Free Printable Martin Luther King Jr. Day Activities, Lessons

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is celebrated on the third Monday in January and February is Black History Month. In early summer, the United States focuses on American history with its observance of Memorial Day, Flag Day and 4th of July. But really, every day should honor such important contributions of American people and every month Americans should celebrate U.S. history.

Here are free printable American history lesson plans on the great civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. MLK Jr was born on January 15, 1929. MLK and was shot by an assassin's bullet on April 4, 1968. Use these free printable lesson plans to explore this legendary hero in the classroom, homeschool, scout troops 4H and social groups.

Nobel Prize has free printable MLK Jr and black history lesson plans, As the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Martin Luther King Jr. is featured on this website with a comprehensive bibliography of resources. About has an entire unit of free printable Martin Luther King Jr activities, including a 5-page activity booklet Happy Birthday MLK by Jean Marzollo. It covers the life and work of Dr. King. The lessons guide students through readings, discussions, response activities and higher order thinking skills questions.

Mr.Donn has free printable American history lesson plans, created by a teacher for teachers. There are close to 30 links for free printable lessons, posters, coloring pages, worksheets, fill-in-the-blanks, puzzles, coloring pages, literature study guides and activities based on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Some black history favorites include a Unity Hand Wreath cut and paste craft, a Box of Crayonscoloring craft and Breaking Color Barriers (a science object lesson for children)

ABC Teach has 16 free printable lesson plans focused on world peace and unity. There are crafts, writing prompts, posters, games, coloring pages, word search, worksheets, reading activities, acrostic forms, poetry frames and much more. After all, peace, unity and brotherhood was what Dr. King was all about.

ABC Teach MLK has free printable writing prompts, worksheets, lessons, games and activities about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and his speeches, including "I have a Dream". There are Black History Month activities. In conclusion is a quote from that famous speech made by Dr. King, made on August 28, 1963 at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

"It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt...I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

Free Printable Black History Month, MLK Jr Day Lesson Plans and Activities

Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15 which is celebrated as Martin Luther King, Jr Day the third Monday in January--Jan. 19, 2015. Teachers and homeschool parents, here are free printable lesson plans on MLK Jr., to teach children about this brave civil rights champion.

First, help students relate him on a personal level with Time magazine's Jan. 15 article on what Martin Luther King Jr. was like as child. Next head to Activity Village for a printable collection of MLK Jr. activities. There are American history lessons on civil rights, bus boycotts, Selma and Montgomery marches and more. Students make text-to-self connections writing about what freedom and justice mean to them. Use these to explore Black History Month in February.

Visit ABC Teach for pages for free printable Martin Luther King Jr. lesson plans in all subjects. There are assignments at different age levels on reading, writing, vocabulary, spelling, history and language arts. Print these into a homework booklet to use on in holiday lesson plans.

The blog Mama Knows it All has a free printable Martin Luther King Jr. activity booklet for elementary school age children. Church House Collection has MLK Jr Day worksheets, coloring pages and crafts to print. This site has educational clipart for use in creating lesson plans, too.

Henry Ford Museum, in Dearborn, Mich., has a compelling exhibit "With Liberty and Justice for All" which includes artifacts of the fight for freedom by oppressed Americans. The collection includes a "whites only" drinking fountain, Ku Klux Klan robe, the armchair President Lincoln was shot in and the actual bus Rosa Parks sat in and refused to give up her seat.

Explore the exhibit online and download and print free educator resources and student activity guides on slavery, civil rights and the African American experience. There are film clips, images, artifacts, games, puzzles, worksheets and interactive activities.

Free Printable Chinese New Year Coloring Pages, Crafts and Activities

February 8 celebrates Chinese New Year of the Monkey 2016. Each year in the 12-year Chinese zodiac, a different spirit animal is honored as are people born under that animal sign (in 2016, 2004, 1992, 1980, 1968, 1956 and on back through the multiples of 12). Greet each other on February 8 with the traditional Chinese New Year blessing "Gung Hay Fat Choy!" Chinese New Year is part of the Spring Festival and ends with the Lantern Festival. Looking for free printable Chinese New Year of the Monkey activities? Here are CNY crafts, coloring pages, greeting cards, Spring Festival lesson plans, Lantern Festival crafts and more. Print Chinese zodiac crafts, animal crafts, party decorations, CNY games and puzzles and lots more.

The best place to start is Enchanted Learning for free printable Chinese New Year of the Monkey activities, crafts and more. Enchanted Learning is super-educational with free printable maps, social studies lesson plans, worksheets, mini-booklets to color cut and paste, coloring pages, history activities, animals of the Chinese zodiac crafts, to name a few.

How about a free printable coloring book of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac along with their Chinese symbol. Animals that represent Chinese New Year are Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Ox, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig (in that order). 2017 will by Year of the Rooster, 2018 will be Year of the Dog (and so on). To find out which animal you were born under, count backwards or forwards from the current year or add or subtract multiples of 12. For example, if you were born in 1964, the closest Year of the Monkey is 1968, so count backwards four years to 1964, Year of the Dragon.

DL-TK has free printable Chinese New Year of the Monkey activities, monkey crafts, games and CNY lesson plans. Then scamper like a monkey over to Activity Village for a banana tree full of printable Chinese New Year crafts, games, puzzles, Chinese lunar calendars, CNY greeting cards, jigsaw, stories and more. Click to find animal specific activity pages. Here's the Year of the Monkey page with monkey-themed prinatables. And here's the page with free printable Spring Festival and Lantern Festival crafts. Plus, help kids get organized with free printable 2016 animal calendars. Many of the animals of the Chinese zodiac are featured--mouse (rat), dog, sheep, chick (rooster), rabbit and a mischievious monkey, perfect for Year of the Monkey.

And no Chinese New Year is complete with free printable animals masks to monkey around with! The ones from Animal Jr. are totally adorbs!
Here are some nifty masks from ancient China to print for CNY. Printables 4 Kids has more cuteChinese New Year coloring pages, zodiac activities, animal masks, monkey crafts and masks and other goodies. For educational Chinese New Year printables, visit Apples 4 the Teacher. There are free printable Chinese New Year coloring pages, including animals of the Chinese zodiac, maps of China and a Chinese flag to color.
Learn all about the culture and history of China, the Spring Festival, the Lantern Festival and other Chinese traditions with free printable games, puzzles, worksheets and word searches.

Teachers, parents, homeschoolers, religious educators, Sunday school teachers bookmark First-School and visit frequently. For Chinese New Year, First-School has free printable Lantern Festival crafts, Spring Festival activities, Chinese zodiac coloring pages, math games from China, Chinese history and literature lessons and so much more. Activities are geared from preschool to third grade.

Free Printable Winter Lessons, Activities

The winter season is a popular theme in preschool and early elementary school classrooms. Winter is a great time to explore science concepts of chemistry, physics, earth and life science. In social studies, students could learn winter-themed holidays and religious celebrations, like Yule, Saturnalia and the December solstice. Here are free printable winter-themed worksheets and lesson plans that are adaptable across different curricula: writing, math, reading, literature, art and crafts. Most are interactive, hands-on project-type activities.

ABC Teach has a plethora of free printable winter lesson plans for every content area. There are free printable worksheets, puzzles, coloring pages, writing prompts, mazes, crafts, connect the dots, reading and language lesson plans. Here is just a sampling of free printable activities:

Felt board letter shapes with winter
Winter season word wall lists (some also have picture cues)
Letter to Santa writing prompt (which teaches personal, informal letter-writing skills and creative writing)
Winter-themed borders, bulletin board trim, classroom newsletter paper
Printable mini-booklets with winter themes (snowman, snowflake, Christmas stocking, mitten)
Snow-themed cryptograms, glyphs, flashcards
Graphic organizers: Venn diagrams, KWL charts (Know-Want to Know-Learned)
Winter holiday dot-to-dot puzzles
Science report worksheets for ice, snow and snowflakes
Winter-themed math: word problems, skip counting, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, telling time
Winter poetry frames and templates
Preschool winter-themed worksheets for sequencing, sorting, organizing, matching
Language activities: alphabetical order activities, color and write prompts, winter solstice prompts, metaphors

Marcel's Kids Crafts features free printable cut-and-paste snowflake templates. To create the snowflake, click on the desired design, print and fold on the lines as shown. The design should be on top. Students should cut out the shaded areas, leaving the white areas. These activities make excellent math lesson plans. Students can practice hands-on geometry principles. Special needs students often need to practice perceptual integration. Folding and cutting snowflakes builds fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination.

Enchanted Learning has more free printable winter lesson plans than any one teacher could ever use! There are crafts, worksheets, mini booklets, science charts and graphs, animal activities, holiday activities to name just a few.

Free Printable Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico Lessons, Activities

Dec. 12 marks the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the Catholic Church. It dates to 1531 when Catholics believe the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Juan Diego, an Aztec peasant at Tepeyac Hill in Mexico City. Latinos venerate Bl. Juan Diego on Dec. 9 and Our Lady of Guadalupe. Their feast days are part of Catholic Advent celebrations. Here are free printable Our Lady of Guadalupe lesson plans. Lesson plans on Mexico are included.

Loyola Press tells of Juan Diego, who reported seeing a "lady clothed with the sun" who commanded him to build a church. To prove that she was the Blessed Virgin Mary she caused her image to be emblazoned on Diego's tilma (cactus fiber cloak). Loyola Press provides a printable image made from the icon that parents can have children color as they tell the story.

Mary our Mother describes many miracles associated with Our Lady of Guadalupe's image. It provides a Biblical analysis, dates, timeline, history and biographies. There is a cultural analysis on relations between Spanish explorers and missionaries and the native Aztec in Mexico in the 16th century. Many terms are Aztec or Spanish and this site provides translation. Parents can use these to explain the significance of Our Lady of Guadalupe for Catholics and Hispanics.

Mother of All Peoples tells how the Guadalupe apparition of Mary fits with other appearances of Our Lady. Tradition in Action offers slide shows about scientific aspects of Our Lady's image. Parents can use this to help children understand the image from a technological viewpoint.

Catholic Heritage Curricula has many free home-school activities. It offers a how-to-draw coloring page of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Catholic Mom has free printable Our Lady of Guadalupe lessons, games, puzzles, coloring sheets and activities. There are several printable crafts.

Sancta has printable prayers and holy cards. Sancta gives parents permission to print these images and use them for family devotions.
Children's author and illustrator Tomie de Paola wrote "The Lady of Guadalupe." Parents can use this version to tell the story to younger children. The book contains many helpful and references and some activities too.

Free Printable St Nicholas Day Activities, Christmas Crafts

Dec, 6 marks the Catholic feast day of St. Nicholas, said the Manila Bulletin Dec. 5. He was a fourth century bishop and patron saint of Orthodox Christians, Russia, Holland and children around the world. Dec. 6 is Saint Nicholas Day in many countries. He is the Christmas gift-giving figure and basis for the Santa Claus legend, St.Nick's acts of charity weren't myth, however. If you want to celebrate a more Christ-centered Advent and Christmas, here are free printable St. Nicholas activities.

First-School has an adorable St. Nicholas Advent calendar to print free. There are free printable advent wreath crafts, Bible Christmas lesson plans, nativity of Jesus coloring pages and more.

St. Nicholas Center is dedicated to the promulgation of the faith through devotion to St. Nicholas. Visit the activities page with free printable St. Nicholas games, crafts, lesson plans, hidden pictures, puzzles, word search and 3D cut and paste play set. You can print a free St, Nicholas coloring bookfeaturing holy cards, Byzantine icons and stained glass images of the saint. Even older children will enjoy coloring these beautiful sacred images. Use as an art lesson to explore Byzantium and the Eastern Orthodox church. Older children might color the images and write a narrative of St. Nicholas's. Then assemble into a book, laminate and read annually on the Feast of St. Nicholas.

Catholic Mom has free printable Catholic Christmas activities in the Sunday gospel section. There are free printable advent activities too. EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network) has a Catholic Kidssite with holiday and holy day lesson plans, games, crafts, recipes and activities. Check the main site for viewings of the cartoon Nicholas: the Boy Who Became Santa Claus. Youtube has a video on Nicholas, the Real Santa Claus.

Don't forget the best-loved St. Nicholas Day tradition. It comes from the Netherlands. On St. Nicholas eve, December 5, children leave their shoes out near the door. Legend says St. Nicholas, dressed in his bishop's robe and mitre, rides by on a white stallion and leaves presents in shoes. Children leave a hot drink for St. Nicholas and hay or a carrot for his noble steed.

Nicholas's feast day is Dec. 19 in the Julian Orthodox calendar.

Free Printable Coat of Arms Crafts, Heraldry Designs

Cut and paste activities make ideal educational tools. 3D models and dioramas are excellent book activities for reading response lessons. How about some free printable paper castles and 3D castle models for kids? This article includes free printable coat of arms patterns and designs for heraldry crafts to decorate moHistory teachers and homeschool parents will love these hands-on history crafts.

Scribd a great resource for free printable crafts. Gamemaker has created a 13 page free printable castles models, perfect for dioramas, medieval world history, social studies and rainy day fun. When this author homeschooled her kids, the eldest daughter made 3D models of buildings in a medieval abbey from waffle boxes and these free printable castle models would have been a perfect addition to social studies lessons. The castle model is labeled accurately with keep, towers, bailey, gate house, merlons and flags. Castle is neatly drawn to scale, includes user-friendly instructions that are perfect for all ages. Not too wordy but complete. I think even I, art challenged as I am, could master this cool castle! Thank you gamemaker.

Gamemaker has also made free printable cut and paste paper crafts of castle models of Neuschwanstein Castle in the Clouds. This German Cinderella castle is the poster child for fairytale castles. Neuschwanstein is one of the late Medieval castles in baroque renaissance style. Gamemaker has made it easy for those who find cut and paste paper crafts challenging. This author's husband had a hand steady enough to paint the pinprick yellow dot in the center of the US Army Air Corps insignia on WWII model planes. While his wife got nervous with anything "hands-on" and longed for worksheets! For more cool medieval castles and knights stuff, you can visit the Gamemaker at his website Storm the Castle.

Use these free printable castle models for dioramas, history lessons, engineering and design history lessons. Make these free printable castles part of a social studies unit on medieval times. It's always good in any unit to incorporate as many different subject areas. Cutting and assembling paper crafts adds science and math components to units. Students may want to design and color medieval castles before construction. Visit About History for heraldry designs for medieval castles, coat of arms patterns and castle graphics. Add battlements, merlons, flags, mullioned windows and other details to your castles.

Now how about some free printable medieval castles, paper crafts and coloring pages? Visit--if only virtually--Skipton Castle in Yorkshire, England. Built in the 12th century Skipton Castle is beautifully preserved. The website includes free printable castle models paper crafts, knights, activities on kitchens of medieval castles, Elizabethan lord and lady and more free printable heraldry activities. DL-TK has a bunch more free printable medieval fantasy crafts.

What's heraldry, you ask? Heraldry refers to the crest or emblem associated with royal and noble families. Here are free printable coat of arms coloring pages. And here are free make your own coat of arms activities. These ancient symbols, also called family crests or coat of arms were used as ornamentation and communication, on 

Free Printable Veterans Day Activities

Veterans Day is also Armistice Day, which commemorates the end of World War One, November 11, 1918. 2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the start of WWI in Europe says First World War Centenary. It lists Veterans Day 2014 events beginning November 10, to honor that centennial. Armistice Day is also called Remembrance Day. Here are free printable WWI lesson plans to help kids remember this epic epoch in history. There are lessons on America in conflict in World War II, Vietnam, Korea and Persian Gulf, too.

PBS did a documentary called "The Great War" and created free World War Ones lesson plansbased on that show. Here are printable lesson plans based on Ken Burns' "The War" and still more from PBS Perilous Fight (both WWII documentaries).

Vicki Blackwell has compiled a huge assortment of free printable Veterans Day activities on her website of that name. Use for Memorial Day, 4th of July, American and world history. You'll find worksheets, quizzes, coloring pages, mazes, scavenger hunts, crossword puzzles, web activities, word games and links.

US History Site is a comprehensive website covering American history. You'll find free printable World War I lesson plans, maps, charts, diagrams and activities to explore Veterans and Armistice Day.

DL-TK has a massive collection of free printable Veterans Day lesson plans for preschool and early elementary. Print patriotic crafts, coloring pages, poppies (WWI memorial), In Flanders Field poem booklet, puzzles, worksheets and more. The Lesson Plans Page provides free printable WWI worksheets and lesson plans. Use for all ages, but especially preschool and younger elementary children.

History has free WWI lesson plans, videos and activities. Explore the places, faces, battles and weapons, history and outcomes of this "war to end all wars." Education World has free printable Armistice Day lesson plans, primarily for elementary and middle school age kids.

Mr. Donn has more free printable World War I worksheets and lessons. Apples for the Teacher hasfree printable WWI history themed writing prompts and social studies lesson plans.

Whatever you do this Veteran's Day, be sure to thank a veteran. Send a card, visit a senior home or VA hospital, call a relative. Let them know you remember and appreciate them. And wear your poppies.

Free Printable All Saints Day Crafts, Day of the Dead Coloring and Craft Activities

Most people know that October 31 is Halloween, or All Hallows Eve. Fewer know that there's only a Halloween because of the days that follow. November 1 marks the Catholic holy day of obligation, All Saints' Day and November 2 is All Souls' Day (celebrated as Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead in Mexico). Halloween was a pagan blowout that anticipated the solemnity of the proceeding holy day. Use these free printable Catholic saints coloring pages, crafts and lesson plans to learn more about All Saint's Day and Halloween.

* Catholic Mom's All Saint's Day activities page has printable crafts and coloring pages, plus tips for celebrating a Christian Halloween. Visit the Catholic Kids home page for free printable liturgical lesson plans with age-appropriate activities linked: free printable puzzles, word searches, study sheets, crafts, Bible verses, games and activities.

* Catholic Playground has free printable Catholic saints coloring pages. They're alphabetized and listed according to the Catholic liturgical calendar. Check out the free printable Stations of the Cross coloring pages.

* St. John the Baptist Religious Education has a plethora of free printable saints coloring pages. There are also printable Stations of the Cross coloring pages. There are coloring pages of Bible stories, Miracles of Jesus, parables and life of Christ.

* ABCatholic has a free printable Catholic alphabet coloring book with images of saints, Bible stories and sacraments.

* Waltzing Matilda features handmade free printable Catholic saints coloring pages. The blog moderator has nicely-drawn images for sacraments and liturgical use also.

* Paper Dali is another mom blog with homemade free printable saints coloring pages. Some are free and some must be purchased.free her Etsy shop. Scroll around for the freebies. All are very attractive and well worth the nominal fee.

* Catholic Icing offers handmade All Saints' Day printables and crafts. Read through the blog posts and sidebar menu for crafts, games and printables.

* JClub has free printable Bible and Catholic saints coloring pages.

* EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network) Kids offers free mass readings, prayer activities, crafts and coloring pages for children. Users must create a free account with user name and password.

Use these coloring pages to help create saints costumes for All Saints' Day parties. Use for year-round CCD, religious education, VBS and Children's Liturgy of the Word activities.

Free Printable Earthquake Lesson Plans, Earth Science, Emergency Preparedness Lessons

April and May kick off severe weather season in the northern hemisphere. Hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, hail, lightning and thunder storms are all in the spring forecast. Here are educational movies on earth science, severe weather phenomena, geology and natural disasters. Use these great educational movies for science lessons and severe weather exploration? Educational movies include links for free printables to follow up earth science lessons. These educational movies cover many aspects of earth science in an exciting, visceral way.

"Twister" (1996, Bill Paxton, Helen Hunt) This is one of the action-adventure educational movies on severe weather. In heart-pounding action from start to finish, Twister uses mid 1990s computer generation to show the action of tornadoes in a believable way. Twister shows two storm chasing teams compete to develop accurate tornado tracking and monitoring devices. The cheesy little back-burner love triangle between storm chasers doesn't detract from the main concept of this geology thriller, For free printables on earth science lessons and follow up activities from Twister, click here. Here's are more free printables on tornadoes.

"Vertical Limit" (2000 Chris O'Donnell, Bill Paxton, Scott Glenn) In Vertical Limit, climbers attempt to scale K-2 one of the largest Everest mountains peaks. When one team gets separated and trapped the others must attempt a rescue during a brutal storm. Vertical Limit shows severe weather conditions a top the mountains as well as the effects of high altitude on the human body. Vertical Limit in earth science lessons on geology and avalanches. For free printables of earth science lessons on Vertical Limit and click here.

"The Day After Tomorrow" is one of the sci-fi severe weather educational movies. But kids can still learn about global warming and how it causes severe weather and natural disasters. Students can learn vital earth science lessons on the water cycle and development of severe weather patterns.

"When the Levees Broke" and other Hurricane Katrina documentaries show the devastation of natural disasters on an urban area. Hurricane Katrina, Aug. 25-29, 2005, was one of the worst natural disasters in the U.S. Students learn earth science lessons on hurricanes, storm surges and floods. Here are earth science lessons and printables on Hurricane Katrina and other severe weather natural disasters. Click here for other Hurricane Katrina lesson plans.

"The Perfect Storm" (2000 George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, John C. Reilly) The crew of a small fishing boat is caught off the shores of Glouchester, Massachusetts between two huge storm systems, The Perfect Storm filmography is intense. This is one of the best action educational movies on the use of radar in severe weather study. Preview The Perfect Storm to edit out superfluous and crude parts that are not necessary to the plot. The Perfect Storm in based upon the book by the same name by Sebastian Junger. Here are free printables on earth science lessons from The Perfect Storm.

Free Printable Day of the Dead Crafts, Lessons and Activities

El Dia de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, commemorates the lives of beloved dead. Day of the Dead is the Latino version of Catholic All Saints Day and All Souls Day, November 1 and 2. Dia de los Muertos traditions include creating family altars to honor the dead, visiting loved ones' graves and having picnics at the cemetery to be near the departed. Human skulls and skeletons are integral Dia de los Muertos symbols. Items are designed to look like skulls: candles, food and sugar skulls. People paint their faces to represent a skull (called a calavera). Some Halloween traditions developed from Day of the Dead but unlike Halloween, Day of the Dead isn't about scaring people. It's a religious holiday, culminating the Catholic holy days with pre-Columbian Aztec, Mixtec, Olmec and Toltec rituals of Mexico. If you need free printable Day of the Dead lesson plans to teach students about this popular cultural holiday, read on. Use the for homeschooled, public and parochial schooled kids.

Tiki Chris at Flickr has designed awesome free printable skull patterns from one basic skull template. Print these in black and white for students to color. Or print the basic skull template and have a calavera skull decorating contest! This would make an excellent art or social studies project. Using one basic pattern, students can exhibit their creativity in design. Kids will love making connections with this beautiful heritage art from Mexico.

QuestConnect.org has free printable Dia de los Muertos lesson plans and activities to thoroughly explore the Day of the Dead. Make papel picado banners, sugar skulls and skeleton crafts. Kids can learn the geography and culture of Mexico with an Oaxaca puzzle. Arty Ness has free printable Day of the Dead coloring pages, art projects, crafts with skeletons and skulls and more. Mr. Donn has a plethora of free printable Dia de Los Muertos lesson plans and activities. Use these for history, culture, geography and social studies lesson plans for middle school age kids.

Enchanted Learning has free Day of the Dead lesson plans to print. A-Z Central has a whole website devoted to Dia de los Muertos activities. Print and make crafts. Listen to music. Learn about the culture of Mexico. Play games. Learn to make recipes and foods from Mexico. National Geographic has vocabulary lessons on Day of the Dead. There's an awesome picture gallery.

Many parents, particularly Christian parents, don't celebrate Halloween. But don't mistake Day of the Dead skull for Halloween and ignore this rich, cultural festival. And don't let the skulls and skeletons freak you out. They show honor to the dead, not ghoulish fascination with death. These are as reverently handled as the nativity scenes at Christmas. And educators, if you teach ESL, please consider hosting a Day of the Dead party for students. It's good to learn about each other's cultures plus it makes Hispanic students feel more at home.

Free Printable Sukkot Lesson Plans for Jewish Kids

Sukkot is the Jewish harvest holiday. It starts in the Hebrew month of Tishrei, four days after Yom Kippur. In the western calendar it begins early fall and lasts for seven days. In 2015, Sukkot begins at sundown on September 27 ends October 4. It's also known as the Festival of Booths or Tabernacles. Based on a Biblical injunction, during Sukkot, Jews build outdoor huts called "sukkahs. They live, eat, pray and perform ceremonies using the "four species"--etrog (citron or lemon), lulav (palm fronds), willow twig (aravot) and myrtle twigs (hadassim). Here are free printable Sukkot lesson plans, Jewish activities to teach children about Hebrew holidays.

Torah Tots is a good place to start for things Jewish for kids. It has free printable Succot activities, crafts, lesson plans, coloring pages, recipes, songs, prayers and Parsha (scripture) readings. Children will enjoy playing online games, too. Look for all Jewish holiday activities here. The fall ones include Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, then Succot (another spelling), Shmini Atzeret, Simchat Torah and Chanukah. DLTK has free printable Jewish crafts for younger children based on general Hebrew themes. The Lookstein Center for Jewish Studies has a comprehensive list of free printable Sukkot lesson plans for older children.

