January Holiday Resources
In the past I have usually combined January and February into one post - but most of the time it gets lost or forgotten by Valentines Day or Presidents Day. This year I decided to do separate posts for each month - and reminded myself why the previous years had 80% of the combined events in February! Super Bowl - Valentines - Presidents - and this year Winter Olympics and Lunar New Year. So expect that I might be breaking up the events next month like I did last month. The other thing to note is a LOT of "national day" events - good to feature for an activity entering the classroom, for example.
Jay LeBlanc
1/7/20264 min read
Lesson Plans and Government Resources for January Holidays:
“The 15 Year Battle for Martin Luther King Jr. Day”, National Museum of African American History & Culture (Smithsonian), https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/15-year-battle-martin-luther-king-jr-day
“Analyzing Relationships: Marriage, Divorce, and Linear Regression” Statistics In Schools lesson plan (to go with National Spouses Day, Jan 26th), U.S. Census, Oct 2021, https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/sis/activities/math/analyzing-relationships.html
“Celebrate National Cut Your Energy Costs Day” (January 10th), U.S. Department of Energy, Jan 2024, https://www.energy.gov/articles/celebrate-national-cut-your-energy-costs-day
“Fincap Friday: You Just Gotta Habit”, Next Gen Personal Finance, Jan 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMDPAXZI7Lo and https://www.ngpf.org/blog/fincap-friday/fincap-friday-you-just-gotta-habit/
“How Does Our Class Compare?” and “A Child’s Day: At A Glance” Statistics In Schools lesson activities (to go with National Hobby Month), U.S. Census, Jul 2025, https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/sis/resources/visualizations/childs-day.html and https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/sis/activities/math/comparisons.html
“’I Have a Dream’ – Learning About Martin Luther King Jr.” Statistics In Schools lesson plan, U.S. Census, Jan 2025, https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/sis/activities/history/i-have-a-dream.html
“International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust” (January 27th), UNESCO, Jan 2026, https://www.unesco.org/en/days/holocaust-remembrance
“Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and National Day of Service: January 15” Stats for Stories, Jan 2024, U.S. Census, https://www.census.gov/newsroom/stories/martin-luther-king-jr-day.html
“Martin Luther King Jr. Day”, Council for Economic Education, Aug 2016, https://econedlink.org/resources/martin-luther-king-jr-day/
“National Popcorn Day – January 19th“ Stats for Stories, Jan 2024, U.S. Census, https://www.census.gov/newsroom/stories/popcorn-day.html
“National Poverty in America Awareness Month: January”, Jan 2025, U.S. Census, https://www.census.gov/newsroom/stories/poverty-awareness-month.html
“New Year's Day 2025: January 1, 2025” Stats for Stories, Jan 2025, U.S. Census, https://www.census.gov/newsroom/stories/new-years-day.html
“Poverty In America” Statistics In Schools lesson plan (to go with National Poverty in America Awareness Month), U.S. Census, Jan 2025, https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/sis/activities/sociology/poverty-in-america.html
“Question of the Day: What is one of the top 3 financial resolutions for the new year?”, (from Next Gen Personal Finance), Jan 2026, https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1h9xw-lM69G-u0KkXCMw0sq8I7FWmyAxmKIH4KvBd3Sk/ (lesson) and https://www.ngpf.org/blog/question-of-the-day/question-of-the-day-what-is-one-of-the-top-3-financial-resolutions-for-the-new-year/ (blog article w/links)
“Today in History – Treaty of Paris Ratified" (for Ratification Day, January 14th), Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/january-14/
“U.S. Inaugurations – A Resource Guide”, Library of Congress, https://guides.loc.gov/presidential-inaugurations
January Holiday articles from economists’ blogs:
“An Economist’s Top Ten List For Christmas”, Econlife, Dec 2024, https://econlife.com/2024/12/an-economists-top-ten-list-for-christmas/
“The Best New Year’s Advice From a Behavioral Economist”, Econlife, Jan 2023, https://econlife.com/2023/01/new-years-resolutions-2/
“Economics Can Help You Keep Your Resolutions”, Monday Morning Economist, Jan 2024, https://www.mondayeconomist.com/p/resolutions (article) AND https://docs.google.com/document/d/1j9CQOdL9X1NO8ub3rCf0W3zvn6ePE82OSELXMCoSb5c/ (lesson materials)
