Martin Luther King, Jr. – I Have A Dream Pillow

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day  is just around the corner, and if you’re the parent or teacher of a preschooler or other early learner, I’m sure you’re looking for activities to teach your little one more about Dr. King and his legacy.  “I Have A Dream” speech is Dr. King’s most famous speech, and is typically the way that young children are introduced to the Civil Rights leader.

This simple craft is an easy way to connect the speech to children and  help them to start to understand  Dr. King’s desire to live in a world where children would not be judged by the color of their skin. Start off by reading a book about Dr. King to your young learner. I read “The Story of Martin Luther King Jr.” by Johnny Ray Moore to Ayva. It’s written in a way that even preschoolers can understand.

After we read the book, I talked more about Dr. King’s dream, and made sure she understood that he wanted things to be fair for everyone, no matter who they are. I asked Ayva what her dream would be for the world, what would she wish would be fair for all children no matter where they come from. Her answer right away was school. She said that she dreams that every school would get to go to a school that is as good as hers. Pretty cool, huh?  Once I was satisfied that she understood what it meant to have a dream, we started on the craft.

Materials:

• felt rectangles or squares
• felt letters (you could also cut them out yourself, but it’s easier to buy)
• cotton balls
• hot glue gun & glue sticks
• any adornments that you have laying around (we used pom poms)

What To Do:

1. Spell out the dream that your child has expressed they have with the felt letters. Ayva wants all children to be able to go to great schools, so we spelled out “school”.

2. Glue the letters to one of the pieces of felt. Decorate with the adornments.

3.  Put the felt on top of each other and glue 3 sides together.

4. Stuff the felt pocket with cotton balls.

5. Glue the last open side shut.

Want more resources on Dr. King activities for kids? Check out this list of books: https://mamaknowsitall.com/2014/01/books-to-teach-children-about-dr-martin-luther-king-jr.html

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