How To Celebrate Martin Luther King Day with Preschoolers

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Looking for Martin Luther King activities?

If you’re wondering why we celebrate Martin Luther King Day or looking for easy MLK activities, you’ve came to the right place. The first Martin Luther King Day was established in the 80s by President Ronald Reagan, so it’s relatively new as far as holidays go. As we all work towards social justice, the arrival of Martin Luther King Day in January is an excellent time to begin teaching our children about this important social activist.

Learning about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and celebrating his life and dream is a meaningful way to begin teaching kids about kindness and inclusion.

How can you teach your preschoolers about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr? Keep reading to discover new ways to introduce kindness in your classroom and at home this January. Plus, get some of my favorite activities for Martin Luther King Day to do with your preschool learners at home or in the classroom.

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One Way to Celebrate the Life and Dream of Martin Luther King

What is just one way you can learn about and celebrate the life and dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.? Begin by teaching your preschoolers about this inspiring social activist and his dream of equality for all people. Check out these picture books for kids to get you started:

• Who Was Martin Luther King, Jr.? by Bonnie Bader
• A Place to Land: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Speech That Inspired a Nation by Barry Wittenstein and Jerry Pinkney
• Martin Luther King, Jr. (Little People, Big Dreams) by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vergara and Mai Ly Degnan
• I am Brave: A Little Book about Martin Luther King, Jr. (Ordinary People Change the World) by Brad Meltzer
• I am Martin Luther King, Jr. by Brad Meltzer

Reading aloud to preschoolers is a fantastic way to engage everyone, introduce new topics and ideas, and help kids fall in love with books while developing important print awareness skills. You can use these beautiful books about Martin Luther King to introduce your preschoolers to this remarkable figure and his ideas about inclusion, kindness, and equality.

Celebrate Martin Luther King Day by Learning About Kindness

Teaching your preschoolers about kindness this January is another excellent way to help them learn more about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the important ideas he shared with our nation. We all want our children to be kind and I think we all wish the world was a little more kind. Being kind isn’t always easy, but we can help our children learn to show kindness and empathy, just like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Showing kindness and empathy is a learned behavior and you can help your preschoolers learn to show kindness towards others by giving them opportunities to show kindness, modeling kind behavior for them, and encouraging kindness and empathy in fun ways both in the classroom and at home this year.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s most famous words are “I have a dream.” Those four words inspired our nation to choose kindness, empathy, and equality for all people. What did Martin Luther King have to say about kindness?

“If you are seeking the highest good, I think you can find it through love,” he said. Martin Luther King believed that it was important to show kindness and love to everyone and advocated for change through compassion, love, and kindness. 

This January, celebrate with kindness activities for Martin Luther King Day to help your preschoolers learn to show kindness, compassion, and love for others. 

What Can Kids Do For Martin Luther King Day?

There are so many fun and simple ways kids can celebrate and remember Martin Luther King Day at home, in the classroom, and in their communities this January. No one is too small to show kindness, love, and compassion just like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Need some Martin Luther King, Jr. activities ideas? Check out some of my favorite kindness activities for Martin Luther King Day:

Random Acts of Kindness Activities for Martin Luther King Day

I just love random acts of kindness! With a bit of planning and prep, you can encourage your preschool learners to think about ways they can show kindness to others by completing these simple Martin Luther King, Jr. activities. Here are a few fun ideas to get you started:

• Let someone else go first
• Decorate kindness rocks
• Invite someone new to play
• Plant something
• Smile at someone

Can you think of more fun random acts of kindness activities for Martin Luther King day? Share your favorite acts of kindness for preschoolers in the comments. I can’t wait to read them and try a few with my early learners too!

Teach Preschoolers “Fill Your Bucket,” a Song About Kindness 

The Learning Station has a cute and catchy song called Fill Your Bucket that explains to preschoolers how to be “bucket fillers.” Bucket fillers are people that show kindness and love to others to “fill the bucket” for themselves and others. 

Using music and songs is an easy way to help preschool kids remember important lessons about showing kindness and love to others while having fun too. You can extend the learning by having kids complete this fun Bucket Filler craft and giving them Bucket Filler certificates when they show kindness in your classroom too.

Kindness Postcards to Celebrate Martin Luther King Jr Day

You can use the lessons from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to help your preschoolers learn to show kindness and compassion to others all day long. With kindness postcards, you’ll be teaching your preschoolers that they have the power to inspire and encourage others by expressing their love and gratitude in each and every letter. It’s one small way that your preschoolers can help make the world a better, kinder place, just like Martin Luther King.

Plus, kindness postcards offer opportunities to practice important early learning skills too. Your preschoolers can get creative while building prewriting skills, practicing proper pencil grip, and completing copywork.

You can write samples for children to copy, trace, or let them build handwriting skills by writing their own postcards. Preschoolers who aren’t ready for writing can draw pictures to show kindness and love to others instead of writing words. Providing craft supplies like markers, glitter, and stickers will make this kindness postcard activity for Martin Luther King Day extra fun for your preschoolers!

When you’re finished, have preschoolers pretend to be community helpers and hand deliver postcards to friends, family, and people in the community. Alternatively, you can provide stamps and let preschoolers mail their kindness postcards for even more learning fun this January.

More Martin Luther King Jr. Activities and Crafts

Looking for more Martin Luther King, Jr. activities and crafts that don’t require lots of prep work or planning for your preschoolers this January? You can scoop up my bundle of crafts and activities to help your preschoolers celebrate Martin Luther King Day while learning all kinds of important early skills too. Check out what’s included:

Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Timeline

Timelines help preschoolers connect people, places, and events.

My printable timeline covering the life of Martin Luther King will help your preschoolers make connections between the time period, this important social activist, and the events that defined his life in a way they can visualize and remember.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Craft

Get ready to learn about and celebrate Martin Luther King Day with your preschoolers as you practice fine motor skills like cutting and pasting. This cute printable MLK craft will help your preschoolers create their own Martin Luther King figure.

It pairs nicely with the books about Martin Luther King I mentioned earlier too.

M&M Equality Activity for Martin Luther King Day

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. dreamed of a world where all people were truly equal.

This January, teach your preschoolers about equality for all, an important ideal in our nation, with this hands on equality activity for Martin Luther King Day. Plus, preschoolers love any activity that includes a sweet treat!

Martin Luther King Emergent Reader Flip books

Encourage and practice important early literacy skills with this All About Martin Luther King Jr flip book. Learn about and celebrate Martin Luther King day as you build vocabulary, phonics skills, and record facts about MLK in your classroom.

Then, send them home to share these cute flip books with their family and friends.

“I Have A Dream” Handwriting Activity

In addition to the kindness postcards activity, you can help check for comprehension and retention with this fun handwriting activity too.

Preschoolers can relate to having a dream, so approaching a lesson about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s iconic speech with an activity about dreams is a great way to introduce this historical moment to your preschoolers. Plus, you’ll be building their prewriting and fine motor skills too.

Celebrate Martin Luther King Day Coloring Page

Finally, a fun and easy printable to keep little hands busy while you read to them about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Print my MLK coloring pages to celebrate Martin Luther King day with your preschoolers at home or in the classroom this January.

They’ll be learning about colors, numbers, concentration, and building fine motor skills as they get creative with these no prep Martin Luther King Day coloring pages and color by number printables.

In Conclusion

So how will you teach your preschoolers about showing kindness, compassion, and love to others this January? Do you have fun Martin Luther King, Jr. activities planned that I didn’t mention? Share your great ideas in the comments. I can’t wait to read them and try a few with my preschoolers too!

If you loved this Martin Luther King Jr ideas post, check out my black history month ideas for more great activities and crafts to do in February.