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MLK Jr. Crafts Kids Love & Will Start the Conversation about Race

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Below are my favorite Martin Luther King Jr. crafts, activities and ideas for celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day with Kids. Be sure to check out my Martin Luther King Jr. Day for Kids Pinterest board for more favorites. All images are sourced from the original linked up post. Please click through to the websites for all the details!

martin luther king jr. crafts

I found these Martin Luther King Jr. Crafts for Kids and had to share them with you all!
We have a few activities in the works on our end that I will be sure to share with you soon.

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Martin Luther King Jr. Crafts Kids Love

fingerpaintdove
Fingerprint Dove

This craft from Kristen at Busy Kids = Happy Mom is beautiful on so many levels. I love the colors, the dove, and the collaborative approach.

teachpreschool
Learning about Martin Luther King Jr. in Preschool

Deborah at Teach Preschool gives us an easy and awesome hands on craft for kids to truly begin to think about these bigger topics.

teaching-diversity
What is Diversity?

Mari from Inspired by Family Magazine rocked this big topic! What child does not love cracking eggs AND the element of surprise! Plus, the lesson sticks with children.

peacesigninnerchildfunmlk
Crafts for Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Valerie at Inner Child Fun offers simple and beautiful activities. I adore this Peace Symbol plate. Easy to put together and lots of room for creativity!

artistshelpingchildrenmlk
Artists Helping Children offers wonderful multicultural activities to celebrate MLK Jr. Day with kids.

babblemlkMommyfriend at Babble offers helpful advice to parents who want to teach kids about MLK Jr.

freekidscrafts_martin_luther_kin_handprint_craft
Free Kids Crafts presents a beautiful MLK Jr. hand print poem craft for kids

activityvillageukmulticolored_handprint_wreath
This hand print wreath is a lovely MLK Jr. kids craft

variquestmlkjractivities

I love this MLK Jr. reading activity from Julia at Variquest

notimeforflashcards_Multicultural-paper-dolls

Allie at No Time for Flashcards presents an easy yet powerful MLK Jr. Kids Multicultural Craft

MusicMLKSongs

Daria from Daria Music shares children's songs for Martin Luther King Jr. Day

go_kid_yourself_Explaining-to-Yolanda

I saved this lovely post from Go Kid Yourself for last: MLK Jr. & his Children

Thank you for visiting us today. Please leave a comment with your favorite MLK Jr. idea for Kids. I love hearing from you.

Marnie

Resources for Teaching Kids Diversity


Easy Rocket Craft – Perfect Space Themed Project for Preschoolers

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As I journey down our homeschool path, I have a few homeschool “bibles” from which I source activities and ideas for preschool learning. For example, one of these books is Rachelle Doorley's Tinkerlab: A Hands-On Guide for Little Inventors. This book is accessible, beautiful, and filled with easy crafts (like the rocket ship craft in this post) for preschoolers.

In other words, I simply enjoy the process of looking at its pages because I feel inspired by the words and images. I am excited to show you one of the many projects in this book – the straw rocket craft, simple and packs a punch with kids. If you have ever wondered how to make a rocket with kids, this easy craft is the perfect starting point.

Easy Rocket Craft for Preschoolers

“There is the happiness which comes from creative effort. The joy of dreaming, creating, building, whether in painting a picture, writing an epic, singing a song, composing a symphony, devising new invention, creating a vast industry.”  ~ Henry Miller  

Doorley presents simple yet powerful ideas to help us parents and teachers guide our children's innate desire to learn, to do, to build, to wonder, to create, and to imagine by presenting an arsenal of hands-on learning activities. Children develop problem-solving, logic, and critical thinking skills by doing rather than imitating. She does this by introducing easy crafts and activities for preschoolers, like the rocket craft presented in this post.  This science craft is the perfect addition to a spaced themed unit of learning.

Straw Rocket Tinkerlab

Doorley provides easy to read and to digest philosophy and research behind the ideas presented in Tinkerlab: A Hands-On Guide for Little Inventors. She also provides tangible words of wisdom to adults in how to make these activities happen in our home and classrooms. You will be hearing a lot more about this book as we explore and progress through it.

