Veterans Day is such a special holiday to observe with our students. We can give them a chance to honor those who have sacrificed so much for our country. In this post, I’m going to share some meaningful Veterans Day activities for kindergarten that you can add to your November lesson plans.
8 Veterans Day Activities for Kindergarten
Kindergarten is such an interesting grade level to teach, since students are learning and growing at lightning speed! There are often things that come up during the school year that students haven’t heard of before. Veterans Day can be one of those holidays that many students haven’t really observed prior to starting kindergarten.
On the other hand, there are also kindergarten students who have a very clear idea of what a veteran is, since they have a family member in the military. Observing this holiday as a class can help build classroom community since students can learn more about this day that honors people who are so important to their peers and to our country.
1. Nonfiction Text
One of the first steps in observing Veterans Day in kindergarten is for students to learn why this is a holiday that we observe. “Veteran” is often a new vocabulary word for young kindergarten students, so explaining that is an important first step!
This nonfiction text is a great starting point for this discussion! It introduces vocabulary and explains Veterans Day in a kid-friendly way. There is also a printable mini-book so your students can follow along with their own copy of the text. After using the mini-book in class, students can take it home and share it with their families.
2. Branches of Military
Once students understand why we honor veterans, you can explain that there are several different branches of the military. Students are often interested to hear the different ways that our service members protect our country!
These “Can, Have, Are” charts can help students visualize and understand the different branches of the military and what those service members do. As you put this chart together as a class, students can follow along by completing their own worksheets.
3. Veterans Day Song
Music is a very effective tool for helping young students master new vocabulary. The rhythm and rhyme can grab their attention as they practice these new words. This Veterans Day song uses a familiar tune to help students express their appreciation for those in the military. If you invite veterans to your school or classroom as part of your Veterans Day observance, this song could be a special addition to your presentation!
4. Veterans Day Craft
A Veterans Day bulletin board or display is another way to honor the veterans who visit and work in your school. This Veterans Day craft gives students the chance to practice their fine motor skills as they follow the assembly directions. Students can choose which branch of the military they would like to represent with the service member craft they create. The final display is always so special for veterans to see when they walk through the halls of the school.
5. Letters to Veterans
Another meaningful way for your students to observe Veterans Day is to write a letter to a veteran. You could choose to send these to a local veterans organization, mail them to active duty service members, or present them to veterans during a presentation in your school or classroom.
No matter how you deliver these letters, your students will be able to share their gratitude to those who have sacrificed (and continue to sacrifice) so much for our country.
6. Red White and Blue Roll-a-Word
You can also incorporate Veterans Day observance into your daily learning routine. For example, this roll-a-word activity uses a patriotic color scheme that’s perfect for Veterans Day! Students will use red, white, and blue letter dice as part of this activity.
They will roll the dice and try to make a word using the letters that they land on. Some of these CVC words will be real words and some will be nonsense words. That’s okay! They’ll write all of the words that they create. After they’ve filled up their paper, they can circle any real words they were able to build with the letters they rolled. Once they have found a real word, they can write and illustrate a sentence using that word.
7. Veterans Day Word Search
You can give your students a chance to practice letter and word identification as they review some of the new vocabulary words they’ve learned about Veterans Day.
This Veterans Day word search can be a great early finisher activity, literacy center, or morning work activity during your week of learning about this special day.
8. Veterans Day Word Building
Finally, this literacy activity is another way to incorporate Veterans Day into your learning routine. For this activity, students will cut out letter cards for each letter in the word “veteran”. They will then work their way down a list of words, deciding if they can spell each one with the letters they have.
Once they have finished that part of the activity, they can write a sentence using one of the words from the list. They can also draw a picture to illustrate their sentence.
More Veterans Day Activities for Kindergarten
You can find all of the activities I’ve mentioned in this post (and more!) in one time-saving resource! You’ll find everything you need to incorporate Veterans Day observance into your lesson plans all week – including math and literacy practice! Any of the resources can be used as stand-alone activity, or you can put them together for an entire Veterans Day unit!
If you’d like to take a closer look at all of the Veterans Day activities included in this resource, you can find it in my TPT store.
Save These Kindergarten Veterans Day Activities
Be sure to save this post so you can come back to it later! Just add the pin below to your favorite kindergarten board on Pinterest. You’ll be able to quickly find these activity ideas when you’re looking for a way to honor veterans during your November learning activities.