Months of the Year: Complete Guide with Chart, Facts and Activities for Kids

The months of the year are among the very first pieces of vocabulary that young learners encounter in English education. They appear in calendars, in date writing, in storytelling, in science lessons about seasons, and in social studies lessons about festivals and cultures. A child who knows the 12 months of the year in order, in spelling and in context, has acquired one of the most practically useful vocabulary sets in the entire English language.

This page provides a complete guide to the months of the year for students at every level. It includes the complete months of the year chart, key facts about each month, a rich bank of months of the year activity ideas, months of the year activity for kids at primary and middle school levels and months of the year activity for kindergarten, suitable for very young learners. Practice exercises and FAQs complete the guide.

 

Table of Contents

• 12 Months of the Year: Complete List
• Months of the Year Chart
• Days in Each Month: The Complete Guide
• How to Remember the Days in Each Month
• Months of the Year and Seasons
• Months of the Year: Activity List
• Practice Exercises

 

12 Months of the Year: Complete List

The 12 months of the year in order, with their standard abbreviations and number of days:

 

No.	Month	Abbreviation	Days
1	January	Jan	31
2	February	Feb	28 (29 in a leap year)
3	March	Mar	31
4	April	Apr	30
5	May	May	31
6	June	Jun	30
7	July	Jul	31
8	August	Aug	31
9	September	Sep / Sept	30
10	October	Oct	31
11	November	Nov	30
12	December	Dec	31

 

Total Days in a Year

• Regular year: 365 days 
• Leap year: 366 days (February has 29 days)

 

Months of the Year Chart

A months of the year chart is one of the most useful classroom reference tools for students at every level. The following is a complete, detailed months of the year chart suitable for printing and classroom display.

 

Complete Months of the Year Chart

 

Month	Number	Season in India	Days	Starts With
January	1st	Winter	31	J
February	2nd	Winter/Spring	28/29	F
March	3rd	Spring/Summer	31	M
April	4th	Summer	30	A
May	5th	Summer	31	M
June	6th	Monsoon	30	J
July	7th	Monsoon	31	J
August	8th	Monsoon	31	A
September	9th	Monsoon/Autumn	30	S
October	10th	Autumn	31	O
November	11th	Autumn/Winter	30	N
December	12th	Winter	31	D

 

What a Months of the Year Chart Shows

A well-designed months of the year chart helps children learn:

• The correct names of all twelve months
• The correct order of the months
• The number of days in each month
• Which season each month belongs to
• The abbreviation of each month's name
• Important festivals and events in each month

 

Days in Each Month: The Complete Guide

Knowing the number of days in each month is one of the most practically useful pieces of knowledge in everyday life.

 

The Rule for Days

• Thirty days have September, April, June and November. 
• All the rest have thirty-one. 
• Except for February alone, which has twenty-eight days clear and twenty-nine in each leap year.

Which Months have 31 Days

January, March, May, July, August, October, December

• Count them: Seven months have 31 days.

Which Months have 30 Days

April, June, September, November

• Count them: Four months have 30 days.

February

February has 28 days in a regular year and 29 days in a leap year.

A leap year occurs every four years. In a leap year, February has an extra day called the ‘leap day’. This is added to account for the fact that the Earth actually takes approximately 365.25 days to orbit the Sun.

• How to know if a year is a leap year: A year is a leap year if it is divisible by four. However, century years (1700, 1800, 1900) are only leap years if they are divisible by 400. So 2000 was a leap year, but 1900 was not.
• Recent leap years: 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024 
• Next leap year: 2028

 

How to Remember the Days in Each Month

Several effective methods help children remember how many days are in each month.

 

Method 1: The Knuckle Method

Make a fist with your left hand. Starting from the knuckle of your index finger, count across your knuckles and the valleys between them, saying the months as you go.

• Knuckle = 31 days 
• Valley (between knuckles) = 30 days (or 28/29 for February)

Start:

• Index knuckle = January (31) 
• Valley = February (28/29) 
• Middle knuckle = March (31) 
• Valley = April (30) 
• Ring knuckle = May (31) 
• Valley = June (30) 
• Little finger knuckle = July (31)

Then start again from the index knuckle:

• Index knuckle = August (31) 
• Valley = September (30) 
• Middle knuckle = October (31) 
• Valley = November (30) 
• Ring knuckle = December (31)

This method is reliable, always available (you always have your hands) and very popular with children.