Easy Rocket Ship Craft for Preschoolers

Materials

  • 1 piece of construction paper (or 2 if you want different colors)
  • Scissors
  • Straw
  • Tape

Rocket Straw Materials

How to Make a Rocket for Kids

  • Cut paper in half
  • Roll one half into your rocket's body
  • Tape so the body stays wrapped up

How to Make a Rocket with Kids - Easy Rocket Craft

  • Cut a circle about 1.5 inches in diameter from the other piece of paper
  • Then, cut a slit to the center (or origin of the circle
  • Roll from slit to create a cone from the circle
  • Tape paper to maintain a cone
  • Finally, place nose on the end of the rocket's body. Secure with tape.

Rocket Craft Preschool

  • Blow a puff of air through the straw. Watch your child's face light up with joy.
  • Repeat.

Rocket Ship Craft for Preschoolers

Related Read: Send a Hug Craft

11 Easy Extensions for this Easy Craft

  • The child can decorate her rocket. So, add decorating materials (e.g. glitter, glue, markers, stickers, etc) to your materials list for added rocket detail.
  • Incorporate your rocket into imaginary play and storytelling
  • Try a shorter (or longer or fatter or skinnier) straw and see what happens
  • Use shorter (or longer or fatter or skinnier) body and see what happens
  • Create different size cones for the nose. Observe what changes when you blow through the straw.
  • Ask about shapes (e.g. cone, circle, cylinder)
  • Discuss rocket launches
  • Inquire how the speed at which the rocket launches might change (blow slowly, blow quickly, short breath, long breath, etc)
  • Remove the nose and ask why the rocket doesn't launch
  • Then try blowing up instead of blowing out. How does this change the launch pattern of the rocket?
  • Take the space learning a bit further and discuss gravity

This project is one of over 50 in Rachelle's book, Tinkerlab: A Hands-On Guide for Little Inventors. She has a great Tinkerlab blog, too. I can't recommend her work enough to you all! You won't regret a minute spent!

Related Activity: Super Fun & Easy Solar Eclipse Activities for Kids

More Straw Rocket Projects for Kids

If your child wants more straw rockets, check out these tutorials. Have fun!

Make a Slingshot Straw Rocket

How to Make Simple Straw Rockets

How to Make a Rocket from Paper & a Straw

I hope we inspired you today!
Marnie

Make a Marbled Art Paper Print of the American Flag

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One of my favorite parts of my Montessori training was the art portion. Not only did I learn a ton of process art activities for preschoolers, but I also got to do the activities! How lucky am I?  Recently, we created an American Flag with marbled paper. 

Marbled paper is known for a vibrant design as a result. So, creating an American Flag certainly required a bit of constraint. Once we created our flag, however, we made more marbled paper with gorgeous, creative designs.

Kids absolutely love this art activity. The result is beautiful (albeit the process is a bit messy and that is ok!).  A super fun addition to a 4th of July, Memorial Day, or Veteran's Day themed unit.

Make a Marbled Paper Art Print of the American Flag

Make a Marbled Paper Art Print of the American Flag

Marble Paper American Flag Materials

Art Materials Used

How to Make Marbled Paper

Steps to Take to Make Marbled Paper

  • Cut your cardstock to a size you'd like 
  • Cover the tray (mostly) with the shaving foam 
  • Add your American flag color design using a squirt bottle or dropper
  • Use a brush to smooth out foam and colors
  • Add stars to your flag (although it would be nice to be completely strict about placement and number of stars, I advise you to let it go, especially when working with kids!)
  • Press the paper flat onto the foam
  • Lift and allow time to dry
  • Admire your creation & consider extensions to this activity

Easy Marbled Paper - Art Activity for Kids

Marbled Paper Extension Ideas

  • Make a Fourth of July night scene. Use black construction paper as the background and paper hole punch stars from your marbled paper
  • Create a string of stars using the marbled paper and hang it in your classroom or playroom
  • Design greeting cards & sell at a school function to raise funds
  • Make bookmarks as gifts for family, friends, & teachers


Before I go, I'd like to say one thing – this art activity will not produce an exact replica of the American flag. Give kids a poetic license. Allow them to be creative with the concept, which lays the foundation for the activity. 

