Columbus Day Ideas for Kids

Crafts, Poems, and Songs for Children to Celebrate Columbus Day

Sep 8, 2007 Melissa Howard

Use songs, crafts, and poems to engage children's senses as they learn about Columbus Day.

"Discovery! The very word is exciting! Columbus Day, October 12th, is our holiday in honor of the great discoverer, Columbus." Nina R. Jordan (author of Holiday Handicraft a classic kid’s craft book).

Use the following poems, songs, and crafts to help children experience more fully the story of Christopher Columbus and his wonderful mistake.

Poems

Below you will find the traditional verse that we all learned at school to help us remember that all important date: the year Columbus first sailed to America.

In fourteen hundred and ninety-two

Columbus sailed the ocean blue.

~ Anonymous

The poem below makes it easy to understand why people would have thought that the world is flat.

12 October

From where I stand now

the world is flat

flat out flat

no end to that.

Where my eyes go the land moves out.

How is it then

five hundred years ago (about)

Columbus found

that far beyond the flat on flat

the world was round?

Myra Cohn Livingston

Songs

The Holiday Zone has some Columbus Day songs set to well-known tunes. Two songs are particularly good. The first is Columbus Day set to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb. The second is Oh, Columbus set to the tune of Oh My Darling. Clementine. Both are good for helping children memorize the year during which Columbus first sailed and accidentally discovered the Americas.

Three Fun Projects for Children

Supplies for All Three Projects

• black and yellow craft foam or
• black and yellow construction paper
• glue or other adhesive
• Columbus Day coloring pages
• spices
• stickers (if desired)
• scissors
• staples

Make a newspaper hat. To make a more durable hat, use kid’s craft foam. To see hats made of craft foam, look at image 5 below. Hint: Staples or a durable adhesive are necessary for hats made with craft foam.

Make a telescope from a paper towel role. Cover the role with black construction paper or black craft foam. Add a yellow band of paper or craft foam around the end. Decorate as desired. To see an example of a telescope see image 4 below.

Make spice collages. Find coloring pages of Christopher Columbus, his ships, and a map of the world or other subject suitable for Columbus Day. Use glue and spices to decorate them (like decorating a drawing with glitter). Remind the children that Columbus was trying to find a short cut to the Far East to buy silks and spices and that he found America by accident. See images 1, 2, and 3.Hint:Be aware of what spices you use. Some spices will cause a great deal of sneezing. Avoid 'HOT' spices such as cayenne powder because they could be hazardous and cause injury to eyes or sinuses.

The copyright of the article Columbus Day Ideas for Kids in Kids Crafts is owned by Melissa Howard. Permission to republish Columbus Day Ideas for Kids in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Christopher Columbus Spice Collage	Small Child's Mixed Media of a Caravelle Ship	Upsidedown View of the World as Spice Collaged Map
View Through a Telescope

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Comments

Sep 24, 2008 12:55 PM

Guest :

Do your have any grade 4 christopher columbus craft or project?




From, Winnie Chan

Sep 24, 2008 1:58 PM

Melissa Howard :

I am afraid not. Although, I believe the spiced collage of Columbus or the world map would probably work for fourth graders if handled correctly.

Oct 23, 2008 9:13 AM

Guest :

Thank you for songs to use with my preschool class.

Oct 12, 2009 10:01 AM

Guest :

Are you a moron? Everyone knows that christopher columbus did not discover the world was round. aristotle even said that in his day it was common knowledge the world was round.

Oct 13, 2009 5:29 AM

Guest :

Why would you even come to a kid's site if you were going to call someone a moron? That's very inappropriate, don't you think? Mind your manners.

Oct 15, 2009 8:48 AM

Guest :

This is just an opinion. Although Columbus may not have "discovered " that the world was round since many also believed it was round (even the book of Job refers to the earth being a sphere), he did set out to prove it. He just didn't sit on his theory and think about it. He did open the way for the migration of Europeans to the western world. Thank you Melissa for taking the time to post your ideas.

6 Comments