Are you wanting to discuss and celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr with your child or class?
Here are some hand-picked activities to help you share with your child his influence on the world with age-appropriate resources.
Kids Activities About Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
I realized that I needed to find some last minute ideas for my own daughter so I thought I’d share with you what I found.
Just type in the words Martin Luther King Jr. on Pinterest or online and you will see a reflection on how much one man can change the world. In schools all over teachers are talking to children about him and the importance of peace, equality and standing up for what’s right.
Each age level will do it in different ways and at varying levels of content.
We’ve shared some of our favorite selections of activities on our Winter Pinterest Board. Here are our TOP Picks for Activities do to with Preschoolers and Elementary Aged Children to learn about Martin Luther King Jr.
Hand-picked activities about Martin Luther King Jr including videos, crafts and books that are age appropriate for young children.
Martin Luther King Jr. Activities for Kids
- Tour of Martin Luther Kind’s Home
- Rise Up by Jack Hartmann from his Jack Hartmann & Hop 2 It Music
- For more Martin Luther King Jr Songs
- I Have a Dream Earth Mural from MRs. T’s First Grade
- Martin Luther King Jr Activities from Twiggle Magazine
- Martin Luther King Jr Birthday Card from First Grade with Miss Snowden
- Martin Luther King Jr Activities for Preschool Centers from Preschool Plan It
- Handprint Craft from The Seeds Network
- MLK Paintings from Chalk Talk
- 3 Books for Kids to Celebrate MLK Day from Pragmatic Mom
- Free MLK Unit from Chalk Talk
- Egg Activity from Life is Sweet in Kindergarten
- Martin Luther King Unit on Enchanted Learning
- Printable I Can Dream Like Dr. King from Room 36
- Printable I Have a Dream Writing Paper from Teaching First
- Martin Luther King Jr. Timeline for Kids from Fun in K/1
- Ways to Celebrate Martin Luther King Jr from Family Education
- Celebrating Martin Luther King Jr Day from PreK and Sharing
- How Do you Celebrate Martin Luther King Day from Scholastic
- How Every Family Should Celebrate Martin Luther King Day from Teach Mama
I Have a Dream Project with Random Acts of Kindness
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Videos About Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Here are several age appropriate videos to share with young children as you learn about Martin Luther King Jr.
MLK – The King and His Dream
Our Friend Martin
If you find this video called Our Friend Martin it’s one of my student’s favorite for many years. Here’s the Link on YOUTUBE… the WHOLE video
Our Friend, Martin 
Video
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr: A Leader and a Hero
Martin Luther King Jr. Day | PBS Kids
The Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. | BrainPOP
Rise Up: Martin Luther King Jr. Song | Jack Hartmann
The Story of Martin Luther King Jr. | Kid President
Kid President shares about The Story Of Martin Luther King Jr.
“Think about this… isn’t it cool that we can change things?“
Books for Children About Martin Luther King Jr.
Here are some of my favorite books to read with young children about the life of Martin Luther King Jr and the impact he made in our lives and for the rights of so many.
I am Martin Luther King, Jr. (Ordinary People Change the World)
Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (A Big Words Book, 1)
I am Brave: A Little Book about Martin Luther King, Jr. (Ordinary People Change the World)
Martin & Anne: The Kindred Spirits of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Anne Frank
Martin Rising: Requiem For a King
This Little Dreamer: An Inspirational Primer
March On!: The Day My Brother Martin Changed the World
A Place to Land: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Speech That Inspired a Nation
MLK Day: a day of service
The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is an official day of service and celebrates the civil rights leader’s life and legacy.
Make a plan to serve on MLK Day. To help you get started, we’ve gathered some easy ways you can help your community. Take your pick and pledge action today.
Together, we can make a huge collective difference on Monday—so begin by making a plan to serve today.
We’d love you to share what ways you’re Observing Martin Luther King Jr. with your Child.
You might also like these 7 Songs for Teaching Kids About Kindness
We are going to use lunch to discuss the reason we recognize this day. You can see the creative lunch I made for my daughter over at http://ncsufrog.blogspot.com/2013/01/lets-learn-about-lunch-martin-luther.html
Great post! I have a post on three books celebrating MLK day http://www.pragmaticmom.com/2013/01/mlk-books-for-kid/ One is on Ruby Bridges and the other is a chapter book set in the south called Glory Be by Augusta Scattergood. Dr. King influenced so many people to make change and I wanted to show that one person can make a difference, even a child.
Thank you for giving us these great activities and links for this special day! I was fortunate to have Daria, who shares music for children all over the world, link up with my post to honor Dr. King: http://viviankirkfield.wordpress.com/2013/01/20/honoring-dr-martin-luther-king-with-music-and-more/
She wrote a song and there is a link to coloring pages and an animated video clip of the music…AND a free download of her original song!
Thanks for sharing these wonderful resources. Perhaps we will fit something in the afternoon today – we are just enjoying an extra day off today. But I enjoyed when earlier today we watched inauguration, and suddenly Anna said, "Dr Martin Luther King dream came true. Look, President Obama is black!"