Celebrate President's Day

President's Day is an opportunity to explore the bigger world that we live in! Your child's world is, first and foremost, your own family, your neighborhood, and your town or city. While it is so important for children to feel safe and comfortable in their world, it's great to eventually see themselves as part of a larger world, too.

Use this opportunity to have children become familiar with some of the symbols of our country, such as our Flag, The White House, and historical figures, in very basic terms that they can relate to. "A long time ago, even before Grandma was a little girl, there were people who decided to start a new country. They made up some rules that they thought were important and voted on how to make our country a good place to live."  Your child may have their own ideas of what a good country would be like - record their words on paper and have them illustrate it! "If I were President, I would ..."  or "Our country is great because, ...
Bookmaking through dictation is always a great project to do with your child!

You can find lots of pictures and information out there - check the internet and the library - and try out http://www.whitehouse.gov/ for current photos and lots of info.

Have your child color an American Flag, or use small pieces of tissue paper to ball up and glue in red and white stripes. This pattern came from http://www.familycrafts.about.com/, which has lots of images and information. Talk about the symbols in the flag - the 13 stripes for the first 13 "places to live" and 50 stars for the 50 we have now - since we've grown! Finish it off with star stickers or coloring the blue field behind the white stars. If you attach it to a drinking straw or a wooden craft stick, you'll have a flag for waving or displaying.

Another project for President's Day is to make a silhouette of your child, similiar to the silhouettes of Presidents Washington and Lincoln that are so recognizable. You will need a spot on the wall or refrigerator where you can tack up some paper and, using a bright light without a shade, project their likeness onto it. Trace with a white crayon or chalk on black paper or any color you want on white paper. Pairing your child's likeness with a quote from their dictation will give you a sweet keepsake to show them when they're older!