Inside: Discover more than 29 leap year celebration ideas for adults and children, complete with some leap year party ideas!
Leap Year Day is a fantastic excuse to do extra fun things with your kids, your friends, other adults, your spouse, or by yourself!
It’s that one day a year that doesn’t happen every year.
In fact, Leap Day only happens once every four years when it is a Leap Year.
If you have never done anything to celebrate this “holiday” before, Saturday, February 29, 2020 is the perfect day to start!
In 2012, my husband and I celebrated our first Leap Year Day together, as we barely missed the 2008 Leap Year Day as we started dating a week after it in March 2008.
So, in 2012, I went all out, coming up with many leap year celebration ideas! I surprised my husband with a Leap-full day after he got home from work, and treated our twin daughters to special leap day activities and leap day games and outings too. (See our 2012 Leap Day Activities for Kids.)
Most of the Leap Day activities we did involved leaping, jumping, or flying in some way, like an animal who does those things (aka a frog).
But, there are many Leap Year Themes that involve leaps, like taking a leap of faith or a leap of courage.
Leap Year Celebration Ideas
Leap Year Games and Leap Year Activities:
There is something so fun about revisiting childhood. These things will be fun with (or without) children present.
- Play leapfrog and leap over each other
- Play hop-scotch and leap onto the numbers
- Jump rope or play double-dutch
- Do three-legged races, sac races, or hop-on-one leg races
- Skip stones on a body of water
- Blow bubbles
- Play Pin the Tail on the Bunny or Pin the Kiss on the Frog.
- Hide plastic frogs and have a “Leap Day Frog Hunt” like an Easter Egg Hunt
- Leap into a pile of leaves or into a pile of snow
- Compete in a Leap Day Obstacle Course and see who can do them all the fastest.
Things to Do on Leap Day
- Make Origami Paper Frogs (instructions here)
- Go to the Zoo
- Go to Sea World (where the animals leap out of the water)
- Go to a park and swing on the swings
- Fly a stunt kite and watch it leap into the air
- Go to a Bounce House or rent one for the day
- Go to a Trampoline Park
- Go to a water park or pool and do cannon balls, dives, or backflips into the water
- Read a book about Leap Year (this one looks perfect for the kids and this one or this one excellent reads for adults)
- Learn about famous people who had February 29th birthdays (see a list of famous Leap Day babies here) and do things based upon their lives.
- Take action shots of you and your kids jumping and leaping (in strange places for extra laughs).
Fun Leap Day Activities for Adults
Reminiscing with childhood games is great and all, but there are some seriously fun stuff you can do as an adult that involves leaping, soaring, and flying, all of which would be super fun to do on such a special day.
- Go bungee jumping
- Go sky-diving (even indoors would be fun!)
- Go repelling off a cliff
- Go cliff jumping
- Take flying lessons
- Take a Zipline Tour
- Take a Hot Air Balloon Ride
- Go to a concert (and leap out of your seat!)
- Attend a Celtic Concert full of Irish Jigs
- Watch a ballet performance where they leap on the stage
- Go horseback riding and try to get your horse to leap over something
Leap Day Activities that Require a Leap of Faith
What better day is there to try something new than a day that only comes once every four years?
Quit putting off something you’ve been wanting to do and do it today!
Take a leap of faith.
One of several leap year traditions is women to proposing to her man (an Irish tradition, which dubs this day Bachelor’s Day)… so nothing seems out of the question!
- Propose! (or ask someone out if single at least!)
- Eat out at a new restaurant and/or try a new type of food or cuisine (like sushi, oysters, calamari, etc)
- Sing karaoke when you’re afraid of singing in front of a crowd
- Try doing stand-up comedy for the first time
- Cook a new recipe completely from scratch
- Start a new business venture (like a blog!)
- Buy a house, car, or boat!
- Adopt a pet
Leap Day Movies and TV Shows
If you really aren’t creative, have limited time or energy, have no fear! You can still celebrate Leap Day from the comfort of your home, bumming on your sofa.
Several great TV shows have done Leap Day episodes and there are even some movies based on it.
A movie or show is a great at-home date night idea anyway.
- Watch the 2010 romantic comedy movie Leap Year (Buy/Rent from Amazon)
- Watch the 2017 animated kids movie Leap! (Buy/rent on Amazon).
- Watch the Modern Family Season 3 Episode 17 “Leap Day” (Buy on Amazon)
- Watch the 30-Rock Season 6 Episode 8 “Leap Day” (Buy on Amazon or watch free with Amazon Prime). Wear Blue and Yellow when you do!
- Watch the Parks and Recreation Season 4 Episode 16 “Sweet Sixteen” (Buy on Amazon or Watch Free with Amazon Prime)
- Watch an episode of the TV show Quantum Leap (Watch for Free on NBC)
- Watch Seasons 1 and 2 of the TV show Leap Year on YouTube
- Watch the Moon Landing on YouTube and celebrate the “Giant Leap for Mankind”
I hope these ideas help get you started on creating a very fun day for you and yours.
Let me know what you end up doing and pass any other good ideas along.
Photo Credits: Jennifer Borget of Cherish365.com
Charlee @ Humble in a Heartbeat says
This is too great! I’ve never even thought about celebrating Leap Day, but now I think I’m gonna have to do something, at least with the kids!
Chelsea @ Life With My Littles says
What cute ideas! And I love all of your jumping pictures! I’ll have to set up some of these for our family this year!
Kathryn says
I’m another fan of the pictures. I think we could have a lot of fun with that! Great ideas here. Pinning.
Jenny at Unremarkable Files says
I just learned about this indoor skydiving place not too far from us and I’m sort of obsessed with the idea. It’s hundreds of dollars for a few minutes and I’m a billion months pregnant so obviously now is not the right time… maybe on the next leap day?