Let's Learn About Presidents' Day - A Quiet Simple Life with Sallie Borrink

Presidents’ Day is a wonderful American holiday celebrating two of our great presidents. I want to help you get a jump on your planning so I’ve gathered up an extensive group of activities and resources that focus on the two American presidents we’re celebrating – George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. In fact, the combination of materials in this post is enough to put together a comprehensive Presidents’ Day unit study. There is a lot here as you will see as you keep reading!

This collection of Presidents’ Day resources has a special emphasis on activities that engage children who need more than only paper and pencil activities. You will find some more traditional learning activities here, but my focus is on highly-engaging learning for active kids who learn differently. I hope you enjoy your learning with your children.

Table of Contents

U. S. Presidents Themed Printables and Activities

U. S. Presidents Fun Fact Cards

If you and your children want to learn about many of the presidents this month, check out my U.S. Presidents Fun Fact Cards. This is a collection of fascinating facts that you won’t find anywhere else. I guarantee you will learn some fun things along with your children while using these. If you do a morning time with your children, these can easily be added to your basket.

U.S. Presidents Copywork

Your children can also enjoy practicing their handwriting with the fun facts in copywork form in the U.S. Presidents Copywork.

Presidents’ Day Writing and Notebooking Pages

Do some creative writing for Presidents’ Day! This Presidents’ Day Writing Pages includes both standard and primary lines in each design.

Learning With Themes

If learning with themes is new to you, see my post on How to Create a Unit Study which includes a video I made to walk you through how to use the different ideas in the Learning with Themes Activity Pack. The pack contains 41 pages of unit study printables and worksheets that can be used with almost any learning theme.

All of the single page printables below are included as well as many others. I show a number of ways to use the pack with the topic of Presidents’ Day, but there are many more in the pack you could use as well.

Presidents’ Day Planning

Print off the Theme Planner page in the pack. You can use it to begin making your plans as you read through the suggestions in this post.

Presidents’ Day KWL

Start your theme off with a KWL. KWL stands for:

Know
Want to know
Learned

Your child lets you know what she already knows about the topic, what she wants to know, and (at the end) what she has learned. KWLs are a great way to document your child’s learning, especially if you use a more relaxed approach to homeschooling. This gives some structure to your learning without being a slave to a curriculum. I talk about using KWLs in the video I mentioned above.

Depending on the age of your child, you may want to record her answers on this sheet yourself rather than asking her to do it. The important thing is the content of what she’s saying, not whether or not she can write it down. If your learner prefers something with a bit more color, there is a Presidents’ Day KWL is available in my shop.

Presidents’ Day Picture Books

Here are a few books for children specifically about Presidents’ Day. You can see more book suggestions in my Amazon Presidents’ Day shop section.

Your child can use this page in the pack to keep track of her favorite facts related to Presidents’ Day. Young children or children who struggle with writing can draw pictures in each shape to represent the facts.

Spelling and Vocabulary Words

Choose several spelling words that are appropriate for your child’s ability. If you don’t do formal spelling, you can use this list for vocabulary discussion.

Abraham Lincoln
George Washington
inauguration
slavery
president
American Revolution
Civil War
Delaware River
Mount Vernon
Ford’s Theater
Martha Washington
Mary Todd Lincoln
Illinois
Virginia
senator

Presidents’ Day Word Search Puzzle

Use the words in the list above to create a word search. You can make it for your child or your child can make it for you!

Presidents’ Day Geography

Use the United States map to mark important places in the life of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln as you learn about them.

Presidents’ Day Lapbook

This Presidents’ Day Lapbook is a great way to learn about the holiday as well as George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. It is especially designed to work well with reluctant writers or children who struggle with writing so it is focused more on content than writing. This is an easy to assemble lapbook and it looks great when it is done.

The Presidents Day Lapbook is available here.

Presidents’ Day Recipes

Cooking is a great way to add math and science to your learning. Explore some of the favorite foods of President Washington and President Lincoln. Here are some your child can make and try!

George Washington’s Favorite Foods

Abraham Lincoln’s Favorite Foods

Write a Biography

Write a short biography about Washington or Lincoln using this page from the pack. Illustrate with a drawing or print a picture from online to glue in the oval.

Creative Ideas for Presidents’ Day

Design a postage stamp to celebrate either Washington, Lincoln, or both using the printable in the pack.

Using the videos in this post as a guide (below), create a diorama of one of their homes.

Create a travel brochure for Mount Vernon or Lincoln’s Illinois home.

Pretend you could interview either Washington or Lincoln. Who would you choose? Write down 3-5 questions you would ask him. Then write a newspaper article with what you think their answers would be using this page in the pack.

Write a timeline of the most important events in Washington’s life or Lincoln’s life.

Write a letter to Washington or Lincoln at a specific time in their life about something important.

If you have a creative child, then role playing can be one of the most effective ways to learn. Check out the fantastic children’s costumes for George Washington, Martha Washington, Abraham Lincoln, colonial girls, Civil War soldiers, Civil War nurses, southern belles, and other relevant people during these historical periods.

Word searches, coloring pages, and other pencil activities are all great ways for children to learn! See lots of them in my Presidents’ Day Amazon Shop.

How many Presidents’ Day words can you come up with? Keep a list as you are studying or use this List It printable from the pack as a final activity to review everything you’ve learned.

George Washington and Abraham Lincoln

The next section of this post focuses more specifically on George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. There are many fun videos, books, and activities below. We’ll start with George Washington and then look at Abraham Lincoln.

As you are learning about these important presidents, have your child look for ways they are similar and different. You can add those facts to the Venn Diagram.

George Washington

Mini Biography

Here is a short biography about Washington.

Mount Vernon Online Tour

The official Mount Vernon website has many wonderful resources for those of us who don’t live close enough to see the estate in person. It includes videos, pictures, and educational materials.

Picture Books about George Washington

Learn more about George Washington from his boyhood through his presidency with these picture books. There are many more recommendations and ideas in my Presidents’ Day Amazon shop.

George Washington and the American Revolution

Learn more about Washington and the American Revolution.

Abraham Lincoln

Mini Biography

This is a mini biography about Lincoln.

Abraham Lincoln Picture Books

Read all about this remarkable man in a variety of picture books.

Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War

A few books to explore both Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War. See my Presidents’ Day Amazon shop for more book ideas.

Virtual Tour of Abraham Lincoln’s Illinois Home

See Lincoln’s home with this virtual tour.

What Was in Lincoln’s Pockets?

See the contents of President Lincoln’s pockets in this short video filmed at the Library of Congress.

Ford’s Theater Museum

Take an online tour and see the highlights of the museum at Ford’s Theater.

Abraham Lincoln in The Library of Congress

The Library of Congress has an online collection of materials about Abraham Lincoln that you can peruse with your children. There is lots there to provoke discussions about all aspects of Lincoln’s life.