The Ultimate List of Baking Soda & Vinegar Experiments

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This post delivers the ultimate amazing list of baking soda and vinegar experiments for kids. We're talking baking soda and vinegar with balloons, rocket boosting baking soda and vinegar, color changing experiments, and so much more! Are you ready to dig into these ROCK star baking soda and vinegar experiments? Yeah, me, too…

The Ultimate List of Baking Soda and Vinegar Experiments

The Science Behind Baking Soda & Vinegar

Baking Soda and vinegar react chemically we know that much simply by observing the experiments. We can see the chemical reaction. What it is about the two ingredients that react in such phenomenally cool ways?

The science is that baking soda and vinegar react with each other because of an acid-base reaction. Baking soda is a bicarbonate (NaHCO3) and vinegar is an acetic acid (HCH3COO). One of the products this reaction creates is carbon dioxide, which makes the bubbles.

Baking Soda and Vinegar Experiments for Kids

Baking Soda and Vinegar Experiment with Food Coloring

Fizzing Colors from Happy Hooligans is not only fun science learning but it is also great fine motor skills work. This baking soda and vinegar experiment with food coloring adds a bit of pizazz to a child's day. 

Baking Soda and Vinegar Experiment with Hidden Colors

Busy Toddler adds a bit of a twist on the dropper food color experiment by Happy Hooligans. She presents the baking soda and vinegar activity with hidden colors. By adding this element of surprise, this activity has kids at ‘hello'.

Baking Soda and Vinegar Experiment - Exploding Baggies

My sons LOVED this baking soda & vinegar experiment. Chelsey from Buddy & Buddy nails this one with her exploding baggies. 

Along the same lines, Sarah from Frugal Fun for Boys & Girls created a rocket baking soda & vinegar experiment for her kids. Totally out of this world!

Katie from Preschool Inspirations tops the cake with her color changing baking soda & vinegar experiment. 

Baking Soda Vinegar Science Experiment with Balloons - Earth Day Science

A few years ago we explore chemistry with a baking soda and vinegar experiment with balloons. To celebrate Earth Day we use an earth balloon and really made the scientific point about expanding air. 

Maria Montessori & Science 

What is a scientist?… We give the name scientist to the type of man who has felt experiment to be a means guiding him to search out the deep truth of life, to lift a veil from its fascinating secrets, and who, in this pursuit, has felt arising within him a love for the mysteries of nature, so passionate as to annihilate the thought of himself.  ~ Dr. Montessori

More Easy Science Experiments for Kids with Baking Soda & Vinegar

Baking Soda and Vinegar Experiment with Ice

Kim from Life Over Cs does a fizzy baking soda and vinegar experiment with ice!

Baking Soda and Vinegar Experiment - Melting Rainbow

Darcy at Darcy and Brian creates a Melting Rainbow Baking Soda and Vinegar experiment.

Baking Soda and Vinegar Experiment - Making Hot Ice

I quickly added this baking soda and vinegar activity to our list. Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls made hot ice from a few items you likely have in your home at this current moment. 

Baking Soda and Vinegar Experiment - Volcano

Life Over Cs presents us with a playdough volcano baking soda & vinegar experiment. 

Baking Soda and Vinegar Experiments - Art

The Pinterested Parent takes her baking soda and vinegar experiment a step further by creating art from the volcano eruptions!

Baking Soda and Vinegar Experiments - Electric Eels

Bitz and Giggles created electric eels twist on the baking soda and vinegar experiment!

What's Next After All this Baking Soda & Vinegar Experimental Learning?

Try to add other substances such as carbonated water, hydrogen peroxide, or dish soap. Observe how the eruption changes. 

Montessori Toys: A Gift Guide for Elementary

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As you know from my Montessori Stocking Stuffers for Early Childhood post published recently, I love stockings! So, I'll say it again with this post – created by popular demand – Montessori Gift Ideas for Elementary. You ask, I deliver. I know, I know. The holidays are about the warmth that comes with family and friends.

I live it.

I love it.

Here is to giving gifts with meaning, with love, and with learning.  So, with that idea in mind, here are my favorites Montessori Gift Ideas for Elementary age children for you to check out. Let me know your favorite Montessori Gift Ideas for Kids! By the way, you have to check out this awesome list of holiday ideas that I curated from Pinterest!

