February is Black History Month in the United States and Canada. It is a time to learn about and celebrate the history, achievements and culture of Black people. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, it is celebrated in October.

Black history is part of everyone’s history, and it is worth learning about all year long. February is a great time to shine a special light on it. Here is a simple guide for teaching young kids, with activities for PreK–2.

What Is Black History Month?

For young children, you can say:

  • Black History Month happens every February.
  • It is a time to learn about Black people who made our world better.
  • We learn about inventors, scientists, artists, athletes, leaders and helpers.
  • We celebrate their courage, their ideas and their work.

How Black History Month Began

Black History Month began with a historian named Carter G. Woodson. His parents had been enslaved, and he worked very hard to go to school. He noticed that history books left out the stories of Black Americans, so he decided to change that.

In 1926, he started a week of celebrating Black history (then called Negro History Week) in the second week of February, close to the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. Over the years, schools and communities celebrated for longer and longer. In 1976, it became a whole month, recognized by the President of the United States. Canada officially recognized Black History Month in 1995.

People to Learn About With Young Children

Choose a few people and focus on what they did, in words children understand.

  • Ruby Bridges: In 1960, when she was six years old, Ruby Bridges became the first Black student at William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans. She walked into school bravely every day.
  • Mae Jemison: A doctor and engineer, she became the first African American woman to travel to space, on the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1992.
  • Katherine Johnson: A mathematician at NASA, she did the calculations that helped astronauts fly safely, including John Glenn’s trip around the Earth in 1962.
  • Garrett Morgan: An inventor who patented a traffic signal in 1923 to make busy crossings safer. He also invented a safety hood that helped rescuers breathe in smoke.
  • Bessie Coleman: No flying school in the United States would accept her, so she learned in France. In 1921, she became the first African American woman to earn a pilot’s license.
  • George Washington Carver: A scientist who taught farmers to plant peanuts, which help soil that is tired from growing cotton, and who found hundreds of uses for peanuts and sweet potatoes. (He did not invent peanut butter, a common mix-up.)
  • Alma Thomas: An art teacher for many years who became famous for bright paintings made of small dabs of color. In 1972, she became the first African American woman to have a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.

Teaching Tips for PreK–2

  • Celebrate joy and achievement. Include artists, scientists, athletes, authors and community helpers, not only stories of hard times.
  • Keep hard history simple and honest. Young children understand fair and unfair. You can say that some rules long ago were unfair to Black people, and that brave people worked to change them.
  • Read widely. Share picture books written and illustrated by Black authors and artists, about everyday life as well as famous people.
  • Look close to home. Invite families and community members to share, and learn about Black leaders in your own town.
  • Keep going after February. Add these people to your lessons on science, art and kindness all year.

Simple Black History Month Activities

Paint Like Alma Thomas (Art)

Show children how Alma Thomas painted rows of short, colorful brushstrokes. Children paint their own picture of dabs in rows, or glue small squares of tissue paper in stripes of color. If your class enjoyed our free Van Gogh artist study or Monet artist study, compare how each artist used color.

Space Mission (Science and Pretend Play)

Inspired by Mae Jemison, build a cardboard rocket, count down from 10 together and “blast off.” Talk about what astronauts need to take with them.

Paper Traffic Signal (Safety)

Make a paper traffic signal with red, yellow and green circles, and play a stop-and-go movement game. Talk about how inventors like Garrett Morgan worked to keep people safe on busy streets.

Brave Like Ruby (Social-Emotional Learning)

Ruby Bridges was brave on her first days of school. Ask: “When have you been brave?” Children draw a picture and finish the sentence “I was brave when...”

Our Class Can Change the World (Class Book)

Each child draws one way they can make the world better, such as helping a friend, planting a seed or sharing. Bind the pages into a class book.

Words and Printables

Make a word search with our free word search maker using inventor, artist, pilot, astronaut, brave, dream and history, and celebrate great work with an award from the certificate maker.

Every Story Matters

Black History Month helps every child see that people like them, and people different from them, have made our world better. For a class poster where every child adds one piece, adapt our collaborative bulletin board ideas, and build a caring community all year with our free classroom community activities.

More teaching guides for January and February: MLK Day, Groundhog Day, Lunar New Year, the 100th Day of School and Valentine’s Day.