Kids Activities for Presidents’ Day

February 13, 2017 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

Presidents’ Day is a strange holiday. Doesn’t it seem like every president should get their own special day, just for having gotten to be president?

Presidents’ Day corresponds basically to Washington’s birthday (though Lincoln’s birthday is in February, too), and is a day we commemorate, remember and learn about our presidents.

There are lots of different learning activities for Presidents’ Day. You can find books about at least some of the presidents for any grade level, or for little kids read books like Duck for President to talk about the fact that we have presidents who we vote for.

Older kids can research and learn about specific presidents, or try out some of these fun activities collected from around the web.

Free Presidents’ Day printable activity pack — Amy Lemons/Teachers Pay Teachers — craft ideas, tables and letter/word activities

Presidents’ Day learning center binder — Cortney Johnson/Teachers Pay Teachers — free printable activities including a coin toss game, drawing monuments and president flash cards (not updated for this year, but still really great)

Presidents’ Day activities — Education World — has a good timeline of the evolution of the holiday, as well as activity suggestions for all grades

Montessori-inspired Presidents’ Day activities — Living Montessori Now — spell Washington, count the numbers of the presidents, timelines and more all made with free printables

Presidents’ Day Homeschool — Simple Little Home — a variety of activities for little kids

Make your own coin design — MPM Ideas

Polishing coins — Teach Mama

If I were president writing printable — Ginger Snap Treats for Teachers — there are lots of these out there if you prefer one with more space, without lines, etc.

Log cabin craft — Toddling in the Fast Lane — made with cardboard rolls

Lincoln’s hat craft — Deceptively Educational

Presidents’ Day crafts — DLTK Kids — some general presidental stuff and specific crafts for Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Trump

Presidents’ Day word search — Newspapers in Education

Presidents’ Day memory game — Primary Inspiration

Do you do anything special to learn about Presidents’ Day or specific presidents? I’d love to hear about it.

Have you read?

Books About Bugs Through the Seasons

Growing Up Ladybug and How to Become a Butterfly are both by Stepanka Sekaninova and illustrated by Linh Dao, and they came out at the same time and are on similar themes, so let’s look at them together.

Growing Up Ladybug is narrated by Mariella, a seven-spot ladybug. She talks about the parts of a ladybug, where they live, different kinds of ladybugs, why humans love them, their defenses against predators and the life cycle of a ladybug.

The drawings are cute if not always scientifically accurate, it’s not in such a way that’s likely to confuse kids (who probably already know that ladybug mamas don’t push their larval babies around in strollers, for instance.

It’s a good general description of the life cycle of a lady bug and why we like having them around.

About the book: 32 pages, hardcover. Published 2026 by Albatross Media. Suggested retail price $16.95.

Similarly, How to Become a Butterfly covers the life cycle of a butterfly, starting with caterpillars eating burning nettle leaves. (Here Amanda is the narrator.) The book talks about a few of the more than 18,000 daytime butterflies in the world as well as other creatures that live in the meadow (there’s that ladybug again, along with crickets, bees and other bugs).

It also covers some of the enemies of caterpillars like wasps and spiders, and the defenses that caterpillars use to try to prevent being eaten. It illustrates how caterpillars grow and change as they molt and prepare to pupate, and what a caterpillar looks like before and while it is forming its chrysalis. And while the book uses the word metamorphasis it doesn’t really talk about what happens between the caterpillar forming a chrysalis and the butterfly hatching.

This butterfly is a peacock butterfly, and once it hatches the book covers the parts of a butterfly and the life cycle. It also talks about nocturnal moths (though it says nocturnal butterflies are “usually called moths” when moths are actually a different species) and what butterflies do at night.

I’m maybe a little hard on this book because my daughter is a butterfly expert from way back, but it is still cute and good for the very basic basics of the butterfly life cycle.

Both books would be fun additions to your bookshelf for younger kids starting to learn about different animals or who have an interest in insects.

About the book: 32 pages, hardcover. Published 2026 by Albatross Media. Suggested retail price $16.95.

Have you read?

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