Activities on Presidents for Kindergarten

President Lincoln's birthday is celebrated on President's Day.

It is never too early to teach children about presidents, but the only problem is figuring out how to come up with activities that are age appropriate for kindergartners. Using hands-on activities will allow your students to participate in the learning process and gain a better understanding of the topic being presented. Presidential activities are a great way to celebrate President's Day, the third Monday in February, which celebrates the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

Pendant

Cut out three stars from red, white and blue construction paper in different sizes. The red should be the largest and the blue star the smallest. Stack them together by gluing them together in order of size with red on the bottom, then white and blue on top. Punch a hole in the top of the stack, string yarn through, and tie a knot to fit around the student's neck. Glue a paper penny in the center of the pendant star with Lincoln's face showing.

Elections

Explain to the students how the president is elected and how long his term is for. Set up classroom elections every four days to allow at least two elections. On the first day, divide the students up into groups and let them nominate two prior presidents. Have them learn about the president they have nominated during the days leading up to the election. Every fourth day, hold a mock election between the two presidents that have been nominated.

Timeline

Have the students study the current president and explain to them when the president was elected and how long the president will be in office. Show the students what state the president was from and a few facts about the president's life. Have the students draw a timeline of the president's life leading up to his/her presidency and draw pictures to represent those events or let them cut out images from magazines and glue them to the timeline.

Puppets

Have the students decorate paper lunch sacks to use as puppets for George Washington and the current president. Put together a puppet show and let the students ask questions they feel each president might ask the other. Let them decorate sack puppets for other presidents that have been studied and act out different political moments in that president's life and presidency. Come up with your own skit to teach them and invite parents for a more formal puppet show.

References

• Enchanted Learning: Lincoln Penny Pendant