Inspiring Generations :: Creative Ways To Celebrate Black History Month
February is an exciting month for my family as I’m sure it is for many others. Like most families, we are thrilled to celebrate Mardi Gras and Valentine’s Day during the month of February. However, we are especially excited to celebrate Black History Month. We recognize, celebrate, and educate our children about black history year round, but we enjoy being able to add to those teachings during Black History Month.
My husband and I have two kids that are 8 and 9 years old. Keeping them engaged when it comes to learning about history can be challenging at times. Like most kids their age they enjoy “fun” things and history isn’t always fun, but it is necessary.
Below are a few tips I’d like to share that will hopefully help to keep your children engaged and excited to learn about Black history.
Books are a great way to teach your children about Black history.
However, the key is to read books they’ll enjoy and comprehend. It also helps to find books that are age appropriate. If your kids are young, it’s a good idea to get books that have colorful illustrations and are a short read. If your child is older, you can get them books about individuals they may be interested in learning about. For example, if they love baseball, maybe a book about Jackie Robinson would really hold their interest. It may also be a good idea to get a book that isn’t incredibly long; getting a book just long enough to peak their interest is a good start. Hopefully after learning about someone so amazing that’ll inspire them to want to learn more. Once you all have read the book, be sure to discuss what they’ve learned shortly after. Engaging with your children allows them to see that you are just as excited about learning something new as they are.
You can purchase Black history books from stores like Target, Barns & Noble, or even Walmart. This is a great opportunity to purchase books by black authors. Amazon has several books written by Black authors, a simple search of Black children’s book authors will pull up several books for you to choose from. You can include your child while searching for books which will give them the opportunity so to select a book they want to read. If you would prefer not to purchase a book, the public library has a huge selection of books that you and your kids can check out for free.
If your children are anything like ours, they enjoy activities that require them to use their hands. Parents, use this to your advantage for Black History Month.
This is a great opportunity for you to mix learning with creativity which is sure to keep them interested and entertained. You can get them coloring books, or print free coloring sheets from sites like Puzzle Huddle that represent Africa Americans. You can purchase African American inspired puzzles, also from sites like Puzzle Huddle, for them to put together. Last year while shopping at Target, I was able to find an African American inspired card matching game for my children to play with. These are activities that can be fun and engaging for kids. The learning component comes into play when you discuss what they’ve colored or the puzzle they’ve put together, allowing to explain why they may have selected those colors or what that puzzle means to them. They may tell you that their puzzle or coloring sheet looks like them or some of their friends, which can prompt conversations.
Lastly, parents you can honor and celebrate Black History Month with your children by leading by example.
Show them every day with your actions that you honor and respect others that don’t look like you. You can teach them about why it’s important to treat everyone fairly and equally. You can show them the power of love and respect for all. After all, we can’t expect our children to do better and be better if we aren’t practicing what we preach.
