Free Printable Labor Day Coloring Pages and Lesson Plans

Spring is a poignant time in labor history. March 25, 1911 remembers 146 workers, mostly women, lost in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. April 16 mourns Ireland's Easter Rising of slain Feinians. April 28 marks Workers' Memorial Day, on which the organized labor movement pays tribute to the fallen in workplace accidents or in organized labor struggles. May 1 is May Day, honoring International Workers' Day. May 4 commemorates casualties at Chicago's Haymarket riot at a 1886 labor rally. May 19, 1920 is a day when the organized labor movement grieves the Matewan and Mingo County massacre of coal miners. On May 26, 1937 those who would from unions were assaulted at Ford's River Rouge plant "Battle of the Overpass" in Detroit.

Organized labor history is taught as part of American history, but there is no American (or world) history without labor history. Unions, collective bargaining--the fight for workers' rights impact every industry, occupation and person. Teachers and homeschoolers, you can educate students about unions with these free printable May Day and labor history lesson plans. These links include websites, activities, worksheets, movies and books on the organized labor movement.

The American Labor Studies Center offers a gamut of free printable organized labor movement lesson plans. It covers history, events, strikes, lockouts, workplace injuries, child labor, working conditions, collective bargaining, 8-hour workday, sweatshops, slavery, organizing, indentured servitude, socialism and labor, women's rights, African American labor issues, minority discrimination concerns, ULP (unfair labor practices). Lessons cover the Triangle fire (the worst workplace accident in history), West Virginia labor, Pullman Strike (1894), Lawrence Textile Strike (1913), Lowell Strike, Paterson Silk Strike, agriculture strikes and other events. Get free printable union labor worksheets, fill-ins, puzzles and study guides. There are links to films

Explore famous labor leaders: Noam Chomsky, Joe Hill, "Big Bill" Haywood, Pete Seeger, Jimmy Hoffa, Caesar Chavez, the Wisconsin 14 and others from the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World), AFL-CIO, Teamsters and more. This site has biographies of women labor leaders including Elizabeth Gurley Flynn Mary Harris "Mother" Jones and more. To use in lessons, print the list of names on one side and short bios on the other side (mixed up). Students match person with details. Print photos and pin to a map at places they are associated with. Or make a time line along the wall. Plot images in history.

The National Endowment for the Humanities offers two companion lessons in its series The Industrial Age in America. "Sweatshops, Steel Mills and Factories" and "Robber Barons and Captains of Industry" define the problems faced by workers in labor history and the reasons for the organized labor movement. Use the worksheets and activities with middle school and high school students.

The Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs at Wayne State University in Detroit maintains the largest organized labor history archive in the U.S. It has an impressive collection of images in physical exhibits and digital archives on The Labor Movement and Organizations. Walther Reuther who was one of several injured at Ford's Rouge factory "Battle of the Overpass" in Detroit.

The United Farm Workers is the union begun by Cesar Chavez that tends to itinerant and agricultural labor issues. Along with labor movement, the UFW educates people about food safety, immigration, deportation, earth and green initiatives, pesticides and more. An important piece is the youth activism page. UFW seeks to take union and agricultural awareness beyond the classroom walls and into real life.

In honor of May Day, here's a quote from the Albert Shanker Institute. "Imagine opening a high school U.S. history textbook and finding no mention of-or at most a passing sentence about-Valley Forge, the Missouri Compromise...Benjamin Franklin, Lewis and Clark. Imagine if these key events and people just disappeared as if they'd never existed...That is what has happened in history textbooks when it comes to labor's part in the American story." Use these lesson plans to keep the May Day stories and message alive.

Recycled trash gift crafts, picture frames for Earth Day or Mother's Day

Need inexpensive Mothers Day gift crafts for kids to make? How about recycled trash gift crafts for Earth Day? Or homemade math craft projects with lots of measurement activities? Repurpose and reuse recycled trash in homemade photo frames and spend next to nothing! 

Materials for Earth Day trash crafts or Mothers Day picture frame crafts for kids 

--cardboard boxes from cereal, pasta or any other similar sized box For lesson design, divide students into groups and give each student in each group a box of the same size. The groups can problem solve and work interactively to measure the dimensions for the frame. 

