Crafty Mom: An MLK Day craft for kids

When you hear the name Martin Luther King, Jr., more than likely the iconic statement “I have a dream” is what comes to mind. For our craft I went a little further in his speech to my favorite line:

"… little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.”

I wanted to teach my children the importance of disregarding the differences between people and that race, color, shape and size should not play a part in how you feel about someone. I wanted them to understand that all are equal.

For this craft I decided to make playdough. It is a very simple no cook recipe. I had them mold a world out of the dough and paint their world with two hands overlapping.

For the playdough you will need:

2 cups flour

1 cup salt

1 cup water

1 TBS oil

I doubled this recipe and it gave me more than enough playdough for three kids.

Mix together first with a spoon and then with your hands, kneading it just as you would pizza dough.

We rolled out the dough and used a pencil to cut out a circle. After removing the extra dough around the circle the kids pressed their hands into the dough so that their fingers overlapped across the world.

We then painted all but the hand prints blue. I let the kids pick any color for the hands, making each one a different color.

You can wait for the play dough to harden before you paint. It takes about 48 hours, or you can paint it first. I painted it first so that the reason and thoughts on this project would still be fresh in the kids minds.

I also let them paint and make whatever they wanted. Myley made a foot which actually fit right in with this project. In his speech King also said: “We cannot walk alone.”

This was a fun way for them to begin to understand and memorize a few key phrases from this important piece of history.

This playdough recipe is so simple and perfect for rainy days. It will last for a few weeks in an air tight container. Add food coloring or natural coloring, such as beet juice, to make fun colors.

Do you have any fun Martin Luther King Day crafts? I’d love to hear about them!