Monday is Labor Day. Aside from being the first official holiday of the school year, Labor Day is a great opportunity to educate your students about our country’s history regarding labor rights, child labor, trade unions, and more. Watch a video about the history and significance of Labor Day, then try one of these fun themed activities!
Make a career book
Writing and illustrating a book about a potential future job can be fun for kids. If necessary, support the students with these sentence frames. Try Book Creator for a digital option!
Create career collages
Have students use craft paper to create a collage of pictures from a job they’re interested in – and hang them up in your classroom. Students can then take a tour of the gallery to see everyone’s work. Equip them with sticky notes and they can leave feedback and questions for their colleagues!
Learn more about community helpers
Read a book about community helpers from this list, or ask students to create a list of community helpers from A to Z.
Create a timeline for the work history
The history of work in the United States is really fascinating. Encourage students to either create a timeline of important events on paper or, for a virtual option, try HSTRY; a web-based platform that offers up to 100 student and teacher created timelines with one free account.
Explore a key figure in work history
Have each of your students research and then make a presentation about a person who has influenced the working environment in our country. Cesar Chavez, Samuel Gompers, and A. Philip Randolph are all excellent options. (Check Out How To Use Research Tools With Students)
Thanks to a community helper
Write thank you notes or cards to community workers – police officers, firefighters, paramedics, postal workers – and then send or deliver them. Take a look at our free thank you coloring and writing pages here.
Do an assembly line race
Set up a mini factory in the classroom! Two teams fight to be the first to put the “product” together on an assembly line. Product ideas: Candy Cars (a pack of chewing gum for the body and four peppermints for the tires), paper planes or 3D shapes with popsicles.
Record a day in life
Record how your students talk about a day in their life, then compare it to the lives of students living abroad in locations with different labor laws. Are there any similarities? What are the differences?
Take action against child labor
Use nonfiction books and articles to give your students firsthand insight into the use of child labor around the world. TeacherVision offers an exceptional lesson for Grades 4-6, including easy ways for students to take action.
Dress to impress the day
Encourage students to dress up as a profession of their choice. To go a step further, invite community members to speak with the class about their jobs and have students come up with questions to ask them.
Want more? Check out this free, non-prep work package to read, speak, and write here!
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