These activities are very popular for International Women’s Day. They provide fun and engaging learning experiences to help you celebrate International Women’s Day with your class. Check out all of the International Women’s Day activities below!
7 International Women’s Day Activities
Below are our favorite International Women’s Day activities.
1. Read Aloud Before She Was Harriet
Before She Was Harriet by Lesa Cline-Ransome is a story that teaches readers about Harriet Tubman’s life in sequential order. It starts with her beginning years as a slave. Next, it goes into her becoming a conductor in the Underground Railroad. Finally, readers learn about her experience fighting in the Civil War. This beautifully written story shows the incredible journey Harriet made to empower others. It also shows how her legacy still impacts us today.
Check out these related Before She Was Harriet activities!
2. Read Aloud Mae Among the Stars
Mae Among the Stars by Roda Ahmed is about a girl named Mae who dreams of being an astronaut when she grows up. She reads books and researches how to become an astronaut and has a dream that she is floating in space looking at Earth.
Mae’s parents tell her that if she dreams, believes, and works really hard, anything is possible. When Mae goes to school and shares what she wants to be when she grows up, the other children laugh at her and her teacher suggests she does something else. This disappoints Mae but her mom reminds her that all that matters is that she dreams big and works hard.
Check out these related Mae Among the Stars activities!
3. Read Aloud Planting Stories
Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpre by Anika Aldamuy Denise is about Pura Belpre, the first Puerto Rican Librarian in New York City. When Pura started working at the library, she realized that there weren’t any of the stories and folktales that she was familiar with in Puerto Rico. She decides to share her stories during story hour and through puppet shows, and eventually publishes a book.
Pura travels across the country and from classroom to classroom planting her story seeds and educating about her homeland. When she returns to the library, she sees that her story seeds have bloomed and everyone is telling her stories.
Check out these related Planting Stories activities!
4. Read Aloud Shark Lady
Shark Lady by Jess Keating is about the life of Eugenie Clark, a brave scientist who changed the way people preserve sharks, and women in the field of science.
As a young girl, Eugenie loved everything about the ocean but the sharks were her favorite. She spent her childhood learning as much as she could about sharks. When she grew up, Eugenie decided to study zoology in college. Many people didn’t think women were smart or brave enough to go into science, but that didn’t stop Eugenie. She went on to make many discoveries about fish and sharks.
As she learned more about her favorite animal, Eugenie wanted people to see sharks the way she did. She decided to conduct an experiment where she would train sharks. She learned that not only could sharks be trained, they could remember what they learned for two months.
Check out these related Shark Lady activities!
5. Read Aloud The Story of Ruby Bridges
The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles tells the story of when 6 year-old Ruby Bridges and her family moved to New Orleans for a better life in 1960. Segregation was still rampant, and a judge ordered a handful of Black girls to begin going to White schools. Ruby was one of these children.
She was the only one to go to Franz Elementary School from these children. On her first day, a big mob stood outside and chanted with signs, protesting her going. No students went as well. Ruby continued to go, day after day, praying for God to forgive these angry people.
Check out these related The Story of Ruby Bridges activities!
6. Read Aloud The Tree Lady
The Tree Lady by H. Joseph Hopkin is a biography of Katherine Olivia Sessions. It tells the story of how Kate became known as the Mother of Balboa Park, located in San Diego.
Kate grew up in Northern California and loved being in the woods under the trees. Unlike other girls at the time, Kate liked to get her hands dirty and study science. She even went to college to study science and was the first woman to graduate from that school.
After graduating, Kate moved to San Diego and became a teacher. San Diego was very different than anywhere Kate had lived before. There were no trees and it was a very dry landscape. After a few years of teaching, Kate decided to become a gardener. She made it her mission to bring trees to San Diego. Kate began collecting trees that could grow in San Diego. She wrote letters to gardeners around the world asking for seeds. Soon, there were trees all over San Diego and people were even planting them in their yards.
When a big exposition was coming to San Diego, it was decided the park, Balboa Park, needed more trees for shade. Kate worked to plant trees all over the park. People couldn’t believe the lush park that had been created.
Check out these related The Tree Lady activities!
7. Rosa Parks Non-Fiction Reading Unit
This Rosa Parks Nonfiction Reading Unit includes 3 leveled reading passages, vocabulary cards, reading and writing activities, and more. It pairs really nicely with our fictional book companions listed above. Learn more about this resource in our Clutter-Free Classroom Teacher Store!
In closing, we hope you found this list of International Women’s Day activities helpful! If you did, then you may also be interested in these other related posts:
