Labor Day for Kids

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.]

A few years ago I shared some pumpkin themed sensory activities for kids, but I wanted to get a little more general and do some fall sensory ideas that can take you from Halloween al the way to Thanksgiving.

Playdough is a classic sensory activity, especially if kids can help make it, too. These playdough recipes from The Montessori Twin Mama are fall colored and scented with cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and apple pie spice (I honestly don’t know what the difference is!). Or try this fun maple playdough from Happy Toddler Playtime.

Throw together some cookie cutters, googly eyes and other fun things to make an easy fall playdough tray (similar to what I did on this Halloween playdough activity).

How about some fall themed slime? Natural Beach Living gave a basic slime recipe a fall twist with food coloring and glitter. Leaf shaped sequins make it even more fun. Little Bins for Little Hands also has a cinnamon slime, which is great for fall but can also carry you all the way through Christmas.

Raising Wild Things Sensory has some great easy to make fall themed sensory bottles, which you can add fall things to, or pompoms or whatever kind of I spy items you might want to include. They also have a fun apple moon sand sensory bin that has me wondering if you could add something scented to moon sand (I always hated the smell!).

And of course there are all kinds of sensory bins you can make for fall. I like this apple picking one from Happy Toddler Playtime that uses fake leaves and little apple toys. It has the added challenge of trying to pick the apples up through a mesh of branches — kind of like a low-tech game of Operation!

You can also do a short-lived sensory bin with real leaves, or use any kind of beans, brown rice, oats or lentils to make your base. Some more great ideas can be found at Fab Everyday. Their post includes some specific Halloween and Thanksgiving themed sensory bins, too.

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