Columbus Day Activities for Kids

Columbus Day may be falling out of favor as a holiday these days (even in the few years my daughter has been in school, she’s gone from having the day off to having a different day off this month and calling it “fall break” instead) but it does provide us with an opportunity to talk about exploration and to look at how Columbus’ journeys to the so-called New World changed the world in ways good and bad.

Of course what you tell your kids about Columbus will depend greatly on their age. Time has a good rundown of how to talk to kids about America before Columbus depending on the age of the kids. Modern Mami has a take on how to talk about Columbus with kids, from the perspective of a Caribbean family. And Indian Country Media Network has links to lots of great resources for teaching about Columbus and the indigenous people of the Americas.

Columbus Day also gives us a chance to work with boats and maps with kids of all ages. Here are some fun activities you might want to check out:

Engineer a Boat that Floats — Planet Smarty Pants

Columbus Day Coloring Sheets and Writing Prompts — 123 Homeschool 4 Me

Paper Boats for Kids to Make — Kids Activities Blog

Columbus Day Learning Unit — Lasting Thumbprints

Christopher Columbus Mini Pack — 3 Dinosaurs

Christopher Columbus Activities for Kids — Happy Brown House

Christopher Columbus Unit — Royal Baloo

Map Skills for Elementary Students — National Geographic

[Photo by Eric Fischer via Flickr.]

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Activities and Ideas for the 100th Day of School

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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