“And I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free. And I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.” Lee Greenwood - Song ‘God Bless the USA’
Memorial Day is a federal holiday that has been proclaimed to honor those who died while serving in the armed forces, fighting for the many freedoms that we have as Americans. My blog post last year about Memorial Day will help you teach your children all about the history of that day.
For this Memorial Day, I would like to provide parents and others with activities for their families to commemorate this important day. It is best that you first teach children about what that day represents, and then do the activities so that they have a full understanding and appreciation of the activities.
Some activities are:
Visit a Veteran’s cemetery and lay flowers and put up flags.
Send a care package to troops. I provide the website below for Support Our Troops Care Packages, where you can purchase and send a small gift card and packages.
Bake patriotic treats. Note that they become “patriotic” because of the colors and decorations you put on them.
Take cookies or other treats to a veteran whom your family knows and talk with him/her about his/her service.
Teach your children about medals of honor. At the links below, there is a free coloring sheet and a website for children that provides a history the medals.
Do some crafts and projects around this theme. There are many that are available online at no cost. One of the crafts can be creating a card for a veteran your family knows or for veterans in general at a hospital. The card can also be sent to a soldier overseas.
These are just some activities, and the links below provide many more. Of course, you can still enjoy your family picnic and games!
To learn more, please visit:
https://www.military.com/memorial-day/celebrating-memorial-day-with-children.html
https://www.countryliving.com/life/g4377/memorial-day-activities/
https://kids.kiddle.co/List_of_Medal_of_Honor_recipients
https://kids.kiddle.co/Medal_of_Honor