5 Fun Columbus Day Activities

Are you looking for some fun, cheap and easy Columbus Day activities for the classroom or at home? Here are five Columbus Day ideas that are also educational.

Create bumper stickers for the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria.

What would a bumper sticker on a ship headed out for this long expedition say?

Here are some examples of creative Columbus Day bumper stickers from past students who had studied Columbus’ voyage.

“I’d rather be in jail.”

This Columbus Day bumper sticker makes a play on the popular bumper stickers that say things like “I’d rather be dancing”… or sailing… or whatever. This student knew that men were so unmotivated to head out to sea where no man had been before that most men in jail who were offered release to go on the voyage passed.

“Never, ever give up.”

This is a popular slogan but this student knew that Columbus didn’t simply ask King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella and get the go ahead right away. In fact, it took six years for them to agree to support this voyage. (They really didn’t see why he needed three ships.)

“Indies or bust.”

This one is a pretty obvious message about the fact that Columbus was searching for a new route to the Indies.

“Not the bean.”

This bumper sticker was created especially for the Pinta after hearing many students refer to one of Columbus’ three ships as the Pinto.

What creative bumper stickers can your students or family create for the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria in connection with Columbus Day?

If you’ve enjoyed these fun facts about Christopher Columbus and his voyage, you may enjoy these 15 Interesting Facts about Christopher Columbus.

They can really help with some of the next Columbus Day games.

More Columbus Day games:

Word searches:

You can find a free printable Columbus Day word search here, or try creating your own and trading them.

Play Columbus Day hangman:

Use the easy hangman game to let players guess Columbus Day related words. Here are a few examples to get you started on your game voyage.

Easy: maps, ships, Italy

Harder: Ferndinand, Isabella, Genoa,

Columbus Day ABC game:

Once your students or family are familiar with the facts surrounding Columbus and his voyage, try to create an alphabetical list of related words. Here’s the beginning of our list to get you started:

A is for Asia.

B is for Beliefs. (Many still held the belief that the earth was flat and that the ship would sail off of the side.

C is for Cristoforo.

D is Decree. (A royal decree in 1492 ordered the suspension of judicial proceedings against criminals that agreed to sail with Christopher Columbus. Only four prisoners took advantage of this offer.)

E is for Europe.

F is for Ferdinand.

G is for Genoa.

We’re still hunting for an x and z word. Off course we’ve used ‘x’ marks the spot on the map. What can you add to this Columbus Day alphabet list?

Columbus Day crafts shoebox diorama:

With all of those new back to school shoes and fall shoes, there are plenty of shoeboxes around. Go green and use scraps of paper, fabric, twigs, bottle tops and the like to create a Columbus Day diorama. Sure you can use the three ships sailing the ocean blue but there are other scenes as well. What about Columbus going before the King and Queen and asking them to sponsor the voyage? What other scenes can you think of? A group could tell the story in 3-D with a parade of Columbus Day dioramas.

Sources:

The Value of Curiosity, The Story of Christopher Columbus by Spencer Johnson, M.D.

America in the Time of Columbus by Sally Senzell Isaacs

http://puzzles.about.com/od/holidaywordfinds/ig/Holiday-WS/ColumbusDayWS_2.htm

Personal teaching experience