Chabad is another great resource for Jewish families. Here are free printable Sukkot coloring pages, prayers, recipes, games, crafts and activities. Tips for building a sukkah are included, as well as activities to explore Sukkot and other Hebrew holy days. Jewish Homeschool has a plethora of free Hebrew holiday printables, including some for Sukkot. There are homeschool helps, too. Judaism 101 has free printable Sukkot prayers and kaddish (blessings) to observe a proper festival.

Free Printable Columbus Day Activities, medieval maritime, navigation lesson plans

Columbus Day is celebrated on October 12. In school, kids study the voyages and exploration of Christopher Columbus. But you can study American history on any U.S. holiday--Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, 4th of July or Labor day. Re-discover American history--or discover it anew if you've never paid attention before. 

The best place to start is at the beginning, which usually assumed to be with the discovery of the "New World" by Christopher Columbus. The land now called "America" didn't start when the Italian navigator Christopher Columbus stumbled upon it. Christopher Columbus wasn't even the first European to find it and he certainly wasn't the first world traveler to. 

St. Brendan and the Vikings beat him to it. Christopher Columbus is credited with discovery of the New World because he brought attention to it as no one had before. Here are free printable Christopher Columbus lessons on world explorers, colonial expansion, early mapmaking and navigation.

Garden of Praise says that Christopher Columbus was from Genoa in Italy. He was part of the massive push by world explorers to discover unknown regions. Columbus's real skills lay in mapmaking and marine navigation. Check out these awesome free printable medieval navigation tools like the ones Columbus would have used. 

Experiment with the sextant, astrolabe, kamal, cross-staff and quadrant. Bear in mind, these tools were the keys to unlocking the secrets of the unknown world. Many world explorers were looking for a new trade route to the West Indies. And the only way to get the spices, silk, opium and trade goods was to sail east. This was a long, hard trip and 99 percent died trying. So Columbus decided to do something new and (most agreed) crazy.

As navigation and mapmaking expert, Columbus studied geography inside and out. He would try going west to get to the east. He would avoid the whole Straits of Magellan mess and try getting to the West Indies through the back door. But people believed that the world was flat. No one knew what was in the west sea. People thought Columbus had gone berserk. "You'll fall off from the earth!" they said. (Students, if you like to be different, like Columbus, check out those earlier links for free printable navigation and mapmaking his way.)

Ocean voyages also cost a lot of money, so Columbus needed a royal patron to sponsor the trip. But no one wanted to invest in his nutty scheme and he had a hard time convincing anyone to lend him the money. Finally, Columbus asked Queen Isabella I of Spain. That good lady wanted more land for her empire so even though everyone thought Columbus was wrong to sail west, the queen agreed to help. Columbus assembled three ships with crew and supplies. He named them Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria after the Blessed Virgin and Child Jesus. He hoped they would bless his journey.

The three ships set sail from Palos, Spain on August 3, 1492. On October 11, Columbus got a major surprise when he bumped smack dab into a chunk of land he hadn't expected to be there. Where his navigation predicted the West Indies, was a previously unknown land which today is called the Bahamas. Still thinking he was somewhere in India, he decided this must be the East Indies. He called the native people "indios" or Indians. The myth persisted and the name stuck. That's why native American peoples are referred to and still refer to themselves sometimes as American Indians.

But not finding the West Indies and finding this New World instead wasn't all bad for Columbus Part of the agreement with Queen Isabella was that Columbus would get 10% of everything he discovered. Imagine owning 10% of North, South and Central America?! Of course as the magnitude of his find reached European ears, his piece of the pie was drastically reduced. But Columbus was made governor of Hispaniola, the name for the New World. That was a better deal that most world explorers got!

However some complained that Christopher Columbus was cruel to the local people whom he ruled. Columbus returned in chains to Spain and was put on trial. He was acquitted and allowed to return, but was not allowed to govern Hispaniola again. Christopher Columbus made four voyages in all. He died on May 20, 1506, believing he had found and should own "East India." The U.S. celebrates Columbus's voyages on October 12. For free printable Christopher Columbus lessons and world explorers, mapmaking and navigation activities, click the links in this article.

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