--recycled trash wrapping paper or wallpaper scraps  

--sharp scissors or paper cutter for older students 

--glue wash (school glue watered down) in containers from recycling bin (Styrofoam trays, pie tins, yogurt cups, etc.) for wrapping paper. 

--invisible tape for wallpaper. 

--small foam brushes or paint brushes (for wrapping paper)

--recycled trash refrigerator magnets or tabs from soda pop cans 

--hot glue gun 

--photograph of each child 

Directions for Mothers Day gift crafts for kids 

--Measure photograph dimensions 

--Measure and cut a window in the cardboard which is 1/2 inch smaller all the way around than the picture. 

--Cut out a frame around the window which is about 2 inches wide. 

--Choose a piece of wrapping paper or wallpaper to cover the cardboard picture frame crafts. --Cut the paper so that it is 1 inch larger all around than the frame. 

--Center the paper over homemade photo frames and make a small slit in the paper over the opening. --Cut to enlarge the hole and form a rectangular hole in wrapping paper, an inch smaller than the hole in the cardboard. 

--Cut one inch diagonally from each corner of wrapping paper. Gently fold the paper around the outer and inner edge of the frame to the back. 

--If you use wrapping paper, decoupage it: Apply a coat of glue wash to affix the wrapping paper. Cover homemade photo frames with a layer of glue wash to make them shiny and protect them. If you use wallpaper, simply tape paper in place. 

--With masking tape, attach the photos to the back of picture frame crafts, with image facing out. 

--Attach a piece of paper over the back to hold the photo in place and center it inside picture frame crafts. 

--Hot glue magnet or pop can tab to the back of the frame. You can use peel and stick magnet strips 

Celebrate Earth Day with these recycled trash crafts. Give inexpensive, handmade gift crafts for Mother's Day, win-win! 

Healthy School Snacks Ideas for Lunch

I'm on a mission to root out unhealthy school snacks that claim to be healthy and expose their true lack of nutritional value. I've had it with school snacks that proclaim to be healthy but are in fact full of junk. 

Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Bars and Eggo Nutri-Grain Waffles and most cereal and granola bars. Loaded with high fructose corn syrup, artificial color and hydrogenated fat, low protein and junk carbs. These are just cookies with a fancy "nutritional" name added. Look for snack bars with no HFCS and protein.

Sun Maid yogurt covered raisins: We are supposed to assume that because these raisins are coated in yogurt and not chocolate, that they have the health goodness of yogurt and are better for us. Wrong. Yogurt covered raisins are basically candy covered raisins. But they don't taste as good as Raisinets.

General Mills and Post Cereal Bars: Initially Post and GM had the audacity to market these as milk and cereal bars. Pulleez- they are basically Coco Puffs and Fruit Loops mixed with marshmallow and pasted together with more marshmallow. In short they are candy bars. Make Rice Krispie Treats at home and you'll be farther ahead. Or give your kids Coco-Puffs with milk. Or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks: Betty Crocker isn't the only one selling us a crock with her packaged 'fruit snacks'. Fruit snacks are a misnomer for highly sugared gelatin tidbits, similar to Juji Fruits and Dots, that come luridly colored , in bizarre flavors and are shaped like cartoon characters. Just the names Fruit Gushers, Fruit by the Foot (a sort of high fructose tape) make me ill. In my day, we called these fruit snacks candy. Welches and Sunkist Fruit Snacks are one step up. They at least do not have artificial color and do contain some fruit juice and 100% RDA of Vitamin C. You could just send the child to school with an orange or a banana.

Easy Classroom Fitness Workouts

The Ultimate Guide to Quick Fitness Workouts About half or more of all students live sedentary lives. And the classroom environment makes the problem worse. Learning is doing. We know that children who sit all day do not learn as well. They get distracted, bored and sleepy. Here are over 70 activities to get in a quick mini workout throughout your school day. Easy, interactive and fun! No materials required! 

