Last week was Preident’s Day, and being the homeschooling Mom that I am, I totally forgot it was until about 4:00 on Monday when I was talking with a public school Mom about having her kids home for the day because it was a holiday. And that’s when I went, “Oh yeah I was going to do some Presidents’ Day activities.” So, that didn’t happen. But, we just finished two years of American history, so I’ve got a few ideas to share.
President’s Day actually started out as two separate holidays, one to celebrate George Washington, and then another to celebrate Abraham Lincoln after he was killed. Then we had other important presidents and there were other presidents killed in office, poor James Garfield no one remembers you really, and so they decided to make it into one nice neat holiday and call it Presidents’ Day. But still to this day we only really celebrate Washington and Lincoln.
Learning about George Washington for Presidents’ Day activities
I know we’ve all made the George Washington wigs at some point, but I wanted to do something different, especially because Washington didn’t wear a wig….
George Washington’s Teeth– according to urban legend George Washington had wooden teeth, and there’s a great picture book about his teeth and the poor man’s dental troubles. My kids loved this book and activity
Visit Mount Vernon– If you ever get the chance visit Mount Vernon. The grounds are excellent and the tour through his house is fascinating. If you check ahead of time on their schedules they frequently have people dressed up as his family members and you can talk with them, well worth the visit if you can.
Hanukah and Valley Forge– This is the somewhat apocraphyal tale of George Washington talking with a Jewish soldier about Hanukah during the winter at Valley Forge. The artwork in this book is amazing, and the story telling just draws you in.
Learning about Abraham Lincoln for Presidents’ Day activities
I think most of us made log cabin crafts for Abraham Lincoln as a kid, I certainly remember gluing pretzel sticks on paper for mine….
Mr. Lincoln’s Whiskers– Of all the books I’ve read about Abraham Lincoln, I LOVE this book about a little girl writing him a letter. Because of her letter our view of Abraham Lincoln is completely changed. I highly recommend getting it and reading it.
Young Abe Lincoln– I enjoyed this book because it gave a different view of Abraham Lincoln than we usually get, and I loved the tall tale feel to it.
If you’re wanting more American history posts, check out my American History Page (which is loading funky right now, stupid computer).
As you can no doubt tell this month’s Poppins’ Book Nook was all about Presidents. I’m still thinking through what I’m going to write for NEXT month’s Poppins’ Book Nook all about “Where in the World?” What book would you choose for next month?
You have quite a collection of presidential ideas! Will have to pin for next year! I almost flaked on President’s Day too until I realized we didn’t get mail! lol
When you read the posts you’ll hear me say in most of them “And _______ is one of my favorite presidents,” and I have to say though Lincoln has grown a bit tarnished as I’ve learned more about him, the more I learn of Washington the higher he grows in my esteem.
Pinning this to my president’s day activities board, which is probably the most specific board I have!
I had to laugh as I just created my 10th science board tonight. I seem to have nothing but specific boards…. And 10 million group boards, I need to go through and cut down on those because it’s more than I’m realistically keeping up with.
Love your graphics for this post – very pinnable. Smarty did so much at home for Presidents’ theme that we only read books at home and listened to the SOTW.
Thanks! I was debating on a good image for this post, and finally ran and grabbed some money, taking a picture of it. I’m sure you can see the puzzled look Jeff had on his face when I did that.
I love Mr Lincolns Whiskers! I saw the statue of Lincoln and the little girl once, it was gorgeous!
Thank you for helping to bring a spoonful of reading fun to the Poppins Book Nook this month!
Oh that would be fun to see the statue. I’m looking forward to next month with the traveling around the world, not quite sure what we’ll do with it.