In commemoration of parents’ roles in their children’s lives, Parents’ Day was established in 1994, and is now celebrated every fourth Sunday of July. The holiday, also now recognized by the United Nations, commemorates the relationship between parents and children, honoring their bond and promoting strong familial commitment.
How you choose to celebrate, however, is completely up to you. For the most part, a lot of people choose to spend this day gathering and reconnecting with loved ones. Others opt to go down memory lane and review the wonderful years that have gone by.
If you have yet to figure out how to best celebrate your parents’ special day, then this article is the one for you. Whether you prefer small and simple celebrations, or large and grandiose gatherings, we can assure that you’ll find just the right one for you and your family.
Parents’ Day Celebration Ideas
Aside from Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, this holiday is one of the very few times we can dedicate our time and effort to show our parents how grateful we are for them.
To help you out, we’ve listed some of the best ideas on how to celebrate this holiday with your folks.
Make a Personalized Card
Nothing beats a homemade gift. Regardless of your parents’ age or status in life, giving them a personalized card with a message from you is bound to warm their hearts and make them smile. Not often do we get to say how we really feel, face-to-face. Doing so in card form will not only get your message across, but will also provide them a personal keepsake for the years to come.
Write Them a Song
Fond of instruments or music? Perhaps you’re great at composition? Whether you’re an expert or just starting out, a song with your own written lyrics can definitely make your parents feel loved and special. We all know how composing a song can take a lot of time—from producing the music to conceiving the actual words. However, because of it, your parents will be able to see how much time and effort you put into performing a song for them, and they’ll be eternally grateful for it.
Cook Them a Meal
You know how everyone says that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach? Well, the same goes for your mom, who’s used to preparing family meals everyday. This Parents’ Day, why not choose to give back and serve your family with a warm meal you know your mom and dad will love? You can cook up their favorite food, or even try a new recipe with their favorite sauce or ingredient. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what you make, it’s about showing your appreciation for what they do for you and giving back the favor.
Parents of the Year Award
Every year, the National Parents’ Day Council chooses Parents of the Year nominees for every state, and hosts a banquet for them. But if you missed nominating your parents for this year’s awards, you can host a ceremony for them right in the comfort of your home. What says celebration more than a Parents’ Day award? Prepare a full program for the night, and leave the awards ceremony for last after you’re finished with all the antics.
Write a speech, and tell them exactly why they deserve this award. Don’t forget to give them a trophy or a medal to commemorate. No matter how silly this plan starts out as, you can let them know exactly how you feel, and celebrate your parents accordingly through your speech.
Give Them a Memory Scrapbook
Scrapbooks aren’t only fun to make, they’re even more special to look at and reminisce with. The theme of this year’s Parents’ Day celebration can be all about memories, as you give them a memory scrapbook with all the favorite memories you’ve made together.
Take a trip down memory lane, and share stories on the valuable events in the family through photos and images on every page. Tell the story of how you caught your first fish while camping one summer day, or how you made your first cake with your mom, and ate it. Regardless of what you put in there, this book will serve as a great reminder of your relationship with each other, and those beautiful fleeting moments you will treasure forever.
House Cleaning Party
On a daily basis, our parents have to bear the burden of maintaining the house through cleaning and making sure everything is in order. So, to celebrate Parents’ Day while helping them fulfill their tasks, why not throw a house cleaning party at home?
In doing so, performing these chores and putting in the work as a team can boost your productivity and make cleaning faster. As an added benefit, you are also able to build a wonderful family bonding experience that makes your parents’ load much lighter.
Have a Family Spa Day
With all the work and responsibility that rests on your parents shoulders, it’s highly likely they are dealing with a lot of stress on a daily basis. To help them ease off and cool down, you can consider throwing them and the rest of the family a spa day.
For this one, it would be a really good idea to transform your home into a relaxing haven with a variety of lotions and baths. To help set the tone, you can even use essential oils, such as lavender or eucalyptus, to emulate the spa ambience. Once you have readied all the decorations, book a masseuse as well as a manicurist, and equip everyone with bathrobes for a warm and lovely at-home experience.
Having a family spa day like this will allow your parents to realize that you also want them to relax after looking out for the family. Doing this together allows everyone to lay back and simply enjoy each other’s company.
