Memorial Day Activities

Memorial Day is a holiday set aside to honor those who have died while in the service of our country. 

With that in mind, there are several activities you can do to help teach your child about the holiday and why we celebrate it. 

One is to do various flag activities. This is the time of year for flag activities! Memorial Day in May, Flag Day in June, and Independence Day in July. Here are a couple of our ideas:

• American Flag Pattern Activity
• Fourth of July Book, Craft, and Snack

While looking for ideas to do with my children this year, I found the idea to decorate dog tags:

Maybe you want something simple, like coloring pages. If you are going to be driving somewhere, this might be something fun to print off before you leave so the kids can color on the way.

Another good and simple activity is reading short stories or poems. 

You could do a quick history lesson by sharing some of the information on America's Wars.

The Poppy is a symbol of patriotism, so you could make a patriotic poppy. You could use paper, crepe paper, felt, etc.

I also found this idea and I thought it could be good to make now and use through the summer. It is a patriotic planter. Maybe you could plant some real poppies in it?

As you do any one of these activities, I would encourage you to talk to your child/children about the significance of why we celebrate the holiday. I think if you just casually talk about it while you do your fun craft project, they will be more interested in listening than if you sit and give a lecture on it.

Be sure to also share any personal stories you have of family members giving their life in the line of duty. You might even visit the grave of that ancestor if you have one (and it is close to you). And also share with them the names of the family members you have who have served our country.

Have a great holiday!