March is women’s month, and not just because of International Women’s Day which falls on the 8th of March. Starting in 1978 as a “Women’s History Week” in Sonoma County, California, the observation that aimed to highlight the contributions of women throughout history quickly spread internationally. On behalf of the National Women’s History Project in 1987, Congress turned it from a week to a month. And, while there’s a number of ways adults honor this month, it’s even more important to consider how to celebrate women’s history month for kids.
Kids should learn about the brave and brilliant women in history who shaped our society and contributed to many scientific discoveries without which, it’s hard to imagine the world we live in today. Should learning be done exclusively through textbooks? Definitely, not!
Stay with us and keep reading, to see many different ways in which you can celebrate women’s history month for kids. We’ll take a look at different activities, teaching resources, worksheets, picture books, novels, and inspirational Ted Talks that have the power to touch upon some of the most vital issues that women face today.
So, without further ado, let’s begin.
Facts and History: The Significance of Women’s History Month
Before we delve into the women’s history month for kids resources, let’s revise some of the fundamental information regarding this commemoration. Why do we need a women’s history month in the first place?
Every year, March is appointed as Women’s History Month by Presidential proclamation. The aim is to celebrate and honor women’s achievements throughout history. We can give thanks to the National Women’s History Project, which is now called the National Women’s History Alliance, for the effort in turning the weekly local observance into a national commemoration.
President Jimmy Carter was the first president who issued this proclamation and in his speech he wrote “…men and women have worked together to build this nation. Too often the women were unsung and sometimes their contributions went unnoticed…”
For these reasons, observing the women’s history month is a way of making history right and paying respect to many wonderful women who made our world a better place today.
The National Women’s History Alliance chose March because they wanted this observance to correspond to International Women’s Day, and each year they choose an annual theme on which they focus their attention in the following year. This year, the theme is a continuation of 2020’s: Valiant Women of the Vote: Refusing to Be Silenced.
While we can’t cover everything here, you can learn a lot more about the history and importance of Women’s History Month in our Facts & Worksheet bundle.
Women’s History Month Activities for Kids
How to celebrate this year’s women’s history month with kids? Aside from reading books, there are several other fun and meaningful activities that we’re sure kids will love. Regardless of whether you’re a teacher or a parent, you can easily incorporate these activities in the classroom or at the comfort of your home.
Explore the National Women’s History Museum
While the ideal situation would be to visit the National Women’s History Museum in person, there are always some awesome alternatives that can still create an unforgettable experience.
Adapting to the situation with the pandemic, the museum is holding online exhibits that you and your students or kids can attend. Completely free of charge and with phenomenal storytelling and captivating images from the past, these online exhibits are an educational opportunity you don’t want to miss.
Organize a Discussion
Talking about history, its implications, today’s advancements, and pressing issues is an important and valuable perspective that all kids should be aware of.
To organize a discussion, you can assign a short reading material, propose a few central issues, and mediate a group discussion where everyone will get a chance to express their opinions and experiences. On the website of the National Women’s History Museums, you can find a lot of articles that tackle many interesting aspects of this topic.
For younger children, you can propose a few thought-provoking questions that are relevant in their everyday life and see how children think of their gender roles, who they perceive as themselves, and what things affect their self-image.
Study the Suffragette Movement
Of course, the most traditional and classical way of celebrating the women’s history month for kids is to teach them about the suffragette movement. What was the suffragette movement, what led to it, why it happened, and what was the result of this movement? Check out our Suffrage Facts and Worksheet bundle to get valuable resources on this topic.
Watch Documentaries, Read Books, and Learn Through Worksheets
We’re lucky because today there is so much information about women’s history available online. Most of it is free of charge or really affordable, which gives teachers and parents endless opportunities when it comes to teaching kids about the amazing women throughout history and their role in major historical events and discoveries. Some kids are visual learners, others love to read, while some of them learn best through interactive activities. For each learning style, we picked a bunch of resources that we believe it will be of great use to you!
