Let’s Celebrate Juneteenth!
Children Activities from our Super Summer Juneteenth Celebration
On June 19th, or “Juneteenth,” African Americans celebrate Freedom Day to mark when enslaved people of African descent in Texas learned of their freedom after the Civil War. On June 19, 1865, they were the last people to be emancipated, two whole years after the Emancipation Proclamation and two months after the end of the Civil War.
It’s a great educational opportunity for all children to learn about an important day in history. Need some educational ideas?
Check out the suggestions below!
“Great escapes” Scavenger Hunt
Bravery and creativity played critical roles for many enslaved African Americans seeking freedom. Take part in our scavenger hunt to learn about some truly “great” escapes from slavery. (Don’t forget to download our connect the dots activity below!)
Art twist: Act it out! Mime out each item in the scavenger hunt, while your friends and family try to guess.
Louisiana’s Underground Railroad | Connect the dots!
Learn the secret route that enslaved African Americans used to get to free states.
Juneteenth Storybook Scavenger Hunt
Visit your local library or your home library to find all the items on our list. If you can’t find it on the cover, search the inside of the book!
Art twist: Now that you’ve learned a little about Juneteenth, create your own Juneteenth Flag using this guide from African American Museum of Iowa. Keep the fun going! Make a Pan-African flag, also a symbol of black liberation.
Juneteenth Word Search
Find each word in our word search and think about how it relates to Juneteenth. If you don’t know what a word means, ask a parent to help you look it up!
Art twist: try to make a pattern with all of the horizontal words and a different pattern with all of the vertical words.
Pattern: a repeating decorative design
Horizontal: lines that go side to side, or parallel to the horizon line.
Vertical: lines that go up and down