Leap Year Leap Day

Hey there! Are you ready to celebrate Leap Day, or do you need a boost to feel the leap-year spirit? Either way, I hope you have a great day.

Educators enjoy honoring students' birthdays with special treats or certificates. Over your teaching career, you might have a student born on February 29. In leap years, they get to celebrate their actual birthday. However, most years aren't leap years, so we create a workaround, celebrating on February 28 or March 1.

I've created birthday certificates for students born on February 29. These certificates are helpful in non-leap years, and I also have some for the current leap year, 2024. You can see a picture of the certificates below. Get the  resource HERE. Let's make every student feel special!  

Here's an interesting tidbit about leap years: Do they occur every four years? Well, almost. While it's true that a leap year must be divisible by 4, that's not the whole story. According to the Gregorian calendar, the start of a new century must also be divisible by 400 to qualify as a leap year. For instance, 2000 was a leap year because it's divisible by 400. The upcoming century in 2100 won't be a leap year as it doesn't meet the divisible by 400 rule! If a child is born on February 29, 2096, they'll have to wait EIGHT years before their birthday shows up on the calendar. So, when they turn 100 in 2196, they'll celebrate their 25th birthdate!

© 2016 Molly McMahon, Lessons by Molly

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