Method 2: The Rhyme

Thirty days have September, 

April, June, and November. 

All the rest have thirty-one, 

Except February alone, 

Which has twenty-eight days clear, 

And twenty-nine in each leap year.

This rhyme has been used for centuries and remains one of the most reliable memory aids for the months of the year.

Method 3: The Acronym for 30-Day Months

The four months with 30 days are April, June, September and November.

• Acronym: AJSN (A Joyful September Night)
• The remaining seven months (excluding February) all have 31 days.

 

Months of the Year and Seasons

The months of the year are closely connected to the seasons, though the connection varies depending on where in the world the observer is located.

 

Seasons in the Northern Hemisphere (and India)

 

Season	Months in India	Characteristics
Winter	December, January, February	Cold temperatures, shorter days
Spring	March, April	Warming temperatures, blossoming
Summer	April, May, June	Hot temperatures, longest days
Monsoon	June, July, August, September	Heavy rainfall
Autumn	October, November	Cooling temperatures, falling leaves

 

Seasons in the Southern Hemisphere

In the Southern Hemisphere (including Australia, South Africa, and South America), the seasons are reversed. When it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere, it is winter in the Southern Hemisphere.

• Summer: December, January, February 
• Autumn: March, April, May 
• Winter: June, July, August 
• Spring: September, October, November

 

Months of the Year: Activity List

 

Months of the Year Activity for Kids

The following months of the year activity ideas are suitable for primary school students (Classes 1 to 5) and make learning the months engaging, memorable, and fun.

 

Activity 1: Birthday Month Graph

Ask every child in the class to stand up when their birth month is called. Record the number of children born in each month on a bar graph on the board. Children learn to see how birth months are distributed and practise reading a graph while simultaneously reviewing all 12 months of the year.

• Learning outcomes: Memorising month names, data handling, graph reading.

Activity 2: Month of the Year Wheel

Children create a circular calendar wheel divided into twelve sections, one for each month. They write the month name, draw a symbol for the season and illustrate one event or festival from that month. The wheel can be decorated and displayed.

• Materials needed: Paper plates or circular cardboard, pencils, crayons. 
• Learning outcomes: Spelling, sequencing, seasonal awareness, creativity.

Activity 3: Months Ordering Race

Write the twelve month names on separate cards. Shuffle them. Children race to arrange the cards in correct order as quickly as possible. This can be done individually or in teams.

• Learning outcomes: Sequencing, spelling recognition, competitive motivation.

Activity 4: Month Mystery Box

Place objects associated with different months in a box (a small umbrella for July, a small Santa for December, a rangoli design for October/November, a kite for January, a flower for March). Children pull out an object and name the month it represents, explaining their reasoning.

• Learning outcomes: Cultural awareness, critical thinking, oral communication.

Activity 5: Months of the Year Story

Children write or dictate a short story that mentions all twelve months in order. For example: ‘In January it was cold. In February I read a book. In March we planted a tree…’ The story does not have to be realistic; encouraging imaginative responses makes the exercise more enjoyable.

• Learning outcomes: Narrative writing, sequencing, creativity.

Activity 6: Months Alphabet Hunt

Children find the months that begin with each letter of the alphabet and note that some letters (J, A, M, N, D, F, S, O) appear more than once. They create a small chart noting which months share a starting letter.

• J: January, June, July 
• A: April, August 
• M: March, May

• Learning outcomes: Alphabetic awareness, vocabulary organisation.

Activity 7: Festival Calendar Collage

Children create a collage calendar for the year, cutting pictures from old magazines, newspapers, or printing small images representing festivals, seasons, and events for each month. These are arranged in monthly sections on a large sheet of chart paper.

• Learning outcomes: Cultural knowledge, visual literacy, fine motor skills.

Activity 8: Months of the Year Quiz

Simple quiz questions about the months of the year delivered orally or in writing:

• Which is the shortest month? (February) 
• Which month do we celebrate Independence Day? (August) 
• How many months have 31 days? (Seven) 
• Which is the sixth month? (June) 
• What comes after October? (November) 
• Which month was named after a Roman emperor? (July or August)

• Learning outcomes: Recall, listening, and responding.

Activity 9: Month-Season Sorting

Provide children with a set of cards: twelve month name cards and four season name cards. Children sort the month cards under the correct season headings, then discuss whether any months could belong to two seasons (transition months).

