Coming off a recent election, President's Day can be a fun day to celebrate in the preschool classroom. Kids should be exposed to the government and responsibilities of the government. Here are a few activities to make the day exciting for preschoolers.
Art
You can use your July 4th activities as well when looking for national art projects. One exciting project I have found is making coin rubbings. Tape coins down to the table. Place typing paper on top and have the kids rub to make rubbings. Talk about who Abraham Lincoln is and who George Washington is during the project. A second project is to make Abe Lincoln hats out of black construction paper and sentence strips. The kids love marching around pretending to be a president.
Make a cherry blossom tree. Pop some popcorn and have the kids sprinkle cherry Kool-aid on top. Stir as a class. Then have the kids glue the "cherry blossoms" to a tree coloring sheet. Another suggestion is to just use red dotters or fingerprints.
A messy project along this same lines is to have the kids paint their arm brown and their hands and fingers green for the top of the tree. After it dries, use red finger paint to make cherries.
Story time
Print out pictures of the White House and the current president. Print out pictures of Lincoln and Washington as well. You will be surprised at how much the kids can remember. My own daughter knew the address at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. at the age of two. They are also great at remembering the number of the presidents. A great book to share is Presidents' Day by Anne Rockwell. The book tells about the four famous faces on Mt. Rushmore. Make your own Mt. Rushmore by taping a giant piece of butcher paper to the wall. Outline your kids and let them decorate. You can call it or title is Ms blank's Mt. Preschool class, etc. Be creative! Also Don't forget the Pledge during this week.
Music
Patriotic songs are always a hit during this unit. The kids love to sing Yankee Doodle. A song the kids will love that is sung to that tune is:
Original Author Unknown
I Love the name of Abraham
We see him on our money
His picture's on the $5.00 bill
And also on our penny.
Honest Abe is what he's called
Honest, kind and true.
He was our 16th President
He loved both me and you, sir.
Sensory table
Have the kids clean coins with mild soap and toothbrushes or any other applicable materials.
Math
Have the kids sort money. Kids love money and as rewards, give out pennies.
These are just a few suggestions. Be sure to leave any other suggestions in the comment section below.
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