With November just a few days away, it\u2019s time to stop thinking about getting candy and start thinking about gratitude! Everyone knows about Thanksgiving, but there are way more fun days in November that are worth celebrating too! Pick the ones that make the most sense to you for even more fun throughout the month!<\/p>\n Enter your email below and we\u2019ll send this idea straight to your inbox (plus you\u2019ll receive tons of fun weekly ideas from us!)<\/p>\n <\/div>\n November is the perfect time to slow down, take some time to be grateful for things, and spend time with your family. The weather is cooler, the clothes are cozier, and the Christmas music starts playing. <\/p>\n So grab your favorite people for a family night, girls nights, or even just friends night out. Or just use these to give yourself something to look forward to throughout the month! <\/p>\n Oh and one thing to note \u2013 I know not every one of these holidays and activities is going to work for all of you. These are just meant to be ideas for various lifestyles and types of families and people. <\/p>\n HomeGoods had the right idea when they created this holiday all about getting into the holiday spirit right after Halloween is over! So sleep in a little later (thanks Daylight Savings Time) then break out the holiday decorations and deck everything!<\/p>\n You could even spend the day making some new DIY ornaments if you want to go so far as to get the tree out. Totally up to you, but I love the idea of using November 1st to switch from Halloween to the best holiday season of the year! <\/p>\n Do something that has an impact on someone else (or yourself). Meet up with friends to do a service project or show gratitude to someone else with one of these gratitude activities. <\/p>\n Plan an activity with your own family that will have an impact on people around you. You could go buy someone dinner or write thank you notes to people. It\u2019s a great way to get the month really started with some gratitude and thoughtfulness! <\/p>\n Go vote and encourage your friends and family to vote too. You could even make it a group activity or meet up with people after you vote for dinner or dessert.<\/p>\n And if you\u2019re really into things, you could even invite people over for an all night extravaganza with food and puzzles to enjoy while you watch the results come in together! <\/p>\n Remember all that leftover candy? Today is the perfect day to either use it or donate it to people like teachers, local hospitals, and more that actually want candy sitting around all the time!<\/p>\n I personally think inviting friends over to make all sorts of candy themed treats or even have a candy cook-off to see who can make the best candy themed desserts would be fun! If you need ideas, these are some of our favorites: <\/p>\n Celebrate with a Thursday night football watch party complete with football brownies, football games like cup football or this pick a play game or football bingo, and of course football snacks like buffalo chicken dip and cheesy pigs in a blanket. <\/p>\n Don\u2019t want to invite people over? This is a great excuse to meet up with friends to watch a game somewhere OR just pretend to watch the game and chat while it plays in the background. Thursdays are B1G1 free boneless wings at Buffalo Wild Wings (don\u2019t ask me how I know that) if you need a recommendation!<\/p>\n Plan a Dr. Seuss night before going to see the movie! You could make this Cat in the Hat craft, do a Dr. Seuss scavenger hunt, or really any of these Dr. Seuss activities! <\/p>\n Or read the book together and do some of these fun reading activities before going to the movie! <\/p>\n This is technically the entire month but I love the idea of spending each of your Saturdays doing some sort of gratitude activity either with your own family or meeting up with friends somewhere to do it! <\/p>\n If you need ideas, these are some of our favorite gratitude activities and games: <\/p>\n There are so many fun ways you could celebrate this day. Build something, make something in your kitchen, do a science experiment, play logic games, or even a creative art project. <\/p>\n Want to get out of the house? Head to a children\u2019s museum, an art studio, a science center, or even just a park that has things that get you being creative! <\/p>\n If you need ideas, these are some of our favorite building toys that my boys play with all the time! <\/p>\n Meet up with friends to walk through an art museum or just go by yourself. Go with kids and do a scavenger hunt of sorts while you\u2019re browsing to keep them interested if they\u2019re younger. <\/p>\n Introduce your kids to Sesame Street if they\u2019ve never seen it or watch a few of your favorite episodes! Don\u2019t forget to make Cookie Monster cookies or you could even make these fun Sesame Street ornaments as a craft!