Celebrating Animals Perpetual Calendar
A Year of Animal Celebrations for Your RE Classroom Wall
UUAM’s new perpetual calendar brings 48 animal and earth-care holidays to children’s spaces, year after year
From Penguin Awareness Day to World Kindness Day, there’s always a reason to celebrate the creatures we share this world with. UUAM is delighted to announce the Celebrate Animals Perpetual Calendar, a beautifully illustrated calendar made for religious education classrooms and, if you'd like, children’s spaces at home.
What it is. A perpetual calendar, meaning it's designed to work in any year! Hang it once and use it for years. Holidays that move each year are listed by pattern, like “3rd Sunday” or “2nd Full Week,” so the calendar stays accurate. We commissioned Emily Li of YXL Studio to create original illustrations for each of the 48 holidays, designed to appeal to elementary-age children. They range from the serious to the whimsical, and from wildlife to pets to farm animals. Some invite kids to take action, like Random Acts of Kindness Day, Earth Day, and International Volunteer Day. Children can also discover Save the Frogs Day, World Bee Day, and even National Answer Your Cat’s Questions Day.
Each season opens with a message rooted in our faith, like “Celebrate animals as part of our beloved community” and “Our UU faith invites us to love every living being.” The calendar gently invites children into the awareness that we are part of an interdependent web, and that our care extends to all beings.
How it works. The calendar is printable on four sheets of US Letter paper. Each page presents one season; each season holds three months; each month features four holidays. Hang the four pages together as one large poster, or display one season at a time. Download them as a high-quality PDF or zipped JPG file, then print them at home or at your congregation on high-quality white paper. Your best print settings with card stock or matte photo paper are encouraged! Before hanging, please check with your Director of Religious Education or another person who oversees classroom spaces about the best spot.
Want it professionally printed? Thanks to generous UUAM donors, we can reimburse up to $15 per congregation for professional printing, first come, first served, while funds last. Take or send the file to a local print shop, then email a photo of the prints and the itemized receipt to calendar@uuam.org, with your name, your congregation’s name and city, whether you'd like to receive your reimbursement by Zelle, PayPal, or paper check, and your contact information. If you'd rather we place the print order at your local print shop, email us. We’ll handle reimbursements and orders in batches over the coming months, as funds allow. Would you like more than one copy? Email us to ask.
Imagine a copy in every RE classroom! What part can you play? Download the free calendar today!