• Home
  • Our Shop
  • About Us
    • About MKB
    • Our Shop
    • MKB Board
    • Editorial Board and MKB Administrators
    • Our Contributors
    • For Bloggers: Join MKB
    • Books and Products from Our Members
    • Cultural Resources
    • Contact Us
  • Product Promotion Services
  • Blog Hops & Series
    • Holidays Around the World
      • Martin Luther King Day
      • Chinese New Year
      • Purim
      • Passover
      • Easter Around the World
      • Ramadan
      • Hajj (Eid al Adha)
      • Rosh Hashanah
      • Day of the Dead
      • Diwali
      • Hanukkah
      • Christmas in Different Lands
    • Heritage Months
      • Black History Month
      • Women’s History Month
      • Asian-Pacific Islander Heritage Month
      • Middle Eastern and North African Heritage Month
      • Hispanic Heritage Month
      • Native American Heritage Month
    • Blogging Carnivals
    • Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop
    • Global Learning for Kids
  • Resources for Raising Global Citizens
  • Privacy Policy

Multicultural Kid Blogs

For families and educators raising world citizens, through arts, activities, crafts, food, language, and love.

5 Ways to Celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day with Kids

January 11, 2016 by Ruby Wright

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailby feather

5 ways to Celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day with Kids
Ever since the kids were small, they’ve heard us discuss Martin Luther King, Jr. We celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day because it is very special to us. We believe in equality, and this historic activist’s message was always about inclusion and unity so it’s important for us to celebrate him. It’s also special because my husband shares a birthday with Martin Luther King Jr. – so it’s double the celebration in our home!

Sharing history that impacts our mixed-heritage family is very important to us.  We’ve made it a point to be open about the history the kids will discuss in school. It’s always been critical that they learn as much at home as they do at school about moments in history as they pertain to our heritage and traditions.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is truly a celebration for us because we get to celebrate the life of a man who did so much for equality. We are proud to celebrate this holiday and continue to remember what he did for our America. We share it with our kids through books, playtime, crafts, and trips. We try to make learning fun and always bring it down to their level of understanding.

Celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day with Kids

MLK Crafts

Make crafts that can help share a part of Martin Luther King Jr.’s story. You can celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day by making an “I have a dream” poster. First, our kids learned about the great speech he gave at the historic march in Washington, D.C. in 1963. We then made posters and discussed their dreams. My kids shared fun dreams they had, such as wanting to be a doctor, going to NYC, and even seeing the Purple Star. The activity sparked the conversation and planted the seed to learn about this famous African American.

Felt Boards

My kids have always loved visual and hands-on stories, especially when they were preschoolers. So I created a Martin Luther King Jr. story felt board. I loved being able to tell Martin Luther King Jr.’s story through felt pieces that represented part of his story. I then sat back and let them tell me a story using the same board. I asked questions and it was fun to hear their thoughts on how a story should be told.

Story Time

Every year, we purchase a new book that features this historic figure for our home library. Even though they’ve read them before, we go back and reread them. My son now understands a lot more. He can read the books on his own. He remembers things we’ve discussed.  Pick a book from this list of 14 Martin Luther King Jr. books and celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day by gifting one to your kid!

Experiences

A few years ago, we planned a trip to visit the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. It was an emotional trip for me because it made everything I had learned a reality. I was able to not only record our trip, but also experience it with my kids. They still remember the trip and it was one of the best things my husband and I could have done to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Black History with our family.

Family Discussions

Now that the kids are in school, we have more family discussions about what they learn. Our daughter seems to be the one most impacted by what she learns at school. Recently, she came home upset after a story they read at school. She knew the outcome but she was upset that kids like her weren’t allowed to go to the nice schools and that people were so mean. Even after all the discussions, crafts, stories, and trips we’ve taken she is slowly understanding and piecing everything together. We provide a safe space where we listen to her voice how she feels. It’s a way of us celebrating and keeping Martin Luther King Jr.’s story alive. He’s not often discussed and we refuse to forget the great efforts he made for equality and a better country.

Do you celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day? Let us know how!

5 ways to Celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day with Kids

This post is part of our series Martin Luther King Day for Kids, where we share resources for teaching children about the legacy of Dr. King.

Martin Luther King Day for Kids on Multicultural Kid Blogs

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailby feather
The following two tabs change content below.
  • Bio
  • Latest Posts
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Instagram profileMy Pinterest profileMy YouTube channel

Ruby Wright

When it comes to mixed heritage family life, Ruby Wright inspires families to celebrate culture and make new family traditions.  Her blog, GUBlife: GrowingUpBlackxican.com, is a diverse family blog focusing on topics about parenting, food, crafts, and travel as it relates to her mixed-heritage family. Ruby is a SoCal native who has since relocated to New Jersey, A proud wife to a U.S. Navy Veteran and a Mama of two.
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Instagram profileMy Pinterest profileMy YouTube channel

Latest posts by Ruby Wright (see all)

  • 5 Ways to Celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day with Kids - January 11, 2016

Filed Under: Black History, Family Activities, Parenting, Teaching Diversity Tagged With: Black History, Black History Month, Martin Luther King Jr., MLK, MLK Day

Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required

Comments

  1. Sonya Lewis says

    January 17, 2016 at 8:04 am

    Am always interested in your information and ideas that I can tweak for my middle school multicultural courses. Please give me some ‘help’ on how to “grab” your button. Thanks!

    • Leanna says

      January 18, 2016 at 3:14 am

      Wonderful! If you look in our sidebar, there is coding that you can copy to add it to your website. Thanks!

Follow Us!

Follow Us on FacebookFollow Us on Google+Follow Us on TwitterFollow Us on PinterestFollow Us on RSSFollow Us on Instagram

Anti-Bullying Resource FREE Download

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Grab Our Button!

grab button for Multicultural Kid Blogs
<div class="multicultural-kid-blogs-button" style="width: 200px; margin: 0 auto;"> <a href="https://multiculturalkidblogs.com/" rel="nofollow"> <img src="https://multiculturalkidblogs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/button-take-3.jpg" alt="Multicultural Kid Blogs" width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div>
Multicultural Children's Book Day Co-Host

Archives

Copyright © 2023 · Lifestyle Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT