Fun Martin Luther King Jr. Activities are here to save the day! Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an important civil rights leader, and January is a great time to celebrate his life and equal rights in the United States. The third Monday of January is a U.S. holiday, Martin Luther King Jr Day, where elementary students can remember and celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Classrooms around the United States and the world teach about Dr. King’s life and his courageous acts.
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Learning about the life of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr is so important for upper elementary students because it teaches them about courage, kindness, and standing up for what’s right. Fun activities like making timelines of his accomplishments, reading parts of his “I Have a Dream” speech, or writing about their own dreams for a better world help kids connect with his story.
These lessons aren’t just about history—they show students how they can make a difference in creating fairness and respect around them. Dr. King’s life reminds us that one person really can inspire big changes, regardless of skin color, and that’s a message kids can carry with them forever.
In this blog post, we will look at some of the best ways to remember Dr Martin Luther King Jr. and learn about the Civil Rights Movement. These fun Martin Luther King activities will engage your students in key social studies and language arts skills. Some of the different ways to improve a child’s understanding of racial equality include using picture books, making an interactive timeline, reading an MLK passage, completing a word search, and more! Let’s take a look!
A great way to engage students of all ages is with a read aloud. There are many wonderful picture books about Dr King’s life! Begin your lesson with a book about the story of Martin Luther King Jr and give all of your students a common foundation for learning. Here are some teacher favorite books about Dr Martin Luther King Jr.
There are many other great books too! These picture books are short enough to complete in a day but provide a very good overview of the facts and events associated with Dr. King. You can also add these and others to your classroom library so students can read more on their own.
After students have background knowledge, it’s time to get specific. This Dr Martin Luther King Jr. timeline activity will teach students new and interesting facts about Dr. King. This is an easy way for students to dig deeper into the life of Martin Luther King and learn more about the main events in his life.
Using the timeline cards, students will work on sequencing and ordering the events in the life of Dr Martin Luther King. By gluing the cards together, students will create a timeline for the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. This is just one of many great hands-on, interactive activities for working on these important skills.
Some of the main events of Dr. King’s life included in this timeline are:
Close reading is an excellent way to help students dig deeper into a text. Here, students will dig into Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Through close reading, students will deepen their understanding of the words and meaning in this historic speech.
Through repeated readings, students will focus on comprehension, vocabulary, understanding meaning and more. What better way to learn about this important man, than to really understand his words? As students complete each reading, they are guided through thinking about this famous speech in a different way.
What upper elementary student doesn’t like a word search or word scramble? This is one of several fun ways to learn the vocabulary of the Civil Rights Movement and life of Dr. King.
A word search one of several fun ways to review important Civil Rights and social justice vocabulary. As students look for each word, they can think about the word they learned and reinforce the word and its meaning mentally. They also work on reading and spelling the word as they search. This MLK word search is a fun Martin Luther King Day vocabulary activity your students will love.
Some of the words included in these word puzzles include:
There are a lot of “big” ideas that we learn from Martin Luther King, Jr. We can help our students assimilate all they have learned through writing. A writing project is a great way for students to process what they learned while developing a better understanding of the effects of Dr. King’s life on their own.
This guided writing activity will help students think through their own dream for making the world a better place. The planning page helps students write their topic sentence and supporting details. Students are guided through what each sentence should include to create a high quality paragraph.
As students follow the guided writing, they gain a writing formula they can use in other paragraphs. As students do more writing, they begin to develop a better understanding of how to support their topic sentence without the “formula.” This is a wonderful way to remember this special day!
What a fun way to practice multiplication facts while coloring a picture of Martin Luther King Jr.! This color by number activity is one of my students’ favorite way to celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.!
Help your students learn even more by exploring any of the following websites:
PBS LearningMedia: The Life and Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
Features videos and educational materials that explore Dr. King’s contributions to the civil rights movement, suitable for classroom and at-home learning.
TIME for Kids: Martin Luther King Jr.
Provides a concise overview of Dr. King’s role in the civil rights movement, along with related articles and resources suitable for young readers.
National Geographic Kids: Martin Luther King Jr.
This site offers a kid-friendly biography, fun facts, and historical photos, providing an interactive way to learn about Dr. King’s life and legacy.
Britannica Kids: Martin Luther King Jr.
An informative article tailored for students, detailing Dr. King’s early life, civil rights efforts, and lasting impact on society
You can find all these activities in this Martin Luther King, Jr. Activity Packet. It even includes a digital version for use in Google Classroom!
These no prep Martin Luther King Jr activities will not only help you teach your students about this great man, but also review and practice key social studies, reading and writing skills.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a wonderful opportunity to teach an important part of history and the Civil Rights Movement to intermediate level students! This engaging, hands-on packet explores Martin Luther King’s life, his “I Have a Dream” speech, and his work to make this world a more peaceful, equal place.
The packet of MLK activities is easy to use; simply print and you are ready to go! No centers to create, cutting or laminating to do, or colored ink to worry about!
This engaging, high-interest packet includes these favorite activities:
The digital version includes ready-made Google slides for you to share with your class. The slides are visually appealing and easy to use. They include a drag and drop timeline, writing activity, crossword puzzle, and a close read of Dr. King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech.
Teaching upper elementary students about Martin Luther King, Jr. isn’t just about learning history—it’s about inspiring kids to stand up for fairness, kindness, and equality. With fun and interactive activities, we can help them connect with his message in ways that really stick. As they explore Dr. King’s life and legacy, they’ll take away important lessons about how to be thoughtful, compassionate leaders who can make a real difference. Let’s keep his dream alive by encouraging kids to be the change-makers our world needs.
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Hi, I’m Shelly! Thank you for being here. I love helping third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers with fun and engaging activities that require no to little prep! Let me help you by taking some of the stress and work off your plate.
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