Resources for Learning about Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr., day is coming up, and it’s a great time to learn about the civil rights leader and the civil rights movement in general. This isn’t easy stuff to talk to our kids about, but it is so important for them to grow up with empathy and understanding that we are not as different as some people would like to believe we are.

Check out some of our favorite educational reading books about Martin Luther King

If You Were a Kid During the Civil Rights Movement

The Story of Ruby Bridges

Real Stories – The March On Washington

10 True Tales: Young Civil Rights Heroes

And if you are looking for more printable lesson plans then check these out on Etsy

Playdough to Plato has a nice set of printable banners kids can write on about their dreams, how they can be kind, how King changed America and more. These are great little ways for kids to summarize what they have learned.

No Time for Flash Cards has another cute activity, where kids make a world, cut out handprints and share how they would like to change the world.

Curriculum and Crayons has a step-by-step guide to drawing Martin Luther King, Jr., while It’s About Time, Teachers, has a printable poem and a timeline of King’s life.

I love this foldable King Day activity from Teachers with Apptitude. It includes prompts for the kids to write about and pieces to color and put together.

Scholastic has a great collection of books on the civil rights movement for kids if you want to expand your King Day learning to talk about Ruby Bridges, Rosa Parks, sit-ins and bus boycotts. And Learning in Wonderland has collected a ton of great resources for learning about and celebrating King.

Education.com has a lot of great printables for King Day, including a crossword puzzle, coloring sheets, stories and activities. I love the collage and handprint art ideas.

And if you’re willing to spend a little you can find some great things at Teachers Pay Teachers, too, like this printable booklet for kindergarten and first grade, handprint book and writing prompts, and mini unit study and craft project.

How do you celebrate King Day in the classroom or with your kids at home? I’d love to hear about it!

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Martin Luther King Jr. Day Activities for Kids

There are so many fun things to do with fall leaves, which is a good thing because they are everywhere. We have more than a dozen trees in our yard so I would always try to do some leaf crafts when my daughter was younger. We made rubbings and preserved leaves and did a ton of jumping in leaf piles, but if you’re looking for more activities to do with leaves, read on.

If you have a lot of different kinds of trees in your yard, on the playground or at the park, you can make leaf mandalas like these from Red Ted Art. They’re inspired by Andy Goldsworthy, who makes temporary art with natural materials (learn more about him at the link).

Leaves are art all by themselves, but you can make them an even lovelier display by combining leaves with other natural materials in a collage. Or make a little natural weaving loom like this one from Woodlark to hold a bunch of leaves and other fall pretties in a way that can continuously be changed.

Another way to turn leaves into art is by using markers or pens to trace the veins on a leaf. This idea is from Go Science Kids, and it’s a simple thing that makes really pretty leaves to display while also giving you can chance to talk about why leaves have veins and what is happening when leaves change colors.

Kids Craft Room has a great idea for making leaf luminaries, which would be fun to decorate the table from now through Thanksgiving. The best thing about these is that you don’t have to use any glue, so it’s easy for kids to make (with some supervision since cutting is involved).

This one does use glue, but it’s so cute it’s probably worth the potential mess. Our Kid Things shows you how to make an adorable hedgehog with fall leaves using their printable template and a paper plate.

I also love this fall in a bottle project from The Crazy Outdoor Mama. It’s like a snow globe with leaves and has the added cuteness of a kid’s photo inside. This would be a fun one to make at school to give to parents or grandparents, and it’s so easy and cute!

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