate by eating something on a stick… toffee apples, icypoles, “dagwood dogs”, fairyfloss, sishkebabs, fruit skewers etc.
  • 29th – Smoke & Mirrors day – A day to celebrate magic and illusion. Have a magic themed gathering, and try some magic tricks.
  • 30th – Take a walk in the park day – Go for a lovely walk in a beautiful park! You could have a nice picnic as well.
April
  • 3rd – World Party Day – Have a party! Balloons, Pass the parcel, cake and everything!
  • 4th – Tell a lie day – Each lady brings along a piece of paper with 3 statements on them, 2 of them are a lie, one is the truth. Taking it in turns, everyone reads out their list and everyone has to write down which one they think was the truth. A correct answer scores a point.
  • 5th – First Contact Day – This day is for celebrating all things Star Trek. maybe you could all wear red shirts and don’t forget the tea, Earl grey – hot.
  • 12th – Grilled cheese day (aka cheese toastie day) – Pull out those sandwich toasters and jaffle makers! Have a collection of tasty ingredients 9and of course cheese) and make some cheese toasties.
  • 13th – Scrabble day – Grab a couple of scrabble boards and have a games day!
  • 16th – Eggs Benedict day \ Wear Pajamas to work day – Head out for a delicious brunch. You could even do it in your pjs!
  • 17th – Haiku day – Get together and have fun writing fun haiku – perhaps give the ladies a theme to write them to.
  • 22nd – Jellybean day – You could just eat jellybeans, but you could also try some fun recipes that use jellybeans – like these and these. You could try some of the rainbow lolly games with jellybeans too.
  • 23rd – Impossible Astronaut day – Celebrating a particular episode of Dr who, you can celebrate this day with blue boxes, fish fingers and custard (but maybe not in the same bowl)
  • 26th – Pretzel day – Make some tasty recipes using pretzels, like these, these and these.
  • 30th April – Honesty day – Play truth or dare
May
  • 1st – Batman day – Hold a super hero themed hoot
  • 2nd – Space day – Hold a space themed hoot, you can search online for ideas for space themed birthday parties.
  • 3rd – Astronomy Day \ Herb day – Have a meal showcasing different herbs, or have a gardening day potting up some herbs.
  • 4th – Star Wars Day – Celebrate all things Star Wars! Watch one of the movies, have dressups and a star wars themed meal.
  • 6th – Beverage day – make and share recipes for your favourite punch and cocktails (or non-alcoholic ones). You could go out to a coffee shop or a bar.
  • 9th – Europe day \ Lost sock memorial day – Perhaps have a dress-up competition for outfits representing different European countries with a meal consisting of foods from Europe. Lost sock idea – everyone could bring along socks that have lost their partners and you could do crafts using those socks to give them a new useful life.
  • 12th – Limerick day – Have everyone write some fun limericks.
  • 14th – Dance like a chicken day – time for the chicken dance! Perhaps do some crafts using feathers or dress like chickens.
  • 16th – Pizza party day – Make a batch of pizza dough (or use small pita breads), with a range of different toppings and have the ladies make their own individual pizzas. Try both savoury and dessert pizzas!
  • 17th – Pack rat day – A day for cleaning out clutter. Help the ladies do a spring clean by encouraging them to bring along things (maybe 17 things) from home they really don’t need but are still useful (like clothing that no longer fits) collect them up and they can be donated to an op shop. Perhaps have the ladies bring their unwanted Hatter gear that’s going unused and have a swap day.
  • 19th – May ray day – A day to celebrate the sun by going outside and basking in the sun’s rays (if the weather is fine!)
  • 20th – Be a millionaire day – Dress up in your finery and host a lavish lunch or go out to a fancy restaurant. If you really want to splurge you could hire a stretch limo.
  • 24th – Scavenger hunt day – Hold a scavenger hunt! Either around a member’s home/garden or try a shopping centre scavenger hunt.
  • 25th – Towel day – Don’t panic! – A day to celebrate ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy‘. Carry a towel and perhaps you could go a step further and have the ladies also wear their bathrobes while watching the movie. You could all create your own versions of a ‘Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster’ (drink).
  • 28th – Hamburger day – Go out to a gourmet hamburger joint, or make your own hamburgers at home (have a collection of different sauces and ingredients and let the ladies assemble their own).
  • 31st – Macaroon day – Have a luncheon that features macaroons.
June
  • 1st – Say something nice day – Perhaps have each lady go around the circle and say something nice about the person sitting beside them.
  • 4th – Hug your cat day – Hold a cat themed luncheon where everyone brings a photo of their cat and tells stories about them.  Or have a “teddy-bear’s picnic” with stuffed cats.  Or go on a visit to a cat cafe.
  • 6th – Drive-in movie \ Doughnut day – You could take Hatter car-fulls of ladies to a drive-in, or have an afternoon tea where you sample as many different types of doughnuts as you can!