<\/p>\n Celebrate the veterans in your life. Make treats to take to veterans you know (these homemade brownies are always a hit). Write notes to them. Call them if they\u2019re not nearby and listen to stories about their lives. <\/p>\n Is there any better day for a soup swap than this one? Invite friends to bring their favorite soup and soup recipe to share. Everyone eats soup and you get to feed each other\u2019s souls with time together at the same time!<\/p>\n If you want to go literal, grab one of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books and spend the day enjoying your favorite soup and uplifting messages! There are variations for adults, kids, and even teens. <\/p>\n If you need some soup recipes to try, these are our favorites: <\/p>\n Spend the day being kind! Do any of these random acts of kindness or see how many kind things you can do for people even if it\u2019s as simple as genuinely complimenting people as you go! <\/p>\n Invite friends over to have a treat making night and then take those treats to people in your neighborhood and community that could use some kindness! <\/p>\n Spend the day in your PJs either at home or go see a movie in your PJs together! Go to a store and pick out matching holiday pajamas, take silly photos in matching PJs, or even just have a family pajama party with pajama party games! <\/p>\n If you want to do this with your non-blood family, this sounds like the perfect excuse to host a pajama girls night! You could do a painting in PJs night or just go old school slumber party vibes where everyone goes home and sleeps in their own bed! <\/p>\n There are so many fun ways to celebrate this one! <\/p>\n Invite friends over for a writing day where you decorate and write thank you notes, greeting cards, or letters to people. Or do this with your own family and encourage them to write notes to people they appreciate in their life!<\/p>\n Or turn it into a day to write jokes, write a story, write skits and act them out, or even just spend time writing in a journal memories you can think of that should be written down! <\/p>\n Take the night off from cooking and grab fast food for dinner. Make it a whole event by grabbing fast food, having a family picnic, and enjoying a special movie night together. <\/p>\n Or meet up with friends and do a who has the best food item challenge, like who has the best chicken nuggets. Hop from fast food place to fast food place and try out the different chicken nuggets and rate them together. It\u2019s a simple, cheap, and fun way to enjoy each other\u2019s company! <\/p>\n Or skip going out and make your own fast food for dinner at home with these copycat Chick-Fil-A chicken nuggets and peppermint milkshakes for dessert!<\/p>\n Get outside and go for a hike anywhere whether it\u2019s a mile walk near your house or a longer hike somewhere. <\/p>\n Pack a picnic dinner to make it feel even more of a thing or really just go for a walk to celebrate this one! <\/p>\n Disney lovers this one is for you! It\u2019s both Mickey Mouse\u2019s birthday and Princess Day so you could take this one either direction!<\/p>\n Play a Disney game like this Disney matching game or ask these Disney would you rather questions. Watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episodes. Make a Mickey Mouse treat like these butterfinger cupcakes or these Mickey Mouse cake pops. <\/p>\n Or use these Mickey Mouse party ideas and make a whole thing out of it! And don\u2019t forget to put on your Mickey Mouse ears during it all! <\/p>\n If you want to go the princess route, you could make any of these fun princess foods (like grey stuff or frozen hot chocolate), play these princess games, or just have a princess movie night and watch any of the princess movies out there! <\/p>\n Think spring cleaning but in the fall! Declutter and donate items to people in need to get rid of things in your own house! Or take it a different way and do a use less energy evening with no screens, no lights (candles and flashlights are perfect), no bake items, and more. It could be a really fun thing if you make an event out of it! <\/p>\n Celebrate National game and puzzle week with a game night or puzzle night! Choose some of these board games for groups and invite your friends over for an epic game night \u2013 you could even combine it with Friendsgiving and start with food then finish with games!