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President’s Day has been celebrated since 1800. 213 years later, the holiday still remains strong in our country’s history.  Increase your child’s knowledge of this day by reciting facts about on the historic holiday was created.

Here are some fun facts about President’s Day from KidsPlayandCreate.com:

• President’s Day began the year after the death of former President George Washington.
• George Washington’s birthday on February 22 became a day of remembrance to celebrate our nation’s first president.
• Each year more and more people celebrated George Washington’s birthday and in 1885 it became a holiday.
• George Washington became the first American citizen with a federal holiday.
• By 1885 the holiday expanded and the entire country was celebrating George Washington’s birthday.
• In 1968 Congress passed a bill called the uniform Monday Holiday Bill. The bill was passed to create  a 3 day weekends for workers and moved some holidays to Mondays.
• The bill combined George Washington’s birthday, which was February 22nd with Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, which was February 12th.
• In 1971 President’s Day  was moved to the third Monday in the month of February.

There are also fun activities that help children learn about this special day. PBSKids.org has an interactive application for kids to apply to become the President for a Day. It also includes facts about being the President such as how old you have to be to become President, the salary of the President, and some of the job tasks.  This fun job application will take you through a day as the president and provide facts about what other presidents did while they were in office!

Once you and your children are done being President for the day, you can become a tourist and take a virtual tour of the White House. During the tour you can visit different levels which include: the Rose Garden,  Kennedy Garden,  Diplomatic Room,  Oval Office,  library, kitchen, and Vermeil room (just to name a few). Each stop will include a historic fact.

By the end of President’s Day you and your children will be full of fun facts about this historic holiday. Share these awesome facts with friends, family, and teachers and celebrate the importance of America’s leaders! 

The 2012 Summer Olympics start tonight! There are many ways to get the kids excited about the Olympics. Here are some fun facts, creative crafts, and delicious recipes in order to get the whole family excited about one of the most talked about sporting events of all time!

Fun Facts:

There are two great websites full of fun facts that your kids will find interesting and intriguing.

Here are some fascinating facts from Project Britain:

• London hosted the Olympic Games in 1908 and 1948 (and now in 2012!).
• 205 nations will take part in 300 events at the Olympic Games in 2012.
• London is the biggest city in Britain and in Europe.
• The tallest building in London is the Canary Wharf Tower.
•  Some of the most important people from countries all over the world visit the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

Get Set also has some great facts that the kids will enjoy:

• The Olympic and Paralympic Games are the biggest peacetime event in the world.
• The Ancient Olympic Games were held in Olympia, Greece thousands of years ago.
• More than 1500 years later, a young Frenchman called Baron Pierre de Coubertin decided to create the modern Olympic Games.
• The last Olympic Games were in Beijing, China, in August 2008.
• In 1896, the first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens, Greece.

Creative Crafts:

We found a fun kid-friendly craft from the 2008 Beijing Oylmpics. Help your children create an Olympic Torch and run around the house or outside pretending that they are the runner that lights the torch for the Olympic Games!

The kids will love making the torch and watching the torch being lit on television tonight. They will be a part of the action!

Olympic Recipe:

No celebration is complete without a delicious treat that can be enjoyed by the whole family. Have your children help you create an Olympic cake.

Flossie Crums has a delectable recipe for a vanilla sponge cake designed with Olympic rings made of M&Ms. Choose a flavor of cake that is a family favorite.

Enjoy the 2012 Olympics! We’d love to know the fun activities you have planned for your family to celebrate this summer’s Olympic Games.