Do you make exercise a part of your day? Is family fitness a priority? For many parents, it's not the lack of ambition, it's their crazy-busy lifestyles. How do you fit quick workouts into an already hectic day? Here are multitasking mom's mini workouts to wedge in your cram-packed schedule. These aren't hardcore extreme fitness regimes but they do satisfy the family fitness vs. time crunch dilemma. 

Get double duty out of the things you already do now by adding in quick workouts. The trick is to extract exercise from every activity you do. Long ago, people weren't obese and didn't work out. They did work constantly. Turn chores into mini workouts--do chores outside for a fitness trifecta: fresh air, exercise and productivity! As with any fitness, be sure to warm up, cool down, don't overdo it and obey your doctor when you exercise with children. 

Quick workouts out in public. Take every opportunity you can find to walk. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Walk through your plant, office, school or facility at break time. Don't ride anything or take the elevator. Walk the entire store when you grocery shop, stopping in every section. Run up the stairs to exercise with children. 

Family fitness routines: Walk your child to the bus stop (Why drive 2 blocks on a nice day?) Take a family bike ride to do errands close by (drop off library books, mail letters, grab a few groceries, pay bills). Park farther from buildings and stores so you will have to walk further. Teach children to use the stairs as an exercise machine (carefully so they don't get hurt, though.) Walk the dog, cat, hamster, etc. Take a family walk to do nearby errands--get the newspaper, buy milk, drop things off at church. Pull kids and stuff in the wagon (take turns pulling). Bag your own groceries and carry them out. When you go downtown or to a shopping mall, park and walk to each store (don't drive the car to hit stores a few doors down). 

Family fitness through community activities. Volunteer for Walk for Warmth, March of Dimes Walk-athon, jogging benefits and marathons. Enter your family in a parade. Walk the local outdoor farmer's market, craft show or flea market. Garage sale at a block sale. 

Quick workout at work. Whatever your occupation, try to get up and move around every 15 minutes or so. Go to the copy room or mail room. Hand deliver a few messages instead of emailing or texting everything. Touch base with fellow employees. Teachers and homeschool parents, "cruise" the classroom. You will help students and monitor problems. No one teaches as well from behind a desk. Check in with supervisor, spot-check problems, communicate on the move. 

Multitasking mini workouts at your desk. At the computer, in the car, on the bus or while reading, do these strengthening exercise with children. Tighten, hold and relax muscles in this sequence-- abdomen, buttocks, chin, Kegel (pelvis). Point and flex each foot and knee occasionally. 

Multitasking family fitness at home: Walk briskly as you gather laundry, dishes or tidy the house. When you go up or down stairs, carry something (dirty laundry, stuff to put away, etc.) Log how many times you go up or down stairs ant try to increase that number by one each day. Pick up a cheap exercise bike and ride it while you read or watch TV. Watch for exercise equipment on garage sales. Get in some upper body stretches as you put clothes or groceries on upper shelves. Hang clothes on the line and do some toe touches and side stretches. Practice lower body stretches as you gather toys from the floor.

Exercise with children doing chores. When you mop or vacuum, try staying in one place and reaching to move the vacuum to further points. Fully extend as you sort laundry on the floor and fill washer and dryer. Cleaning windows, mirrors, or the shower is a good time to work out your upper arms. Move them up

and down and back and forth about 10 times each. As the counter, do some yoga tree poses. Place one foot on the other leg and stand on one foot without holding on. Do this when you put on shoes and socks. Tighten and relax muscles to exercise with children while reading or watching TV. 

Outdoor tasks as mini workouts. Shovel snow. Shovel your neighbor's now and then. Do as much reasonable lifting and carrying as you can when you: move, buy new furniture, rearrange furniture, etc. Clean your carpets with a steam cleaner--great back and shoulder toner. Vacuum and wash your own car. Bend, stretch and extend in home remodeling. Remove wallpaper, paint and hang new wallpaper for super whole body workouts. Remember in "The Karate Kid" movie when Mr. Myagi got Daniel in shape by waxing the car and painting the fence?