<\/p>\n Don\u2019t want to do a whole game night? Just invite friends over to do a puzzle and chat together. There\u2019s really nothing better (if you\u2019re a puzzle person). I personally love these mystery puzzles that are more than just a standard puzzle!<\/p>\n Another chance to do a service Saturday in November! Pick a service project of some sort to do with your family. It could be something for a family in your community, something like making bracelets for friends, or even an online project like making blankets together that you send in. <\/p>\n Rather than just choosing what you do, I recommend letting your family get involved in what you choose to do. They\u2019ll be way more invested if it\u2019s something they care about! Also, you could make an entire day of it by going out for dinner or dessert after you\u2019re done volunteering! <\/p>\n Go for any sort of ride \u2013 a bike ride, a train ride, a local trolley ride, or even a car ride to explore somewhere nearby you haven\u2019t before. <\/p>\n This could be a really fun one to do with your own family or to do with friends, especially if you did something like a local trolley (we have one here in Kansas City) and hopped on and off to try out different places along the route! Or make it a day trip to a cute nearby city with great shopping and food! <\/p>\n Get started on the holiday flavors early in Thanksgiving week! Make one or multiple cranberry dishes to enjoy throughout the day. You could even invite friends over for a full baking day with all sorts of cranberry treats! <\/p>\n These are some of our favorites if you need something to try: <\/p>\n Tuesday night talent show anyone? Make some of this fun popcorn snack mix and watch people share either real or unique talents with each other \u2013 the more absurd the better!<\/p>\n Don\u2019t want to share your own talents? Watch YouTube videos together of ridiculous talents people have you\u2019ve probably never even considered! Just search unique talents on YouTube and see what kind of things people share \u2013 still with popcorn of course! <\/p>\n Send this one to the dads in your life and tell them to plan a day to play with their kids while you take it off (or prep for Thanksgiving)! <\/p>\n Need something to do together? Go see the brand new Disney movie Hexed in theaters! <\/p>\n You probably don\u2019t need ideas for this one but Thanksgiving is obviously the perfect opportunity to get together with your friends, family, and loved ones! These are some of our favorite Thanksgiving activities to make the most of the time together!<\/p>\n Oh and don\u2019t forget to make this Thanksgiving punch to enjoy with any of these!<\/p>\n Shopping trip anyone? Meet up with friends for holiday shopping and sips! Or use today to write letters to Santa and make holiday shopping lists (and buy some of those things while you\u2019re at it). <\/p>\n This is one of my personal favorites. Meet up with friends somewhere that has a bunch of local shops and enjoy sales on holiday gifts while celebrating small businesses in your local community!<\/p>\n You could even make this a day of favorites too. Hop in a car together and let everyone choose one store to introduce everyone to, sharing all your small business favorites with each other! <\/p>\n Do a secondhand store scavenger hunt with your family. Make a list of things you\u2019re looking for (e.g., a Christmas decoration, a gift for your dog, an ugly sweater) and see what kinds of amazing things you can find in your local secondhand stores!<\/p>\n Or meet up with friends, draw a name, and everyone has to buy another person something to wear to dinner that night. Everyone wear it to dinner \u2013 the more ridiculous the better! <\/p>\n I love this day. Send your kids and partner to school and take the day off just because. Do a puzzle, read a book, take an everything shower, go to lunch with a friend, or do anything you want. <\/p>\n No need to wait to take a day off until you\u2019re actually sick or burnt out and the Monday after Thanksgiving seems like as good of a day to do it! It\u2019s also Cyber Monday so if you really want, you could do your online holiday shopping too! <\/p>\n Which day this month are you the most excited to celebrate?? <\/p>\n Did you miss our other monthly celebrations? You can check out all months of the year that you missed below!<\/p>\n Want more easy party ideas like this one? Enter your first name and email address in the form below to join the Play Party Plan community! You\u2019ll receive weekly party ideas, games, and recipes directly to your inbox!<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.playpartyplan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/november-holidays-header.jpg\"\/)
