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

The celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is important throughout Mexico and other parts of the world. Her feast day is Dec. 12, and the celebrations honoring her appearance to Juan Diego in 1531 begin a few days before that.

Whether you celebrate yourself or just want to share about the celebration at home or in your classroom, Las Mañanitas: The Beautiful Celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a good place to start. The book, by Ernesto Joel Vega Rosales and Jeanette Gonzalez Seneviratne, with illustrations by Dana Sanmar, tells the story of a family’s celebration of the feast day in both English and Spanish.

They prepare with a novena, which is nine days of prayers and preparations. The children, Lucia and Pablo, are given special outfits made by their grandmother that look like what Juan Diego might have worn when he saw Our Lady. The book describes the prayers that are made each day, such as a prayer for respect for life, for families and for the indigenous people of the Americas, to name a few.

As told in the book, Juan Diego was a native Mexican born near modern day Mexico City. His given name was Cuaauhtlatoatzin, which means “He who speaks like an eagle.” When he converted to Christianity his name was changed to Juan Diego, and as he walked to church he passed a hill called Tepeyac. One day he heard the birds singing especially beautifully and a voice called him to go to the top of the hill.

There he saw Our Lady of Guadalupe, who asked him to tell the bishop she wanted a chapel built in her name at the foot of the hill. The bishop asked for a sign that Juan Diego really saw her, and later she had him collect flowers that she blessed and take them to the bishop. When Juan Diego dropped the flowers, an image of Our Lady could be seen on his cloak, which is still on display in her basilica to this day.

The feast day is celebrated as mañanitas, which includes singing, indigenous music and dancing, and children presenting flowers to Our Lady. Juan Diego is remembered today as being humble, brave and faithful, and was the first indigenous American made a saint.

The book is colorful and tells the story in a clear way, and it’s fun to have it both in English and Spanish if you teach Spanish or speak Spanish at home or in the classroom. It’s a great way to learn the basics of the celebration and the story of Juan Diego and why he is still remembered today.

About the book: 40 pages, paperback, published 2024 by Loyola Press. Suggested retail price $14.99.

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