Women’s History Month Teaching Resources and Reading Material for Kids
Teaching about women’s history month for kids is fun and easy when you have the right resources. Fortunately, today, we have an abundance of teaching material, educational texts, historical information, videos, Ted Talks, and many other resources right at our disposal. Whether you’re a teacher or a parent with plenty of other responsibilities, we made sure to gather everything in one place. Keep reading to find 30 famous women’s biographies and worksheet packs, book recommendations, Ted Talks, and other documentaries.
Outstanding Biographies and Worksheets for Women’s History Month
Are you looking for inspiration to show kids everything that women are capable of? Look no further. We put together a list of 30 biographies of famous women throughout history in every field imaginable. Kids can learn a new name every day of the month, you can choose a couple of women you want to teach about, or present the list to kids and leave them to choose someone to make a presentation or an essay about! This is a great way for kids to find a role model in the particular field they’re most interested in.
Keep in mind that we’ve linked all the women’s biographies for which we have a detailed information pack with worksheet bundles, ready to use! Click on the link to go to our webpage where you can easily download the worksheets.
| Women | Contributions | Women | Contributions |
| Susan B. Anthony | An American women’s rights activist and social reformer who played a crucial role in the women’s suffrage movement. | Cleopatra | The last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, ancient general, and companion of Alexander the Great. |
| Florence Nightingale | An English social reformer, statistician, and the founder of modern nursing. She organized the nurses and had a crucial role in helping wounded soldiers at Constantinople. | Gabriela Silang | A fierce woman and Filipina military leader, Silang became the first female leader of the Philippine Revolution. She refused to see women only as victims of wars and fought alongside men for emancipation. |
| Helen Keller | A famous American author and disability rights advocate, who lost her sight and hearing at a young age. But, that didn’t stop her from pursuing her dreams. She’s a symbol of courage. | Nellie Bly | An American journalist whose real name is Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman. She was also an industrialist, inventor, and charity worker. However, she’s most famous for her record-breaking trip around the world in 72 days. |
| Ada Lovelace | A mathematician, who’s today best known as the “the first computer programmer.” She wrote an algorithm for a computing machine in the mid-1800s. | Ellen Ochoa | An American engineer, and former astronaut, Ochoa is best known as the first Hispanic woman to go to space. |
| Dorothy Hodgkin | First female British Chemist to win the Nobel Prize (1946) | Harriet Tubman | A brave African American nurse and women’s rights advocate. She was also a fierce abolitionist who helped many people escape slavery. |
| Jane Addams | Social worker and feminist. First American woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize (1931) | Jackie Joyner-Kersee | A multi talented athlete who became the first-ever American to win a gold medal in the long jump competition. |
| Marie Curie Skłodowska | The first woman ever to win a Nobel Prize. She received a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 for her work on radiation. | Gabby Douglas | First African-American gymnast to win the gold medal in the Olympic individual all-around event in 2012. |
| Anne Frank | A young and brave Jewish victim of the Holocaust. Her diary and writings are some of the most valuable testimonies of the terrors during the Holocaust. | Maria Gaetana Agnesi | A brilliant Italian mathematician who became the first woman appointed as a mathematics professor at a university. She also was the first woman to write a mathematics handbook. |
| Madam C.J. Walker | The first Black woman, self-made millionaire in America. Walker was a smart businesswoman, who also advocated for political and social justice. | Peggy Whitson | NASA Chief Astronaut from 2009 until 2012. She is a retired astronaut and a biochemist researcher. |
| Lisa Nowak | A former Navy Captain of the United States, naval flight officer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut. She was the inspiration for the movie “Lucy in the Sky”. | Eugenie Bouchard | A brilliant tennis player who became the first Canadian-born player representing Canada to reach the final of a Grand Slam tournament. |
| Emmeline Pankhurst | A British women’s rights activist who organized the UK suffragette movement helping women to receive the right to vote. | Enid Blyton | An astonishing children’s book writer whose books are among the world’s best-sellers ever since the 1930s. |
| Agnes Arber | A British plant morphologist, anatomist, and philosopher of biology. She was one of the most renowned scientists of her time. | Emily Dickinson | An American poet who is recognized as one of the most important figures in American poetry. |
| Jane Goodall | A famous primatologist and anthropologist, Jane became the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees. Her 60-year long research redefined the way we look at animals and our relationship with them. | Malala Yousafzai | A world-renowned Pakistani activist for female education and the world’s youngest Nobel prize laureate. |
| Frida Kahlo | A world-wide famous Mexican painter, best known for her self-portraits, portraits, and work with nature and traditional artifacts. | Mary Anning | An English fossil collector, dealer, and palaeontologist who made many discoveries. She is remembered as “the greatest fossilist the world ever knew.” |
| Rachel Carson | American marine biologist and author. Thanks to her contributions the global environmental movement was advanced significantly. | Grace Hopper | A legendary American computer scientist, an innovator in computer science, and professor of mathematics. She was one of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computer. |
There are plenty of other women who rightfully have their names written in history, but unfortunately, we can’t cover all of them in this article. Nonetheless, we do have detailed autobiographies and worksheet packs for many other brilliant women on our website in the “Inspirational Women Through History” section. Just follow this link and find someone you would be proud of your kids or students to find out about.
