Creating a Black History Month diorama is a fun way for kids to learn about important events while developing creativity and storytelling skills.
Black History Month is a time to honor the achievements and resilience of those individuals who have helped shaped history. One of the most significant moment in fight for all people to be equal was the story of the Little Rock Nine – a group of brave high school students who plated a key role in the school integration in 1957.
Along with the full instructions to this craft you can also download our free printable, that will help turn a simple shoebox into a visual representation of courage and change.
Why You’ll Love this Craft
This Little Rock Diorama is more than just a craft – its a fun way to introduce a historical event to young learners in creative and engaging way. Here’s why you’ll love this idea:
- Hands-On Learning: Kids learn and retain history best when they can see and interact with it, and this craft helps bring the story to life.
- Encourages Empathy: Learning about the bravery of these students helps children understand fairness, kindness and the importance of a good education for everyone.
- Simple and Educational: With our free printable, setting up the craft is super easy!
Materials:
- Shoebox
- Construction Paper
- Little Rock Nine printable
- Glue
- Scissors
- Cotton fluff
- Popsicle Sticks
- Markers
How to Make the Little Rock Nine Black History Month Diorama
- Start off with an empty shoebox. You can either paint the inside bottom green for grass and the top blue for sky or do what we did and cut and glue pieces of green and blue construction paper on the bottom and top. We also cut out a hill from green construction paper glue it to the bottom of the sky.
- Next, print and cut out the figures, school, sign and flag. You can download them for free from a link found at the end fo the post.
- Cut out small tabs that you can glue to the back of each figure so that they can stand up right.
- Attach the school, sign and flag to the top back fo the shoebox wing glue.
- Arrange the figures inside the shoebox to show the students arriving at school.
- Add any personal touches such as trees, clouds, or other protest signs with positive messages using popsicle sticks and construction paper. Or even speech bubbles with positive words to reflect the student’s bravery.
Conversation Starters for Kids
Use these questions to guide meaningful discussions while creating your dioramas:
- What is something brave that you have done or would like to do?
- How do you think the Little Rock Nine felt on their first day of school?
- Why is it important for all kids to be able to go to school together?
- How can we make sure everyone feels welcome and included in school today?
- What does it mean to stand up for what is right, and how can we do that in our own lives?
Play2Learn Toddler & Preschool Programs for Curious Toddlers
There is no limit to your toddler’s energy and curiosity. That energy and curiosity although a joy can be challenging at times. Their interest in just about everything around them is what makes them great learners. One and two year olds can soak up so much just from their senses!
But as a teacher or parent that thirst for learning can be exhausting. That is why I created this toddler and preschooler program. To help you get the most out of this time with your curious toddler without having to come up with creative ways to play and interact with them.
Play2Learn for Toddlers includes 20 Units for toddlers. Each 2-week toddler unit has 20 super easy to set up and engaging activities for toddlers 18 months to 3 years.
Play2Learn Preschool which includes 20 Units for preschoolers. Each 2-week preschoolers unit has 20 unique and easy to set up and engaging activities for preschoolers 3 years to 5 years. That’s over 800 learning activities for your toddler and preschooler at your fingertips! So many ideas you and your child will never be bored again!
These toddler and preschool lesson plans and activities will definitely keep you and your toddler and preschooler busy playing and learning!
Click here for more information: Play2Learn
Book: Exciting Sensory Bins for Curious Kids
Did you know I wrote a book of sensory bins? Click here for more information Exciting Sensory Bin for Curious Kids. Or grab your copy at Amazon.
Boring afternoons are made exciting with awesome animal-based bins, like Salty Shark Bay or Yarn Farm. Pretend play bins like Birthday Cake Sensory Play or Bubble Tea Party encourage creativity and imagination. And your kids will have so much fun they won’t even know they’re getting smarter with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) activities like Sink or Float Soup, Magnetic Letter Hunt or Ice Cream Scoop and Count.
Designed for toddlers 18 months and up.
Book: Super STEAM Activity Book for Kids
Learning all about science, technology, engineering, art, and math sets kids up for scholastic success―and it can be so much fun! Watch kids enjoy building STEAM skills as they color friendly fish, help water find its way to tree roots, solve math problems with mazes, and more.
Find out more and grab your copy here.
Designed for preschoolers 3 years old and up.
Book: Big Book of Riddles for Kids
Riddle me this: What’s an exciting way to practice critical thinking while having a blast? The Big Riddle Book for Kids, of course! From hilarious puns to tough brain teasers, kids can build problem-solving skills with hundreds of riddles tha. t show them how to think outside the box.
- 350 riddles for kids—Have hours of fun with riddles, puns and jokes, and math and logic puzzles that’ll get their wheels turning!
- Level up their skills—Riddles get trickier as kids progress through the book, challenging them as they get better at solving puzzles!
- Double-check their work—Kids can check their answers in the back of the book with a handy answer key.
Help children expand their minds while having fun with this puzzle book for kids!
Designed for kids ages 6 years old and up.
TV Show: Curious Crafting
I’m so excited to share my crafting TV show Curious Crafting which launched in July 2022 on TVOkids and TVOkids YouTube! Season 2 aired in August 2023! My show was also nominated in 2023 for Best Live Action Preschool Series by the Youth Media Alliance Awards of Excellence.
Curious Crafting Season 1 is also now airing in Australia on ABC! Watch it here!
Set in the ultimate crafting space, Curious Crafting is a short form pre-school age series about the joy of making crafts. I lead a rotating cast of adorable little preschoolers (including my own) making magic out of common household objects.
In each episode we transform recycled items into magical crafts like a milk carton school bus, paper bag puppet or cotton pad turtle. The crafters learn and laugh their way through each activity while demonstrating what their young imaginations can create.
Curious Crafting shares the adventure and joy of making art with takeaway lessons for creating crafts at home.
This show designed for toddlers and preschoolers 2.5 years old and up.