“How Our New Year’s Resolutions Have Changed”, Econlife, Jan 2024, https://econlife.com/2024/01/new-years-resolutions-3/
“How To Keep a Resolution”, Econlife, Feb 2024, https://econlife.com/2024/02/keeping-our-resolutions/
“New Year’s Resolutions: Top Ten Ways to Sound Like an Economist”, Econlife, Jan 2026, https://econlife.com/2026/01/new-years-resolutions-top-ten-ways-to-sound-like-an-economist-3/
“Perfect Pairing: Popcorn and a Movie” (for National Popcorn Day, January 19th), Economics for Everyone (U of Chicago), Nov 2025, https://econ4everyone.uchicago.edu/perfect-pairing-popcorn-and-a-movie/
“Society's $21 Billion Problem” (for National Use Your Gift Card Day – January 17th), Monday Morning Economist, Feb 2023, https://www.mondayeconomist.com/p/gift-cards
“Some Economics for Martin Luther King Jr. Day”, Conversable Economist, Jan 2023, https://conversableeconomist.com/2023/01/16/some-economics-for-martin-luther-king-jr-day-5/
“Which New Year’s Resolutions Do We Keep?”, Econlife, Jan 2025, https://econlife.com/2025/01/new-years-resolutions-4/
“Why a New Year’s Resolution Needs a Staircase”, Econlife, Jan 2021, https://econlife.com/2021/01/keeping-new-years-resolutions/
“Why Theaters Could Have Popcorn Problems” (for National Popcorn Day – January 19th), Econlife, Jun 2022, https://econlife.com/2022/06/popcorn-problems/
“You Shouldn’t Feel Bad About Quitting”, Monday Morning Economist, Jan 2025, https://www.mondayeconomist.com/p/you-shouldnt-feel-bad-about-quitting (article) AND https://docs.google.com/document/d/19kEw_eqzuDqBg8lySpPP-uqXD7r9e3KRrBCk5kXHVQE/ (lesson materials)
Other general ECON/PFL/Social Studies articles on January “holidays”:
“10 Ways to Go Greener for National Cut Your Energy Costs Day” (January 10th), National Energy Improvement Fund, Jan 2023, https://www.neifund.org/10-ways-to-cut-your-energy-costs-2023/
“Achieving Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Vision of Economic Justice”, Self-Help Credit Union, Jan 2025, https://www.self-help.org/updates/sh-blog/blog/2025/01/17/achieving-dr.-martin-luther-king-jr.'s-vision-of-economic-justice
“Bobblehead boom has giveaway toys selling for hundreds of dollars” (for National Bobblehead Day – January 7th), Axios, Jul 2025, https://www.axios.com/2025/07/26/bobblehead-giveaway-baseball-game-ebay
“A Brief History of Bagels: How a Humble Roll Reached Food Hall of Fame Status” (for National Bagel Day – January 15th), The Institute of Culinary Education, Jan 2025, https://www.ice.edu/blog/history-of-bagels
“Data Privacy Week” (January 26-30, 2026), National Cybersecurity Alliance, Jan 2026, https://www.staysafeonline.org/data-privacy-week
“The Economics of Unused Gift Cards” (for Use Your Gift Card Day – January 17th), The Hustle, updated Dec 2024, https://thehustle.co/what-happens-to-unused-gift-cards
“The history of New Year's resolutions” (video), CBS Sunday Morning, 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAOLwJrU1LM
“How Did Martin Luther King Jr. Get a Holiday?” (video), PBS – Origin of Everything, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WCbq4xYLIs
“How To Make New Year's Resolutions You Can Actually Keep (podcast)”, Consider This (NPR), Jan 2024, https://www.npr.org/2024/01/01/1198909780/consider-this-from-npr-draft-01-01-2024
“Is Spaghetti Truly Italian? – The False Perception of Authentic Foods” (for National Spaghetti Day – January 4th), Food Inspiration Magazine, Mar 2021, https://www.foodinspirationmagazine.com/int60-discovering-authentic-cuisines/is-spaghetti-truly-italian
“It's Quitter's Day. What to know about unofficial holiday, how to keep your resolutions”, USA Today, Jan 2025, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/01/10/quitters-day-new-years-resolutions/77559275007/
“Korean American Day: Celebrating Culture and Heritage” (January 13th), Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA), Jan 2025, https://miracoalition.org/news/korean-american-day-celebrating-culture-and-heritage/
“Marzipan in My Veins: A History of the Almond Candy” (for National Marzipan Day – January 12th), The Institute of Culinary Education, Aug 2020, https://www.ice.edu/blog/marzipan-candy
“MLK Jr. Day of Service”, Points of Light, Jan 2026, https://www.pointsoflight.org/mlk-jr-day-of-service/
“What Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Taught Us About Finances”, Johndrow Wealth Management, Jan 2023, https://www.johndrowwealth.com/blog/mlk-finance-lessons