PRESIDENT’S DAY ACTIVITIES

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As long as I can remember, February has always been one of my favorite months to homeschool.

For one thing, living in WI, the weather is cold and dreary, so we are trapped inside most of the time.  Secondly, February has some fun holidays, starting with Groundhog’s Day, to Valentine’s Day, to President’s Day and President Birthdays.  I’ve always loved delving into different projects and activities at this time of year with my children. Today I am going to share some of my favorite President’s Day activities that we’ve done.

We have this president placemat that I found one year and at the beginning of every February, I have the kids pick a president that they would like to work on researching.  We head to the library and they check out some books on that particular president. The challenge is that they cannot choose a president they’ve chosen in a prior year or one that one of their siblings is choosing for this year.  As the kids got older this has proven more and more difficult to do, but we’ve always managed. I let the oldest choose first and then go down the line. This has started when they were about 3 years old or so. Over the years, I think we’ve about covered all the presidents.  As a mom, it’s really interesting when a child chooses a president that a sibling chose a prior year. The facts that they find intriguing are usually different than what their sibling chose, which just confirms how different each individual child is.

I cannot even name all the weird, random facts I’ve learned along the way.

To present these “reports” each year, we’ve done a variety of different things.  

The first year, a friend had put together a President Day Presentation Day at her church.  This was so much fun. Each child made a display on a tri-fold board and set them up on tables around the perimeter of the room.  The children all sat in the middle and we went around the room and each child would stand by their board and read their report or give a short speech about their president and would then answer questions.  I think this was what gave me the idea to make this month focus so strongly on presidents.

Some other ways we’ve given these infamous “reports”:

Each child made a treat to share that they felt represented their president.  While they talked, they handed out their food for their siblings to taste. I well remember cherry pie this year.

One year we had a big party at our house and invited friends and family.  The kids each made a collage of items that represented their president and shared the info with those present.

One year they each wrote 5 different types of poems revolving around their president.  I have a little obsession with poetry!

To read more about my poetry obsession, check out this post:
https://learningisawayoflife.com/poetry-with-children/

One year each child made up a craft that reflected their president and gave their reports while we worked on the projects and explained how this reflected their president.  I definitely remember Lincoln Logs being used here.

One year they each wrote a historical fiction story revolving around their president.

One year we had a huge formal dinner.  Each child prepared a dish somehow related to their president to be served.  We invited family over and all put on our fancy clothes.

One year, we had our own wax museum. We invited some other homeschoolers to participate too.  This was one of the most memorable events that we’ve ever done.

One year they each made a family tree of their president.

One year, each child wrote a State Of The Union address that they believed their president could have spoken.  They researched quite a bit for this to make sure it was historically accurate.

Each year I required the kids to have a written report of their president.  They each have a “President Portfolio” that they keep these in and they are so much fun to look back on and read through.  Each year includes pictures of whatever activity we did that year.

Over the years, we’ve visited many president’s birthplaces, as well as historical monuments.  This has become a family tradition that I cherish.

Enjoying all of these activities always serves to remind me of the reasons I chose to homeschool.  Making each day special is what parenting is all about. I love making special days and traditions with my children and I hope you do too!

I’d love to hear some ideas you have for President’s Day activities(I’m running out and my youngest is 11, so I still have quite a few years left to do these).