Montessori Gifts for Elementary

Montessori Gift Ideas for Elementary

What's Inside Animals?

These x-ray cards are perfect for botany and zoology learning but you know what else? These x-rays are cool and kids will be drawn to them. Use these images with a light table or tape them up to a window. Compare and contrast vertebrates. Sort and match with younger children. Go a bit deeper with older, elementary aged children.

Fossil Collection for Kids

Fossil Collection

I am definitely channelling my inner desire to be a student again with this gem of a gift for Montessori elementary, a Fossil Collection. Timeline of Life is a big deal at the elementary level in Montessori Children spend their time immersed in The Great Lessons.

The Timeline of Life is the Second Great Lesson. This collection delivers 18 fossils and cards. It also comes with a mini timeline and ideas for further learning. If anyone wants to get this collection for me for Christmas, I welcome it. Kidding, of course. If fossils are not your thing, then check out this rock & mineral field test kit.

Colored Pencils

I had these amazing Colored Pencils listed for Early Childhood, too. These colored pencils are that awesome and so worth it no matter the age of the person (even adults!). These Colored Pencils are still ridiculously marked down on Amazon.

Tree of Life: The Incredible Biodiversity of Life on Earth 

A wonderful addition to the realm of life sciences. I adore this book so much, however, found it a bit too “old” for my 5 and 3 year old. This book and its gorgeous layout is perfect for elementary aged children. Trust me. They will take this book and run with it!


Safari Evolution of Man Figurines

These figurines can be used with Timeline of the Human work. Even with their newly capable abstract thinking minds, elementary ages kids like figurines, too! These figurines are well made and full of detail.

More Gift Guides

So happy to have you here today. I hope you enjoyed these Montessori Gift Ideas! Peace, Love, & Joy to you and your family.

Marnie

The First Great Lesson: The Beginning of the Universe

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My son came home one day with a huge smile on his face. He shared that his teachers gave the Montessori First Great Lesson. Consequently, I knew his journey into the Cosmic Curriculum had begun, and he would henceforth be intrigued with the many cultural subjects. Montessori Elementary is simply amazing.

First Great Lesson

Montessori's First Great Lesson

Elementary children are filled with awe as the story unfolds. They usually receive this lesson during the first few weeks of school. In To Educate the Human Potential, Montessori states, “Our aim, therefore, is not merely to make the child understand, and still less to memorize, but so to touch his imagination as to enthuse him to his inmost core.”

Montessori First Great Lesson{Original Mulberry Paper Batik from Azoka Company}

Montessori's First Great Lesson: The Impressionistic Lesson

The story begins with a narrative about “The Great Spirit.” The first few sentences sound similar to the Bible. (Montessori was a Catholic.) Following this, however, various demonstrations and visual representations (either through posters or batiks) introduce the scientific laws governing our world.

These representations captivate young minds:

  • The difference in the temperature of two glasses filled with ice (one in which salt was added)
  • The gathering of glitter in a bowl of water
  • The introduction to the three states of matter (a stick, a container filled with BBs, and a spray bottle with water)
  • The difference in the melting points of three solids (wax, lead sauter, and a nail heated on a burner)
  • The contrast in densities of three different liquids (water, oil, and rubbing alcohol)
  • The representation of the magma inside the earth desiring to escape through a volcano
  • The balloon with Vaseline shaped like mountains, catching the water from the spray bottle which represents the water cycle

As a result, children ask many questions after receiving this lesson. The studies of chemistry, physics, geography, history, and other cultural subjects begin captivating them.

After having this lesson, my son delighted in delving more into each of these areas, the First Great Lesson being the catalyst. There were questions about the history of the universe and the geography of the world. In addition, an increasing interest in science experiments and the why behind each one followed. He began his journey through the Cosmic Curriculum and I cannot wait to join him on the journey!

Maria

More about the Author

Maria Burke has a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education as well as a Bachelor’s Degree in French from the University of Arizona. She obtained her Master’s Degree in Curriculum Education from Lesley University and holds certification through the American Montessori Society for ages 3-12. She currently teaches upper elementary at Abintra Montessori School in Nashville, Tennessee. Maria also owns Lighthouse Learning, LLC, and creates supplemental educational resources for academic subjects as well as proprioceptive materials.