Activities for Kids Relating to Black History Month
Finding engaging activities to teach kids of various ages about Black History Month can be a challenge. While kids should celebrate the achievements of prominent figures like Harriet Tubman and Martin Luther King, they can also learn about more controversial figures like Marcus Garvey and Malcolm X and study darker periods in African-American history, like the Jim Crow South, to better understand the challenges black Americans have faced and overcome.
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Preschool and Kindergarten through Second Grade
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For younger kids, Black History Month activities should focus on identifying prominent African-Americans throughout history and understanding their contributions to the struggles for freedom and civil rights. Preschool and younger elementary school kids can color pictures of prominent black Americans like Jackie Robinson and Rosa Parks and then tell stories about those figures to the class.
Third through Sixth Grade
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Crosswords, word searches and matching games can help familiarize kids with black leaders. Assign kids an elementary-level biography on a historical figure like Thurgood Marshall, W.E.B. DuBois or Malcolm X, then ask them to give a report on that person to a larger group or the class. Look for online games to familiarize students with important African-Americans throughout history.
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Middle School
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Preteens can branch out from familiar themes and people to more complicated and unfamiliar subjects. Instead of biographies, assign books on slavery, segregation, the Harlem Renaissance and the civil rights movement. Make up an online scavenger hunt about black history and put kids in groups to solve it. Have kids pick a less familiar historical figure, like Ida B. Wells or Marcus Garvey, and write and perform a play about their lives and work.
Young Teens
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Assign primary documents like letters and speeches from black leaders, poetry from Harlem Renaissance writers or paintings by black artists to get kids more personally engaged with their subjects. Teach students how to make effective arguments by organizing debates where students take sides on controversial issues like segregation or affirmative action.
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References
Resources
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