Inspiring Ted Talks
For the visual learners, explore Women’s history month for kids through some of the most informative and educational Ted Talks.
The contributions of female explorers – Courtney Stephens
During the Victorian Age, when the odds were against women who wanted to pursue a career, several brave women took the first steps and shaped the way we see the world today.
Subscribe to KidsKonnect on YouTube →TED-Ed Animation: The true story of Sacajawea
Who was Sacajawea? Learn the true story behind the heroic symbol of the women who helped two men explore the Louisiana Territory.
The Historic Women’s Suffrage March on Washington by Michelle Mehrtens
Teach children about the struggles and bravery of women in the early 1900s who fought for equality and the right to vote.
Why We Have Too Few Women Leaders? by Sheryl Sandberg
Why do fewer women than men reach the top of their profession? Listen to Sheryl Sandberg, a COO of Facebook, who gives her insights and shares some powerful pieces of advice for all girls and women.
On Being a Woman and a Diplomat by Madeleine Albright
Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright speaks about women’s issues and how they should be at the center of foreign policy, although sometimes they’re the hardest issues to tackle.
Book Recommendations for Women’s History Month
Another way to celebrate Women’s history month for kids and honor the many memorable women who shaped the world we live in today is by reading the captivating stories written about them.
Here are several books we believe are a must-read this March.
- This Little Dreamer by Joan Holub
- Like a Girl by Lori Degman
- How Kate Warne Saved President Lincoln by Elizabeth Van Steenwyk
- Ada Bryon Lovelace and the Thinking Machine by Laurie Wallmark
- For the Right to Learn: Malala Yousafzai’s Story by Rebecca Langston-George
- Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909 by Michelle Markel
- What Miss Mitchell Saw by Hayley Barrett
- Muslim Girls Rise by Saira Mir
- Becoming RGB: Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s Journey to Justice by Debbie Levy
Before You Leave
Hopefully, our comprehensive guide on how to celebrate women’s history month for kids will prove to be quite useful for you this month! If you’re a bit overwhelmed with all of the resources, don’t worry! You’re not expected to teach kids all of this in one month. The best approach might be to choose the resources that you think will work best for your students or kids, depending on their grade-level and learning style, and go with that. In case you can’t choose, think about your child’s interests and start from there. We tried to include women from many different fields and professions, just so that you can personalize the lesson and bring it closer to your child’s or student’s preferences.
While we believe you’re covered for March, let us remind you that on our website you can find many other worksheets, curriculums, and lesson plans on a variety of topics. In case you have something else coming up this month, check us out because chances are that we have it.
Finally, don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter and read our blog as we have new interesting topics coming up this month!
Related Articles
Link/cite this page
If you reference any of the content on this page on your own website, please use the code below to cite this page as the original source.
Link will appear as Women’s History Month for Kids: Activities, Spreadsheets, and More!: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, March 4, 2021