MLK Mural

I have a very talented friend from college who writes a few blogs for a living. She posted a link to another crafter's blog from her own crafter's blog when she tried this project with her kids. I was so impressed by it we had to try it.
Not only is it a fun, excellent way to teach the kids about MLK - it's just an awesome project. We sat down as a family and did it all together. There are plenty of squares that only used one or two colors - perfect for Elie Lou to paint. Ronny and I took the more difficult pages and the boys did all the in between. It's like a giant paint by number. Thank you, Megan!!
I pulled out a picture book I have of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speech and read it to the kids before we started. Whenever I teach about MLK - even when I taught first grade - I always have a little trepidation about how to approach the subject. While no one can doubt his legacy and the importance of teaching all he stood for and accomplished - it doesn't always occur to very young children why people would have ever been treated differently. I almost feel like to teach that it was once like that could possibly plant a seed of racism in their innocent heads. I try to only use the word "people" instead of "black people" were not all being treated fairly and how MLK fought peacefully for the rights of all men and women. I don't know if that's better or not, but it felt so to me than making a distinction between black and white people to my kids who haven't yet thought of people as black or white.