• Learning outcomes: Seasonal awareness, categorisation, critical thinking.

Activity 10: My Year Journal

Each child creates a simple twelve-page booklet with one page for each month. On each page, they write the month name, draw the season, note a festival or event they associate with it, and write one sentence about what they typically do that month.

• Learning outcomes: Reflective writing, sequencing, personal connection to the calendar.

 

Months of the Year Activity for Kindergarten

Months of the year activity for kindergarten must be simple, physical, sensory and joyful. Kindergarten children learn best through movement, music, repetition and play.

Kindergarten Activity 1: Month Song

Teach children a simple song to the tune of a familiar nursery melody (such as ‘Twinkle Twinkle’ or ‘Are You Sleeping?’):

January, February, 

March and April too, 

May and June and July, 

August comes right through, 

September, October, 

November, December too, 

These are all the months, 

Just twelve for me and you!

Singing this song daily during morning circle time builds memorisation through pleasant repetition.

Kindergarten Activity 2: Month Name Cards With Pictures

Create twelve large, colourful cards, one for each month. Each card shows the month name in large letters alongside a simple picture: a snowflake for January, flowers for March, a mango for May, a kite for August, fireworks for October/November, a Christmas tree for December. Hold up each card as children say the name together.

• Learning outcomes: Name recognition, visual association, oral repetition.

Kindergarten Activity 3: Stand Up for Your Month

Tell children their birth month. Then call out months one by one. When children hear their birth month, they stand up, clap, and say their name. This simple game creates personal connection to the calendar.

• Learning outcomes: Listening, self-identification, oral confidence.

Kindergarten Activity 4: Month Stamp Activity

Provide rubber stamps or ink pads and simple month name stencils. Children stamp their birth month on paper and decorate the page with drawings of things they associate with that month.

• Learning outcomes: Fine motor skills, personal connection, creative expression.

Kindergarten Activity 5: Months of the Year Chart Pointing Game

Display a large, colourful months of the year chart at child height. The teacher calls out a month name and children take turns coming to the chart to point to or touch the correct month. Use soft toys or bean bags for children to throw at the chart for a game variation.

• Learning outcomes: Chart reading, physical engagement, listening.

Kindergarten Activity 6: Pass the Month Ball

Children sit in a circle. A ball is passed around while music plays. When the music stops, the child holding the ball must say any month they know. As sessions progress, the challenge is to say months in order.

• Learning outcomes: Memory, social interaction, sequencing.

Kindergarten Activity 7: Month Collage Craft

Each child is assigned a month. They create a simple collage page for their month: decorating the name with colours, stickers, or stamps that represent the season or a festival associated with that month. All twelve pages are assembled into a class calendar book.

• Learning outcomes: Fine motor skills, creative expression, collaborative learning.

Kindergarten Activity 8: Months of the Year Flashcard Game

Create simple flashcards with the month name on one side and the month number on the other (1 for January, 2 for February, and so on). Hold up the name; children say the number. Hold up the number; children say the name. Play matching games where children match number cards to name cards.

• Learning outcomes: Number-name correspondence, memory, reading readiness.

 

Practice Exercises

A. Complete the sequence of months of the year by filling in the missing months.

January, __________, March, April, __________, June, July, __________, September, __________, November, __________

B. Write the month that comes before and after each of the following.

1. __________ / March / __________
2. __________ / July / __________
3. __________ / November / __________
4. __________ / May / __________
5. __________ / September / __________

C. Write the number of days in each month.

1. January: __________
2. February (regular year): __________
3. April: __________
4. June: __________
5. August: __________
6. September: __________
7. October: __________
8. November: __________
9. December: __________
10. February (leap year): __________

D. Use the months of the year chart on this page to answer the following questions.

1. Which month is the fifth month of the year?
2. Which months have exactly 30 days?
3. Which month comes after August?
4. How many months start with the letter J?
5. Which is the last month of the year?
6. What is the abbreviated form of September?

E. Write True or False for each statement.

1. February always has 28 days.
2. There are 12 months in a year.
3. December is the first month of the year.
4. September, April, June and November each have 30 days.
5. The seventh month of the year is July.
6. A leap year occurs every three years.

F. Correct the spelling of each misspelled month name.

1. Januray
2. Febuary
3. Marck
4. Aprile
5. Augustt
6. Sepember
7. Octobar
8. Novmber
9. Decmber