A Kid's Guide to African American History: More Than 70 Activities

A Kid's Guide

by Nancy I. Sanders

What do all these people have in the first man to die fighting in the American Revolution, a onetime chief of the Crow Nation, the inventors of the banjo and peanut butter, and the first clockmaker in this country? They were all great African Americans. For parents and teachers interested in fostering cultural awareness among children of all races, this book includes more than 70 hands-on activities, songs, and games that teach kids about the people, experiences, and events that shaped African American history. Children will have fun designing an African mask, making a medallion like those worn by early abolitionists, playing the rhyming game "Juba," inventing Brer Rabbit riddles, and creating a unity cup for Kwanzaa. Along the way they will learn about inspiring African American artists, inventors, and heroes like Harriet Tubman, Benjamin Banneker, Rosa Parks, Langston Hughes, and Louis Armstrong, to name a few.

Genres: History, Childrens, Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1994

About the author

Nancy I. Sanders is the bestselling and award-winning children's author of over 100 books. Her children's books include D IS FOR DRINKING GOURD: AN AFRICAN AMERICAN ALPHABET, AMERICA'S BLACK FOUNDERS, and FREDERICK DOUGLASS FOR KIDS. She loves to teach writers at writing conferences and teleclasses so that they can take their writing career to the next level. Her workshops are based on her groundbreaking book, YES! YOU CAN LEARN HOW TO WRITE CHILDREN'S BOOKS, GET THEM PUBLISHED, AND BUILD A SUCCESSFUL WRITING CAREER. Nancy and her husband Jeff live near Los Angeles.

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great resource for homeschool kids, teachers, librarians, and anyone wanting to know a more in-depth look at African American History.
The book is divided into sections: Africa, Colonial America, The Civil War, Civil Rights Movement, Black History Month and Martin Luther King Jr, Beyond, and features a bit about Kwanzaa as well at the end.

Each section has games, masks, songs, stories, crafts, and other activities that showcase the famous people or events during history that perfectly and respectfully tells African American History.

Would say, probably a 4th grade reading level.

Lots of neat ideas in here!

[Beth Kakuma-Depew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book covers a wide range of history. From the Glories of Africa, to Colonial American, Life on a Plantation, Free Africans and Abolitionists, To the turn of the Centry, this books looks at lot more than just the Civil War and the Civil Rights Mvnt. Each history segment includes simple activities. there are a lot of small mini-bios of lesser known figures from Black Amer History.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the mix of comprehensive history, important highlights, and simple straightforward writing in this book. Also, the activities seemed to relate very well to the text in each section, and enhanced the learning. This book is a book every American should read, not just African American and not just children. I was amazed at how much I learned as an adult (granted, a white adult who was sheltered from a lot of African American history growing up) about the history of our country and even a bit about the history of nations in Africa.

Because it is written with a child audience in mind (Grades 2-4) the content is on the one hand not as graphic but also not as subtle as an adult text. An example:

"Whether Africans had been princes or chiefs, married or with children, at the slave market they were treated like cattle and sold without any care for their personal identity or feelings."

I thought passages like these were actually more powerful because they were written with a younger audience in mind: they expressed the essence of the matters very quickly and clearly.

The only weakness of this text is that it was written in 2007, just one year before America had its first African American president! Perhaps there will be an updated edition (this edition is an update to the first one from 2000), meanwhile the absence of Barack Obama from its pages is striking!