This Martin Luther King, Jr. craftivity will help even the youngest school children join in while celebrating his birthday.
Teachers have been asking me for an activity for MLK Day for years, but I find it so hard to teach history to preschool children. I struggled for so long to create an activity that hasn’t already been done.
This craftivity can be done after reading a book about Martin Luther King, Jr. or after having a class discussion with the kids about friendship, kindness, and acceptance.
While this is a craft, kids will still be able to use their own creativity in their drawings, and each child’s picture will show their individuality.
I even wrote a little rhyme about MLK Day to go with this activity, which you’ll find on the printable. (You are welcome to use this rhyme in your classroom or home, but you may not republish it anywhere. I have no delusions about having any rhyme writing talent, but it’s still my work. 🙂 )
Prepare the MLK Activity
You will need to print and make copies of the printable (download below).
You will need some construction paper or card stock paper in a variety of skin tones (at least 3 hues). Cut the skin tone paper into circles. You will need 3 circles per child. (You may wish to cut extra circles and let children choose the skin tones they want to use.)
Provide crayons or markers and glue for the children to use.
What to Do
Have children use crayons or markers to draw faces on their 3 skin-tone paper circles.
If you have dark colored paper, you might want to use oil pastels because these show up well on dark paper. Kids can then glue the three faces onto the printable MLK poem page.
Download the MLK Day Activity
Note: This printable is FREE. Just click to download!
Graphics by Kari Bolt.