<\/figure>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.playpartyplan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/fun-november-days-pin.jpg\")
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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nWant to save this Idea?<\/h2>\n
Fun Holidays in November<\/h2>\n
November 1 \u2013 Deck the Everything Day (Sunday)<\/h3>\n
November 2 \u2013 Be the Impact Day (Monday)<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.playpartyplan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/thank-you-tags-8-of-19-e1636497838407.jpg\"\/)
<\/figure>\nNovember 3 \u2013 Election Day (Tuesday) <\/h3>\n
November 4 \u2013 Candy Day (Wednesday) <\/h3>\n
![\"collage](\"https:\/\/www.playpartyplan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/candy-recipes-hero.jpg\"\/)
<\/figure>\n![\"collage](\"https:\/\/www.playpartyplan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/football-ideas-hero.jpg\"\/)
<\/figure>\nNovember 6 \u2013 Cat in the Hat Movie Release (Friday) <\/h3>\n
![\"collage](\"https:\/\/www.playpartyplan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/cat-in-the-hat-header.jpg\"\/)
<\/figure>\nNovember 7 \u2013 National Gratitude Month (Saturday) <\/h3>\n
![\"collage](\"https:\/\/www.playpartyplan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/gratitude-ideas-collage.jpg\"\/)
<\/figure>\nNovember 8 \u2013 STEM\/STEAM Day (Sunday) <\/h3>\n
November 9 \u2013 Go to an Art Museum Day (Monday) <\/h3>\n
November 10 \u2013 Sesame Street Day (Tuesday) <\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.playpartyplan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cookie-monster-cookies-square-1.jpg\"\/)
<\/figure>\nNovember 11 \u2013 Veterans Day (Wednesday) <\/h3>\n
November 12 \u2013 Chicken Soup for the Soul Day (Thursday) <\/h3>\n
![\"collage](\"https:\/\/www.playpartyplan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/soup-recipes-collage.jpg\"\/)
<\/figure>\nNovember 13 \u2013 World Kindness Day (Friday) <\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.playpartyplan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/random-acts-of-kindness-9.jpg\"\/)
<\/figure>\nNovember 14 \u2013 Family PJ Day (Saturday) <\/h3>\n
November 15 \u2013 I Love to Write Day (Sunday) <\/h3>\n
November 16 \u2013 Fast Food Day (Monday) <\/h3>\n
![\"copycat](\"https:\/\/www.playpartyplan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/copycat-chick-fil-a-nuggets-11.jpg\"\/)
<\/figure>\nNovember 17 \u2013 Take a Hike Day (Tuesday) <\/h3>\n
November 18 \u2013 Mickey Mouse\u2019s Birthday or Princess Day (Wednesday) <\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.playpartyplan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Mickey-Mouse-Party-Table-Final-Square1.jpg\"\/)
<\/figure>\n![\"princess](\"https:\/\/www.playpartyplan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/princess-party-ideas-25-of-30.jpg\"\/)
<\/figure>\nNovember 19 \u2013 Use Less Stuff Day (Thursday) <\/h3>\n
November 20 \u2013 National Game & Puzzle Week (Friday) <\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.playpartyplan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/board-games-header-1-1.jpg\"\/)
<\/figure>\nNovember 21 \u2013 Family Volunteer Day (Saturday) <\/h3>\n
November 22 \u2013 Go for a Ride Day (Sunday) <\/h3>\n
November 23 \u2013 Eat a Cranberry Day (Monday) <\/h3>\n
![\"collage](\"https:\/\/www.playpartyplan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/cranberry-recipes-collage.jpg\"\/)
<\/figure>\nNovember 24 \u2013 Celebrate Your Unique Talent Day (Tuesday)<\/h3>\n
November 25 \u2013 Play Day with Dad (Wednesday) <\/h3>\n
November 26 \u2013 Thanksgiving (Thursday) <\/h3>\n
![\"collage](\"https:\/\/www.playpartyplan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/thanksgiving-games-collage.jpg\"\/)
<\/figure>\nNovember 27 \u2013 Black Friday (Friday) <\/h3>\n
November 28 \u2013 Small business Saturday (Saturday) <\/h3>\n
![\"three](\"https:\/\/www.playpartyplan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/book-retreat-fb-cover.jpg\"\/)
<\/figure>\nNovember 29 \u2013 Secondhand Sunday (Sunday) <\/h3>\n
November 30 \u2013 Stay Home Because You\u2019re Well Day (Monday) <\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.playpartyplan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/reading-retreat-weekend-3.jpg\"\/)
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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nMore Fun Days to Celebrate<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.playpartyplan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/child-light.svg\"\/)
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nWant more Party Ideas?<\/h2>\n