Labor Day for Kids – Lesson Plans

Kids who are already back in school will be relishing an extra-long weekend with the Labor Day holiday, but most kids probably don’t know what the holiday is really about. (Fun fact: my daughter was born on Labor Day weekend so I always say it’s to celebrate a different kind of labor.)

But Labor Day is actually a serious holiday meant to honor the struggles of previous generations of workers who fought to gain more humane working hours and conditions, to prevent child labor and to provide for the safety and health of workers in ways its easy to take for granted now.

Depending on the age of your kids, you can slip in some facts about Labor Day like these from Kids Konnect (which also has printable worksheets), or watch some of the Labor Day videos from History Channel. Did you know Labor Day actually started in Canada?

What Do We Do All Day? has a great list of books to read for Labor Day, and you can bring all the patriotic, red, white and blue crafts back for one last go if you want to give the kids something to do while the barbecue is warming up.

Do you teach your kids about Labor Day? I’d love to hear your ideas.

[Photo: from History of Labor Day video at History.com.]

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Labor Day Activities for Kids

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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