Celebrating Juneteenth with Kids

Juneteenth, also known as Liberation Day or Emancipation Day, is a holiday that’s been acknowledged more in the past few years. It happens on June 19th, and it marks the day in 1865 when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced that the enslaved people of Texas had been freed.

Juneteenth was a celebration in Texas through the 1800s and began to spread through the South, often as a community gathering centering on food, in the 1920s and ’30s. The day became a federal holiday in 2021, and it is recognized as a holiday in every state.

While it’s a heavy holiday because it deals with the history of slavery and those enslaved people in Texas has legally been freed in 1863, it is also a celebration and marked by some as a second Independence Day.

We Are Teachers has a nice collection of books and videos to read and watch with kids about Juneteenth, which is a good place to start.

The National Museum of African American History and Culture has a great PDF on teaching or talking about Juneteenth with kids, including a discussion on when kids are old enough to learn about slavery and why it’s important to talk about and celebrate Juneteenth today.

In the past I’ve collected some facts and worksheets about Juneteeth for kids to use, as well as some great printable games and more resources for learning about Juneteenth.

If your community has a celebration that’s another great way to help kids understand that Juneteenth is a celebration as well as a remembrance of a dark time in our nation’s history. Or if you want to focus on the food aspect, there are a lot of great ideas for Juneteenth menus, including this one from Divas Can Cook. Just make sure there’s something red on the table (like strawberry soda or red velvet cake) because red foods symbolize resilience and joy.

[Photo: National Museum of African American History and Culture.]

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Books for Black History Month and Beyond

I’m in deep denial about the fact that new year is almost upon us again! It’s been the fastest and the longest year at the same time, and I can look back and see some good things as well as some things I wish had gone differently.

Doing a year in review with your kids — whether in the classroom or at home — is a good way to capture some of their memories and the things they really liked about the year gone by.

There are a lot of different printable year in review worksheets you can use if you want to make this super easy. Here are links to a few (often part of larger posts about NYE celebrations with kids that are worth a read, too):

Teach Beside Me has lots of fun printables fro the end of the year, including a year in review that covers favorite memory, funniest memory and the best book they read, among other topics.
NurtureStore‘s version has space for a self-portrait and prompts like favorite toy, best day out this year and future dream job.
Remember favorites, their “best idea” of the year and have room for setting goals for next year with this one from The Keele Deal.
The year in review from Yes We Made This has room for drawing or writing and includes things like something they learned, a memory they made and a place they visited.

Of course you could pretty easily make your own year in review for the whole family to do that asks questions based on what you most want to remember. (Favorite video game? Best friend? Favorite family memory?)

And if after the year in review you’re ready to look ahead a bit, Mrs. Merry has new year’s resolution printables to inspired kids to look ahead and set goals for things they want to try. You can totally fill this one out as a grownup, too.

[Photo: Mrs. Merry]

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