Presidents’ Day is fast approaching, and it is one I kind of dreaded when I first started teaching. I knew all the other classrooms would be putting out their George Washington silhouettes and wearing their Abraham Lincoln top hats. I also knew I wanted my kiddos to learn about these important people, but there just weren’t any appropriate activities for Presidents’ Day for them to use. So, of course, like most special education teachers, I made my own.
And I want to share some of them with you for free at the end of this post!!
It takes more than a day
So the first thing I realized was that I needed MUCH more time to teach this topic than most regular classrooms around me. That was fine. If nothing else, we had time. So I typically devoted 2 full weeks to focusing on activities for Presidents’ Day. In a nutshell, here is what I did:
- Week 1: George Washington and Abraham Lincoln
- Week 2: Other past presidents (briefly), our current president, and the general powers of the President
Week 1: George Washington
Who doesn’t love a good story about a hero who tries to save the country? I found George Washington an easy person to teach about. However, I did not stray into the more controversial areas of his life (like owning slaves). Because I taught K-5th grade, I was not ready to go there, but I might have if I had older students. Some activities we did for Presidents’ Day this first week were: read a book I had written, review some fact sheets, and create a circle map. These activities seemed to work really well, and the kids could make some nice connections to the Revolutionary War unit (click HERE) I had previously taught.
Week 1: Abraham Lincoln
Next, we talked about Abraham Lincoln, our 16th President, and a champion of abolishing slavery. Since we were in mid-February, we had been talking about Black History Month, and this fit in perfectly. I also taught the Civil War unit (click HERE) earlier in the year, so we could circle back to those main concepts. I love recycling my old materials. It is a great way to check for retention and connections to new material. Some activities for Presidents’ Day focused on Abraham Lincoln included reading a book, reviewing a fact sheet, and creating a circle map. Now I could also introduce a Venn Diagram comparing and contrasting Washington and Lincoln. Color coding was, of course, added, and voila, they could successfully see how these two presidents were so alike.
We also ended the week with a fun activity for Presidents’ Day. We made a log cabin replica using supplies I had in the classroom and at home.
Week 2: Activities for Presidents’ Day focused on other Presidents
I felt it was important for students to at least “meet” some other past presidents, especially those we had discussed in other social studies units. For this purpose, I wrote a quick book and actually made a file folder matching activity. (I know I don’t have many file folder activities in my store, but I used them ALL THE TIME in the classroom.)
We also looked at who our current president is and what powers the president generally has. We had already done the Branches of Government unit (click HERE), where we looked at the powers of each branch, so this was just meant as a review. Again, super cool to swing back around and revisit material we’ve done before, now presented in a new way.
Of course, I had to do an activity for Presidents’ Day that involved a writing prompt (they are my favorite!) This year, I also created some cool Sudoku puzzles to add even more variety and work more with some new vocabulary and faces. They are super fun, and I give you some great tips so EVERY student in your class can complete these puzzles.
A Free Download for YOU for Presidents’ Day!!
I tried to find an activity for Presidents’ Day that I thought EVERYONE could use. So I am making the Washington and Lincoln fact sheets and the cut-and-paste review sheets free to download here. I know you will be able to incorporate these into any lesson plans you have for Presidents’ Day. Hopefully, it will give you just a little more time to breathe and enjoy your students.
Check out my entire unit, filled with activities for Presidents’ Day. This unit for Presidents Day includes over 120 pages of printed materials, PLUS digital versions of almost all the activities, guaranteed to keep your kiddos engaged and learning for 2 weeks.
