30+ Fun Ways to Celebrate National Mario Day with Kids

Something I really enjoy doing with my kids is celebrating wacky holidays throughout the year. One of our favorite national days to celebrate is Mario Day.

Yes, it’s a day to celebrate the video game character Mario.

Mario day is celebrated each year on March 10. The date that looks like it spells Mario when abbreviated MAR10.

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When did Mario day start?

Mario was first introduced in 1981 in the game Donkey Kong. Since first being introduced Mario games have continued to be popular for the whole family.

We aren’t sure when people started celebrating Mario day but it was definitely happening before Nintendo recognized the day. Mario Day was officially recognized by Nintendo in 2016.

After recognizing the day Nintendo has started celebrating annually by promoting old and new Mario games, offering special deals and discounts, and hosting Mario-themed events.

How to Celebrate National Mario Day

Now we know when Mario day is, but you may be wondering how do you celebrate Mario Day?

There are so many fun ways to celebrate Mario Day. Keep reading to find some of our favorite ways to celebrate Mario (and Nintendo). These ideas include foods, crafts, games/activities, and more!

Play Mario Video Games

Playing Mario video games is probably the most obvious way to celebrate national Mario day.

It is a lot of fun to play these video games and we do include them as part of our Mario day activities. But there are a lot of other fun activities we love doing to celebrate as well!

Learn About Nintendo

Last year was the first year we celebrated Mario Day. Along with some fun activities, we read “What is Nintendo?”.

This book was really interesting and we all enjoyed learning more about the company that created our favorite Mario games.

Related Post: Fun and Wacky Holidays in March

Mario Coloring Pages and Stickers

We got our kids this Mario sticker book a few years ago and they have loved it. This Mario activity book has also been something they have enjoyed.

If you don’t want a while Mario coloring book you can always find free printable Mario coloring pages online.

Dress up as Mario Characters

We have Mario costumes thanks to previous Halloween costumes, so dressing up for Mario day is easy.

Have a Mario Racing Tournament

We have several Mario hot wheels cars that the kids play with all the time. So I thought it would be fun to do a Mario racing tournament.

So gather your cards and head over to this post to get a free printable racing tournament bracket before you start your races.

Play Mario Monopoly

Mario Monopoly is a fun twist on the classic monopoly game. With a fun themed board, character pieces, and coins instead of money it’s a fun game for the whole family. See the game on Amazon.

Decorate Yoshi Eggs

Use hard boil eggs or get white plastic eggs and have fun decorating Yoshi eggs for some fun Yoshi egg activities.

Do a Yoshi Egg Toss

Use hard-boiled egged or plastic eggs and do a fun Yoshi egg toss. Compete to see which team can throw and catch an egg at the greatest distance

Have Yoshi Egg and Spoon Race

With your decorated Yoshi egg and a spoon have fun doing an egg and spoon race. To make the race even more challenging you could include some obstacles in your racecourse.

Wear a Mustache

Get some mustache stickers or use a washable marker to draw a mustache on your face for the day.

Have Fun Mario Themed Foods

Food is always a good idea when celebrating any holiday. Check out the bottom of this post for some fun (and easy) Mario-themed food ideas.

Go on a Coin Hunt

For our Yoshi coin hunt, I got chocolate coins and put them in Easter eggs. Some eggs were empty and others had coins in them.

We hid the eggs and the kids had fun hunting for coins hidden in Yoshi eggs. You could always just hide coins for the kids to find if you don’t want to use Easter eggs.

Make Mario Perler Bead Crafts

My kids love Perler beads so when I saw the super Mario Perler bead kit I knew we needed to include it as one of our Mario day activities.

Make a Super Mario Obstacle Course

Have fun creating an obstacle course and trying to complete it like you do levels in the Super Mario games.

If the weather is nice take the obstacle course outside.

Build a Mario Lego Set

We have had Mario lego sets for a couple of years and my kids still love playing with them. They are continually changing the courses and trying to beat their previous records.

We now have both Lego Mario and Lego Luigi and my kids love that they can link the characters and get even more coins.

Do a Super Mario Sight Word Stomp

I found these fun editable goomba sight word card printables that are a perfect educational activity for Mario day.

Simply edit the cards with sight words or vocabulary words the kids need to practice. Lay the cards on the floor and have the kids stomp on the goomba with the word you say.

Play Mario Uno

The Super Mario Uno game has some fun twists to the classic game. A round of this game is quick and easy to play as part of your Mario day activities. The Mario Kart Uno is a game we still need to try.

Have a Mario Piñata

We used a Mario question block piñata for a gender reveal, but it would also be perfect for a Mario party.

Host a Mario Party

Use the ideas from this post and your own ideas to host a fun Mario Party with family and friends.

Decorate a Mario Castle

We got a Mario gingerbread castle kit several years ago and the kids had so much fun decorating it. Once it was built and decorated they loved using the castle to play with their Mario toys. Get your castle kit here.

Nintendo Activity Sheet

On the Nintendo website, you can find a lot of fun and free printables that are perfect to use on National Mario day. Find the printables here.

Super Mario I-spy

This free printable Mario I-spy sheet I found on Pinterest is another fun and easy no prep Mario activity.

Piranha Plant Craft

Using a paper cup and free printable this Piranha plant craft is a fun Mario craft for kids to make.

Play Mario Life

Mario Life is the newest Mario game we have added to our collection. It takes longer to play than Mario Monopoly and Mario Uno but it’s a lot of fun.

To play the game you go around the board collecting stars and then to win you have to attack and beat Bowser.

Mario and Luigi Puppets

Get the free printable to make these fun Mario and Luigi paper puppets as an easy craft for Mario day.

Mario Cootie Catcher

We did this fun Mario cootie catcher last year and the kids loved it so we are doing it again this year. You can get the free printable here.

Mario Food Ideas

Instead of mixing the Mario food ideas with the crafts and activities, I thought it would be easier to have them grouped together.

Mario Party Pizza

For dinner, Mario party pizza freshly made by the kids is a fun meal idea.

Star Power Sugar Cookies

Star-shaped sugar cookies frosted yellow with eyes make the perfect star power treat.

Piranha Plant Strawberries

Make these Pirahna plant strawberries by cutting the strawberries to look like a Plant with a mouth. You can also put the strawberries on a skewer and put white (frosting) dots on the strawberries if you want.

Spare Tire Oreos

Grab a pack of Oreos for a fun and easy Mario treat. Because we all know that Oreos definitely look like they could be spare tires on Mario kart.

Bananas

Banana pills are found all over in Mario kart so we needed to include bananas in our list of Mario food ideas.

Question Brick Rice Krispie

Rice Krispie treats are fun and easy to make with kids. To give these treats a Mario spin make them into question bricks.

Cut the Rice Krispie into a square and using frosting put a question mark on each treat.

Deviled Yoshi Eggs

Make some deviled eggs and dye them green if you want for s Yoshi egg snack.

Princess Peach Punch

Pick a juice or soda that’s pink for your Princess peach punch.

No matter what ideas you decide to use as you celebrate national Mario day I hope you have fun creating memories together.