Camp Korey is honored to serve a diverse population of campers, families, staff, volunteers, and donors. As we continue to grow, we are excited to spotlight and share resources that recognize that diversity. This February, as we honor Black History Month, we are highlighting a list of resources and activities for our community that celebrates the achievements and history of African Americans in the United States.
Explore Black History or Civil Rights Museums
- National Museum of African American History and Culture
- Smithsonian Institution: Talking About Race, Early Childhood Education, and Teaching and Learning
- National Civil Rights Museum
- Northwest African American Museum
Art Projects
- Make a Handprint Heart Sandbox Academy encourages an activity that honors the beauty of different skin colors and diversity.
- Kehinde Wiley is best known for painting young black people, often placing them in into versions of portraits from art history. His paintings fuse the past and present in ways that force us to confront our notions of wealth, importance, race, and gender. This Kehinde Wiley Art Lesson blog post includes discussion questions, interpretation activities, and more.
- Freedom Quilts by Colors of my Day — Elementary students create quilt squares and write poems or short stories based on the book The Patchwork Patch: A Quilt Map to Freedom
Music
- Museum of Pop Culture: Jimi Hendrix
- What Is Jazz?: Jazz Fundamentals from Jazz at Lincoln Center
- Ken Burns follows the growth and development of jazz music in this PBS series
- The History of Hip-Hop on NPR
Cook a Special Dinner Together
- Author Sandye Zdanwic and teacher Sarah Miller recommend researching and cooking traditional cuisines from predominantly Black countries. Families may enjoy cooking a traditional meal together and exploring a variety of traditional African dishes from Hatti, Jamaica, South Africa, Nigeria, and traditional Southern America. Parents and kids can work together to choose recipes, shop for ingredients, and even prepare the food.
Read a Book That Celebrates Black History
There are many children’s books that celebrate Black history in ways kids of all ages can understand. Here are a few of our favorites:
- Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine
- A is for All the Things You Are by Anna Forgerson Hindley
- Carter Reads the Newspaper by Deborah Hopkinson
- Come Look With Me: Discovering African American Art for Children by James Haywood Rolling, Jr.
- A Child’s Introduction to African American History by Jabari Asim
- I Am Every Good Thing by Derrick Barnes and Gordon C. James
- Heart and Soul by Kadir Nelson
Check out Reading Rockets for detailed booklists and to find more great titles related to Black history and culture.
Watch a Series Together
If you have time, consider carving out one night a week to watch an episode or two from one of these series for kids that explore Black culture:
- Check out these read-aloud videos from Sankofa Read Alouds on YouTube
- View the Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices series on Netflix
- Watch Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum on PBS!
- Check out StoryCorps, where stories feature Black voices in conversations about Black history, identity, struggles, and joy.
- Watch out for Michelle Obama’s new cooking show Waffles + Mochi on Netflix (premieres March 16th)
Cabin Chat
Scholastic recommends using the questions listed below to approach the conversation about racial equality and civil rights as a family. In addition, the website features books related to the civil rights movement that are tailored to your child’s age and grade.
- What do you know about the civil rights movement?
- What were some of the challenges that people faced during that time in our nation’s history?
- How do you think children felt during that time? Parents? Teachers?
- Who were some of the leaders of the civil rights movement?
- What similar challenges do people in our nation face today?
- How can we continue Dr. King’s message of inclusion and equality in our own lives?
- Where can we go for more information about this and related topics?
This resource rundown is provided by Camp Korey’s community outreach and program departments.
