President's Day Lesson

This Monday we celebrate President's Day and, if you're in need of activities to compliment your lesson plans, here are some great ideas from Little Giraffes Teaching Ideas that your kindergartners are sure to love!

Presidential Science

• Penny Cleaning. Have your students explore the best ways to shine a dirty penny. Mrs. Flanagan had her students test ketchup, vinegar, salt, flour, and water. You might consider adding other substances like taco sauce, lemon juice, and Coke for some messy fun! It might also be fun to create a chart of results for each substance - labeling the top with the product used and gluing the resulting penny underneath.
• Penny + Water Drops. Provide each student with a shallow dish of water, an eyedropper, a sheet of paper towel, and a penny, inviting them to see how many drops of water will fit on the face of the coin. Be sure to have your students make predictions before beginning the experiment and compare the results at the end. They'll be amazed!
• Magnifying Coins. Provide students with a selection of coins and a magnifying glass. Invite them to observe each coin and discuss their similarities and differences.

Presidential Math

• Coin Probability. Have students toss a coin and keep track of how many resulted in "heads" and how many in "tails". Making Learning Fun has a great printable heads or tails graphing worksheet to use with this activity that will allow students to keep track of their tosses and findings.
• Coins & Dice. Divide students into groups of four, providing each group with a die and a coin worksheet for each child. Have students take turns rolling the die and coloring the appropriate number of coins on their worksheet. The first student to color all their coins wins!

Presidential Social Studies & Writing

Discuss with your students the duties and roles of the president, as well as character traits needed for leadership. After each student has had a chance to contribute, invite your students to think about what they would do if they were president. Have them write their answer onto a sheet of paper and illustrate it using graphic art tools, magazine clippings, etc. When finished compile the individual pages into a book - "What Our Class Would Do To Make Our Country Great!" These books make great keepsakes from year to year and students will love seeing their work take a place of honor on the classroom bookshelf!

Games

We couldn't forget to add some games to the post - especially since we found some really fun ones at Step By Step Childcare! In "President's Day Coin Toss", students will get active, calling out fun movements when their coin lands on "heads".  "Chop Down the Cherry Tree" will bring out the giggles as the student volunteer blindfolded in the middle of the circle tries to guess which of his or her classmates tried to "chop" them down (i.e. tapped them on the shoulder). Finally, with "Musical Coin Matching" students strengthen coin recognition as they race to match their coin when the music stops. Be sure to visit the full post at Step By Step Childcare for full directions!

Here's another fun President's Day lesson plans! your students will enjoy!