Celebrate National Postage Stamp Day

June 24, 2023 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

Another American holiday that’s celebrated on July 1 is National Postage Stamp Day. It commemorates the issuance of the first U.S. postage stamp, the Two-Cent Blue, on July 1, 1847. The stamp was designed by James B. Longacre and featured a portrait of Benjamin Franklin.

The Two-Cent Blue is one of the most famous postage stamps, but it wasn’t the first. The first adhesive postage stamp, the Penny Black, was issued in the United Kingdom on May 1, 1840. The Penny Black was designed by Rowland Hill, a British schoolmaster who is credited with inventing the postage stamp. Hill’s idea was to create a system where mailers would prepay postage, rather than having the recipient pay for it upon delivery. This system made mail more affordable and efficient, and it quickly caught on around the world.

In the early days, postage stamps were made of paper and were not perforated. This made them difficult to use, as they had to be cut by hand. In 1854, the first perforated stamps were issued in Switzerland. Perforation made it much easier to use stamps, and it quickly became the standard.

If you want to celebrate National Postage Stamp Day (whether you live in the United States or not) you can:

visit your local post office, looks at and buy some stamps
write a letter or card and mail it
design your own stamp with a blank stamp coloring page (like this one from Eduprints)
color in stamp coloring pages — Mr. Nussbaum has a collection of the 50 states stamp coloring pages, which are just so cute!
start a postage stamp collection or check out the collection of the US Postal Museum
learn some stamp facts — for example, did you know the most expensive postage stamp ever sold was a British Guiana 1c Magenta, which sold for $9.5 million in 2014?
do some pretend play post office play — little kids love putting “stamps” on envelopes and writing “letters”

[Photo via Kenmore Stamp]

Next Plan Idea:

Learn about American Samoa for Kids

Have you read?

Hanukkah Unit Studies for Kids

Learning about Hanukkah is important for people of all faiths as a reminder that December isn’t just about Christmas and that their are many other important holidays that happen during this time. Hanukkah unit studies can give you ideas for incorporating the holiday into your holiday studies that happen in December, or to use at home for learning about people of different faiths.

Homeschool Superfreak has a lot of basic ideas for how to build a Hanukkah unit study, as well as FAQs about what Hanukkah is and why it is celebrated. This list is a good stargint point but doesn’t include all the details you’ll need. For example it says you can play the dreidel game but doesn’t explain how to do that or why it’s important. (If you need that information, this post from Mama Smiles is a good source.)

Teachers Pay Teachers has lots of great lesson plans and activities if you’re willing to pay a little bit to get some good content. Two I really like are this Hanukkah PowerPoint presentation from Shelia Melton, which provides a good overview of traditions, food and the history of Hanukkah; and a virtual field trip to Jerusalem from MagiCore, which includes lots of videos showing the city and activities like playing dreidel, drawing a menorah and making latkes. It’s a Google Drive folder and also includes writing activities and more for kids in second to fifth grade.

Kids Activities Blog has some simple printables with facts about Hanukkah and things kids can color in like a Star of David, sufganiyots (jelly doughnuts) and a menorah. These are great for learning the basics.

Homeschool Giveaways has a printable ebook about Hanukkah complete with questions kids can answer after they read. This would be a good one for older kids with good reading comprehension.

NurtureStore’s Hanukkah unit study includes a printable mini book, tons of crafts, as well as math and writing activities. I love the dominoes game that’s part of the unit.

And check out our previous posts for more Hanukkah crafts and learning activities!

Next Plan Idea:

Have you read?

Leave a Reply