Teach Your Kids about the Importance of Patriots' Day

Patriots’ Day has become a large part of our lives. Those of us who were born before the 90s know all about how devastating it was for our great nation. However, younger kids never did experience it firsthand and only know about the attack through stories and maybe some video clips.

It may seem really morbid to tell children about a plane crash that took the lives of nearly 3000 people, but unfortunately, it is the harsh truth. It is a patriotic day where Americans should come together and remember that great tragedy. Teaching kids about 9/11 doesn’t have to be difficult. There are tons of ways in which you can teach kids about Patriots’ Day that are fun and educational at the same time without having to be morbid.

1. Indulge them in Patriots’ Day Remembrance Activities

For kids below the age of 6, the best way to teach them about a tragic event in history is to do it through some sort of game or activity. It is important to prepare yourself for the possibility that they may not fully understand and that you may have to break it down to something as simple as “bad guys knocked down the buildings with 2 airplanes.”

Activities like Patriots’ Day theme-based treasure hunts, paper airplane making, red-white-blue arts, and crafts, etc. are some great ways to ease kids into a state of mind where they are ready to hear about the attack.

2. Show them the big picture

While it may be true that the bad guys did indeed knock down the buildings, it is important to tell kids that there are plenty of good guys who helped out after the buildings fell down. Americans all over the country offered help to New Yorkers who were in need. Other countries promptly came to the aid of the U.S. as well.

A little town in Canada called Gander, Newfoundland welcomed strangers into their homes. Over 6,500 stranded airline passengers had nowhere to go and were taken in by families of Gander!

This way your kids are reassured that there is always a way to come back from a disaster and no matter how bad it gets, there will always be people around who will come to the rescue.

3. Field Trip

Of course, the best way to teach kids about the 9/11 attacks is to take them to Ground Zero and show them the new construction. This will make it easier to explain to them what happened to the old buildings, and why the new construction is being done. Before you take them you can show them pictures of what the World Trade Center used to look like before the towers collapsed.

According to architectural digest, the new construction has been built with such meticulous regard to safety that it can easily be considered the safest building in the world.

There is no right or wrong way to teach kids about the attacks. The best you can do is slowly expose them to information and facts and when they are old enough, they will understand. Let’s be real, none of us were around during the holocaust, but we still understand and sympathize with what happened even today.