Use hand tools instead of power tools-- hammer, saw, drill or screwdriver--for a good arm and hand workout. Even using power tools is good for quick workouts. Each time you scrub anything--floor, shower, carpets,--you give your arms and back some good rhythmic stretching. Get off the riding lawn mover and workout with a non-electric or walking lawn mower. Always stretch your neck and shoulder muscles to keep them limber and relaxed 

Family fitness multitasking mini workouts at play. Roller blade or bike on a date or with friends. Don't just sit and watch at the playground--play with your kids. Use any school playground when school is out. Play tag or catch. Push children on the swing or merry-go-round. Go on a nature hunt. Push little ones in the stroller. Carry the toddler or baby in a sling. Do climb and slide exercise with children. Take the kids for a walk down the street. Take a few neighbor kids or visit with the elderly. Bike to the  playground or park (bring water and a snack). Play in the sprinkler or practice throwing, kicking, batting and catching balls. Play badminton in the backyard ( a set is under $10). Set up a basketball hoop or tether-ball pole. Make a walk date after dinner with your spouse. You can use this time to catch up or just have a laugh. Coach or assist with a kids' sports team. Join a walking group

Healthy School Lunches, Snacks, Treats

Healthy Foods for Kids Nutrition and food is the core of learning. Here's a perfect food and snack guide for students in your classroom. Print out this healthy guide for parents. Nutritious snacks, party food, lunch foods. This is not a list of 'healthy' snacks based on advertising and marketing, but real healthy foods researched by a conscientious mom and teacher. Feed your kids great foods that will give them all they need for busy days! 

Apple and Eve juice boxes-100% fruit and vegetable juice, 100% vitamin C, 30% Vitamin A, no high fructose corn syrup, no additives. 

Peppridge Farm goldfish crackers- no transfat, MSG, hydrogenated fats, made with unbleached flour.

rice cakes: low sodium, no transfat.

Aldi fruit leather; organic, full of vitamins, no sulfites.

Spaghettios: low fat, full serving of vegetables

vegetable egg rolls: lowfat, high protein, full serving of vegetables. Look for MSG (monosodium glutamate) free egg rolls.

Healthy Choice and Annie's soups chicken and vegetarian varieties: no MSG, full serving of vegetables, high in protein, low in fat. Avoid varieties with ham, bacon or sausage as these are cured with nitrites.

tuna packets: low fat, no transfats, rich in Omega-3 oils

bagels: lowfat and high protein and fiber. Look for varieties which do not contain high fructose corn syrup or bleached flour.

Hormel Natural Choice lunchmeats and cold cuts: naturally cured, nitrate and nitrite free.

baby carrots, cucumber slices, green pepper slices, broccoli florets, fresh pea pods, cauliflower florets:

Mann's pre-cut vegetable blend</b></i>

Newman's Own Salad Dressing: no transfat. use for vegetable dip and salad dressing. Made with olive oil.

pretzels: fat free. Look for oat bran varieties. good source of fiber

Lay's Baked Chips and baked tortilla chips: no transfats, hydrogenated fat, baked with sunflower oil.

Newman's Own salsa: no fat or high fructose corn syrup. Perfect dip for chips, pretzels, rice cakes and 

raisins and any dried fruits

Jif Natural peanut butter: no hydrogenated fat or high fructose corn syrup

Chex, Life, Cheerios, Kashi cereals: Dry cereal with almonds and raisins makes a delicious healthy DIY trail mix.

Kraft cheese sticks with no added growth hormones

Kraft cheese singles with no added growth hormones

Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies: all natural ingredients

popcorn with sea salt

Terra sweet potato chips: vitamin A, beta-carotene, no transfat

Silk protein milk drink boxes

Mott's Healthy Harvest applesauce pouches or cups (no added sugar)

hardboiled eggs (keep cold with ice pack in lunch bag)

shelled almonds

Luna Bars organic, made with evaporated cane juice, soy isolate protein. Chocolate Raspberry is my favorite

Clif Bars: made by same company as Luna.

Garden of Eatin' organic Red Hot Blues nacho chips

Give your children the best brain fuel available for their busy days with these healthy brown bag lunch foods. And remember to pack lunches in an insulated lunch container.