National Single Parent Day: When It Is & How To Celebrate (2024)

There are more single parents in the United States than ever before. From 1980 to 2008, the percentage of households with children led by a single parent increased from 20 percent to 30 percent. These parents are navigating an enormous challenge by raising kids on their own, and deserve to be celebrated and appreciated. Luckily, there’s now a holiday that centers around doing exactly that: National Single Parent Day! In this blog post, we’ll explain when National Single Parent Day takes place each year and advise how to celebrate the holiday.

When is National Single Parent Day?

National Single Parent Day falls on March 24th in the United States. 

How to celebrate National Single Parent Day

How you celebrate National Single Parent Day depends on who you are: whether you’re the child of a single parent, a single parent yourself, or a friend, relative, or other loved one of a single parent. We have put together a list of varied suggestions, in which there’s at least one option for each of these groups, so regardless of who you are, you’ll find celebration ideas that’ll work for you:

Give the single parent a day off

There is no denying that as fulfilling as being a single parent often is, it can also be exhausting — mentally, physically, and emotionally. By definition, single parents don’t always have someone who can take over and help them with parenting tasks when they’re low on time and energy.

That’s why one of the most meaningful ways to show support and appreciation for a single parent is by giving them a break from parenting duties for at least a few hours. This may be by offering to babysit yourself, or if you’re a single parent, by hiring a babysitter and taking some time to do something for yourself that you enjoy, whether on your own or with friends.

For more family event ideas, check out our guide on hosting a picture-perfect baby shower!

Plan parent-child quality time

If you’re the child of a single parent and you’re reading this, another way to honor your parent is by scheduling some quality time to spend with them on National Single Parent Day. Ideally, this time would include doing an activity together that you both enjoy.

Some suggestions include:

• Going out to brunch, lunch, or dinner at your parent’s favorite restaurant
• Cooking or baking a favorite recipe (or trying something new!)
• Going on a hike
• Crafting or DIY projects with art supplies
• Planning a game night with board/card games
• Watching a movie marathon of films you both love
• Enjoying a picnic in the park, if the weather allows
• Taking a class together to learn something new, such as art, cooking, or sports
• Volunteering at a local charity or working on a local community service project
• Reminiscing over old photos and mementos, perhaps even collaboratively creating a scrapbook to honor those memories
• Spending a day at the spa to pamper yourselves (or having a DIY spa day at home, if that makes more financial sense for you)
• Planting a garden
• Visiting a museum, zoo, aquarium, or other local attraction

Especially if your parent’s “love language” is quality time, they are certain to appreciate spending the day with you, as well as your obvious efforts to make the holiday special and recognize their parenting. If your parent tends to have strong preferences and isn’t a big fan of surprises, we’d suggest including them in the planning, or at least giving them the chance to offer input on how you spend your time together.

Give your parent a meaningful gift

Gift giving is another one of the “love languages” we mentioned above, and putting some thought into choosing a meaningful gift is one of the best ways to recognize them on National Single Parent Day.

Here are some of our top tips for how to select a gift that your single parent will adore:

• Take some time to reflect on conversations you’ve had with your parent in the past, especially about things they need or want. This could be something as simple as a book they’ve been wanting to read or a kitchen gadget they mentioned would make their life easier.
• Consider your parent’s interests and hobbies. If there is an activity that they are especially passionate about, selecting a gift related to that hobby shows that you pay attention to their interests.
• Give a personalized gift, if possible. This can make the gift even more meaningful. You might have their name or initials engraved on the gift, or perhaps create something handmade that’s a reflection of your relationship with them. 
• Consider treating your parent to an experience, rather than a physical item (the list of quality time activities above is a great place to start). 
• Keep practicality in mind—a fancy, sentimental gift can be lovely, but sometimes a practical gift that makes your parent’s life easier can be even more valuable. Think about items that could simplify their daily routine or help them with tasks around the house.

The most important aspect of choosing a gift for your single parent is that your decision comes from the heart and demonstrates how much you care about them. The cost or extravagance of the gift matters much less than that.

Throw the single parent in your life a big party with friends and family

Just like any other holiday, one of the best ways to celebrate National Single Parent Day is by throwing a big party and inviting all their favorite people—friends, family, and loved ones included. You can throw a party for the single parent in your life whether you are their child and were raised by them, or if you are simply a close friend who wants to make them feel appreciated. Be sure to put together a playlist with their favorite tunes, serve some of their favorite foods and drinks at the party, and do everything you can to make the event a celebration of their parenting successes. 

You might even want to put together a slideshow with photos of them and their child/children over the years, giving everyone in attendance a chance to reflect on their parenting journey. In addition, consider asking attendees to stand up and give a speech about the guest of honor, similar to the speeches that loved ones give at a wedding reception—it is another wonderful way to reminisce about memories and make them feel as special as they deserve. 

Our creative large family photo ideas are perfect for capturing every moment as you celebrate National Single Parent Day. Check them out!

Use Peerspace to book the perfect single parent party venue

Another important aspect of planning just about any party is choosing the location. You can make the party experience less stressful (and therefore more fun!) for your single parent by refraining from throwing it at their home and potentially leaving them with a big mess to deal with. Instead, consider renting a venue for the party, which can save a lot of stress and make the event feel a lot more festive and exciting.

To find the best party venues near you, search for venues on Peerspace! As the internet’s largest marketplace for event venue rentals and other hourly space rentals, Peerspace instantly grants you access to over 17,000 party spaces that are available for rent in the United States alone—not to mention thousands of additional venues based in hundreds of cities throughout Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Europe, and even elsewhere. 

But don’t let this huge selection intimidate you! Peerspace makes it easy to discover venues that fit your exact specifications thanks to the site’s array of easy-to-use search filters.

These include:

• Number of attendees
• Hourly rental price
• Event date and time
• Keywords in the listing description
• Outdoor spaces (e.g., backyards, gardens, beaches, lawns, etc.)
• Interior spaces (including bathrooms, bedrooms, dining areas, garages, etc.)
• Style (e.g., bohemian, industrial, coastal, etc.)
• Space type (such as an apartment, a bar, a classroom, and so forth)
• Amenities (including decks, exposed brick, elevators, fireplaces, and more)
• Whether or not the space is available for instant booking
• And more

Use as many or as few of the filters above as you would like to limit your search results to listings that meet your needs and preferences. Once you have done so, you should begin to browse through these individual search results and consider which spaces would be the best fit for the party you are planning. 

To make your decision as informed as possible, it is easy to get a sense of what the rental experience would be like even without visiting the venue in person. Simply take a look at the array of information in each listing: the high-resolution photos of the space in question, as well as the detailed description written by the host. In many cases, listings also include star ratings and honest reviews from those who have actually rented the space before. 

Last but not least, the process of reserving a Peerspace venue is as simple as choosing a date and time and clicking the purple button that says “Book Now” (for instant booking) or “Start Booking” (if there’s no instant booking option).

Find unique party venues for National Single Parent Day on Peerspace