Presidents’ Day traditionally honors President George Washington, born February 22, 1732, and President Abraham Lincoln, born on February 12, 1809, but we celebrate their combined birthdays on the third Monday in February.
Because Presidents’ Day is a Federal holiday, I suspected there might be some great online teaching resources produced by the federal government, and sure enough, there are.
These five government websites have some excellent curriculum materials…and all of them are completely FREE to use. Well, we paid for them through our federal taxes, so we really should use them!
1. The National Archives
The National Archives is an absolute treasure trove of really good educational content for teaching about Presidents’ Day.
- Events at Presidential Libraries
- Video Resources
- Education Resources
- Articles & Blogs
- Additional Resources
2. The Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is probably my favorite government website of all time. It’s just full of amazing primary source material that never fails to bring history to life.
I’m warning you now: It’s easy to spend hours going down the rabbit hole of this stellar website.
3. The U.S. Mint
The U.S. Mint offers some awesome President’s Day teaching resources. Remember, we put Presidents’ faces on our money.
4. National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institute
The National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institute has some pretty great links.
Honestly, it didn’t wow me at first, because the website is pretty dated, but the content is fantastic.
5. National Park Service: Mount Rushmore
The National Park Service has some wonderful Mount Rushmore teaching resources.
Presidents Washington and Lincoln are two of the four U.S. Presidents featured on this great National treasure in South Dakota.