  • 8th – Best Friend’s Day – Celebrate fun and friendship with your Hatting sisters!
  • 10th – Iced Tea Day – Bring out your best iced tea recipes and have a refreshing afternoon tea.
  • 12th – Red Rose Day – All things red and roses.
  • 13th – Sewing Machine Day  – Hold an afternoon “Stitch and bitch” where ladies can gather to do any mending or sewing they need to, and help others with their projects.
  • 14th – Juggling day – Hold a clown themed hoot and maybe try learning to juggle
  • 17th – Eat your vegetables day – Hold a luncheon that focuses on delicious vegetable dishes.
  • 18th – Picnic day – Not exactly picnic weather, but if the sun’s out, rug up in your winter woolies and have a picnic.  Maybe bring some nice hot soup in a thermos, bring some hot casseroles wrapped in a towel and in an insulated bag.  Or if the outside is too cold, have an indoor picnic!
  • 19th – Sauntering day – Have a lovely outing where you saunter around the shops, or a nice gentle walk around a gardens or lake.
  • 22nd – Onion Ring Day – For those who like them, it would certainly make an interesting lunch idea!  How many different onion ring recipes can you find, or delicious dips to enjoy them with.  Maybe for those who hate onions, some calamari rings could be used instead.  Maybe stock up on some breathmints though!
  • 24th – Swim a lap day – Have a pool party in a (heated!) indoor pool
  • 26th – Chocolate Pudding day – What a great excuse for an indulgent meal featuring many kinds of chocolate pudding!
  • 29th – Camera day – Grab your cameras and take some fabulous photos!  You could do a bushwalk and take photos of nature, have ladies photograph their garden or have a fashion shoot indoors with different themed dressups.  You could run a photo competition where ladies submit a photo to a theme (eg “purple”, “hats”, “bling”) and the chapter picks a winner for whose picture is the most creative and well taken.
July
  • 1st – Joke Day – Bring along your best (and worst!) jokes  
  • 2nd – UFO \ I forgot day – Spaceman themed hoot or share entertaining stories of things you’ve forgotten.
  • 6th – Kissing day – Unless you’re really close with your hatter friends, I’m thinking about a different type of kiss!  Have an afternoon tea that features the biscuit or meringue form of “kisses”. Some recipe ideas here, here and here.
  • 7th – Truth day – Play a game of truth or dare
  • 9th – Sugar cookie day – Have a baking day to make cookies, or have an afternoon tea where the ladies bring cookies they have made.
  • 10th – Teddy Bear’s Picnic – Have a picnic (indoor or outdoor) with teddy bears  Maybe dress them in Hatter colours too!
  • 13th – Embrace geekness day – Celebrate the “geeky” things you all like.  Perhaps watch a geeky movie or theme a meal based on a geeky theme.
  • 14th – Pandemonium day – Celebrate chaos and disorder in any way you want!
  • 15th – Gummi Worm day – Eat those yummy gummies!
  • 16th – Corn Fritters day – Hold a lunch featuring corn fritters – have ladies bring in ones they have made to sample lots of different variations.
  • 18th – Caviar day – Never tried it? Now’s the opportunity!  You could turn this into a fun “posh” event where you dress up in your fanciest outfits and indulge in an opulent feast.  Don’t like caviar?  Maybe use dishes with tapioca pearls instead.
  • 20th – Ice cream day – Indulge in all manners of ice cream goodness.  Go out to an ice cream parlour or have an ice cream sundae making gathering at home.
  • 21st – Junk food day – Maybe hold a lunch at a burger joint, order in pizzas
  • 22nd – Casual Pi day – This is essentially “Pi day” for those who write their dates in the day/month format.  So celebrate by eating pies of any kind, sweet or savoury.
  • 25th – Culinarians day – Celebrating cooks and chefs.  Perhaps go out to a nice restaurant, or have a special meal at home with gourmet dishes – you could even make and wear chefs hats!
  • 27th – Take your plant for a walk day – Grab a (lightweight) potplant and go on a nice walk.  Why?  well why not!? (at least you won’t have to clean up any poo)
  • 28th – Milk Chocolate day – Do we need an excuse to eat chocolate?  Maybe go to a chocolatier or a cafe for some hot chocolate and a chocolate based dessert.
  • 29th – Lasagne day – Hold a lasagne lunch/dinner.  Perhaps do a lasagne swap where each lady brings along a (cold) homemade lasagne in a couple of small foil containers and you can trade, so that you all go home with some different ones to put in the freezer to try another day.
  • 30th – Cheesecake day – Indulge in slices of this delicious dessert.  Maybe you could trade your favourite tried and true cheesecake recipes – both baked and unbaked.
  • 31st – Uncommon musical instrument day – You know what that means ladies… KAZOOS!  Alternatively, you could host a hoot where the ladies have to make a musical instrument from things they have lying around the house (eg a tissue box with elastic bands around it becomes a guitar, an empty box could be a drum).  A great opportunity to get creative and silly!