Learning About President Lincoln, President Washington and Money All Rolled Into A Few Fun Art Activities

February 20^th is just around the corner when government agencies will be closed for President’s Day.

After Valentine’s Day I take a few days to study Washington and Lincoln, and add the color blue to our red and white décor for a patriotic look.

It’s also the time I launch our coin studies, as these two famous gents are on our money.

Making mobiles is an easy and fun center activity, that quickly creates a great hallway decoration, as they dangle from the middle of the ceiling or twirl as a border against the wall.

They help reinforce shapes, listening and following spatial directions and are a wonderful way for students to learn facts, as they compare and contrast the lives of these legendary presidents.

All of these mobiles can be found in my February Art and Activities Book.

Click on the link to view/download it.

The Money Mobile is one of my personal favorites and a terrific way for your students to review all of the coins at once.

I find if children do hands-on projects where they can compare and contrast coins, they are able to identify them more easily when they are assessed.

Arranging them from smallest to largest also helps them get this fact in their mind.

Little ones seem to think that because a dime is worth 10 cents, it should be larger than a nickel and penny.

Cutting, gluing and then coloring the “Coin ID Sort” helps them with this.  Click on the link to view/down load Coin Identification Sort

The Lincoln and Washington Information Mobile, helps students learn a few facts about the presidents; Lincoln is on one side, Washington is on the other side.

The same is true of the paper chain mobile, which helps reinforce patterning.

I’ve made money poster-poems that you can put up in your room/read to your students.

I found the poems all over the Web so I don’t know who to give credit to.   If you know the originator, please drop me a line so I can credit the source.

I revamped the 50 cent one as fries are no longer that price, and also changed the dollar because of ITunes.

Click on the link to view/download the Coin Poster Poems

I've also made coin certificates when your students have mastered identifying them as well as being able to name them.

Since these are two different standards, I've made certificates for both. 

Our Y5's do not have to identfy the quarter, but I've included  certificates with the quarter on them as well. Click on the link to view/download them. Coin Certificates

For your convenience I’ve posted last year’s President’s Day article after this one, so you don’t have to hunt through the archives for more tips.

If you're looking for coloring pages of the presidents,  Lil Fingers has all of them! Click on the link to check out their selection. 

They also have coloring pages for all of the coins too. 

I use coloring pages to make a variety of skill sheets like Pinch and Pokes, bingo dot a pattern, dot-to-dots, I Spy a Number etc.

Be sure and pop back tomorrow for more fun teaching tips.