Organize a Picnic
Picnics are a fun, light-hearted way to spend your summer afternoon with your loved ones. To celebrate this Parents’ Day, fill your basket with treats your parents love, and ready your mats and cushions for seating.
Take them to the backyard, decorated for the day, or simply offer to take them to a lovely spot in the park. Just by spending time with each other this way, you get to enjoy the peace and calmness this Parents’ Day with the ones that matter most.
Serve Your Parents for a Day
How often have your parents felt like they were special? If you’re feeling up to it, let your parents feel like the Kings and Queens they are by serving them the entire day. Follow them around and help out with their tasks. Serve them their food and fulfill their requests. Stay with them while they lounge and simply catch up with each other. Even through a simple celebration idea like being your parents’ attendants for a day, you’ll be able to strengthen your bond and feel like back when you were little kids.
Write Them a Poem
If you’re neither a singer or a musician, but you’d still like to creatively honor your parents, then perhaps writing them a poem will be your best bet. If you find that you have a way with words that can help you express yourself to the fullest, then go for it by all means.
During this holiday, we should all think about the best ways we could let them know how grateful we are for them.
Go for a Vacation
Going out to the mountains or the beach can help refresh anyone from the hustle and bustle of the city. If you feel like your family hasn’t had the time to go for a break like this in a while, then perhaps taking a vacation on Parents’ Day would be an ideal way to celebrate the occasion.
Whether you prefer camping in the wild or swimming in a fun resort, they’re all great ways to unwind together with the family. Taking your mind off stress is healthy and good for you, and doing so by going out of town will also let you bring home lots of fun memories you’ll want to keep forever.
Treat Them to a Quiet Day
Everyday our parents have to worry about work, maintain or clean the house, as well as prepare the kids’ meals. Anyone who has to balance all these tasks on a daily basis is eventually bound to feel burnt out. So if peace and quiet is all they really ask for, why not give it to them this Parents’ Day?
Instead of letting them do all the work, handle all the cooking and cleaning by yourselves. Delegate and manage all the menial tasks your parents do day by day. This way, your parents will feel that you are considerate of their efforts, and that you’re willing to give them their chance to relax, while you accomplish all that they need to do on the side.
Support Their Favorite Hobby
Whether it’s knitting, reading, photography, or all of the above, you probably have not yet tried your parents’ favorite hobby. Everyone knows how good it feels to have someone pay attention to what you love, and even learn it with you. So, what if you indulge your parents in an experience like this for Parents’ Day?
Have a hobby party, in which you celebrate the whole day learning and doing your parents’ favorite hobby. This would be a good bonding experience with your parents, and it would show that you care about their interests.
If you can, give them a gift that allows them to explore their passions even further. Sometimes, all we need is support from the ones we love. And, if our parents have been doing this for us throughout our whole life, it’s time we start doing the same for them, too.
Give Them a Hand-Crafted Gift
Everyone has their own set of honed skills and talents. Regardless of where you are in life, it’s safe to say that you have a talent or skill you’re gifted at. For Parents Day, why not give your mom and dad a personalized gift you’ve customized to their liking? While Parents’ Day is not about giving gifts, this kind of gesture is an exception.
Not only will this gift serve as a sweet surprise, you’re also sharing your gift with others—in this case your mom and dad. Whether it’s a sketch, painting, jewelry, or anything else you can come up with, sharing your gift to your parents, who have supported you from the start, is a pleasant surprise to warm up their hearts.
#Unplugged
In this digital age, gadgets and technology have been essential and part of our daily lives as if we can’t live without them. It’s like we can’t let a day pass by without checking our social media accounts or use our gadgets for leisure and entertainment.
This Parents’ Day, allow yourselves to unplug from the digital world (read online detox), and strengthen your ties with your loved ones, especially your parents.
A Day of Celebration for Parents
There you have it, all the different ways you can honor your parents through a Parents’ Day celebration. Before we end this article, we just want to remind everyone that, while we can celebrate all their efforts and sacrifices for this day, it’s also important to realize that this is not the only day we should be showing our parents our love for them.
To our parents, thank you for all your sacrifices and love for us. We hope to continue to pay you back today, and for the rest of your lives.
Happy Parents’ Day everyone!
