Labor Day Activities for Kids

Labor Day in the United States is generally just thought of as the last big summer holiday before we dive into back to school activities (though plenty of kids are back to school already) but there’s an important meaning behind the holiday that’s especially important this year with lots of labor unions striking or threatening to strike.

Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United States.

The holiday originated in the late 19th century as a way to commemorate the contributions of workers to the American economy. It was first celebrated in New York City in 1882. By 1894, 23 more states had adopted the holiday, and on June 28, 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed a law making the first Monday in September of each year a national holiday recognized as Labor Day.

If you want some Labor Day printables and activities for the classroom, check out the Labor Day page at TeacherVision. It includes collections of activities about various jobs, information about child labor, a word search and other activities.

At home or in the classroom you can talk about future careers the kids might like to have and have them write, draw or collage about their chosen job. Or come up with a list of jobs and have kids learn more about them. Bonus points for careers that have union representation such as actors, factory workers and teachers. They can also draw different careers like on the Labor Day cube shown above, which is an activity from Crayola.

Older kids can learn about key moments in labor history and make a timeline like these from We Are Teachers (a detailed timeline can be found at Libcom, or you can search for local labor movements or those related to a particular industry). Or have kids research an important labor leader such as Cezar Chavez, Mother Jones or Frances Perkins (check out the list at the AFL-CIO website for more).

[Photo: Crayola]

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Celebrating Arab American Heritage Month

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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