Celebrating Father’s Day With Montessori Classroom and Family Activities

The United States and Canada celebrate Father’s Day every year on the third Sunday in June. Many countries also celebrate fathers on this day, while others do it at different times throughout the year. The first Father’s Day was on June 19, 1910 in Washington. Mrs. John B. Dodd proposed the holiday because she wanted a way to honor her father, a widower who had raised six children. Towns and cities in other states began to celebrate a day for fathers. A National Father’s Day Committee was formed in 1926. In 1956, Father’s Day was recognized by Congress in a Joint Resolution and in 1972, President Richard Nixon established Father’s Day as a national holiday to be celebrated on the third Sunday in June.

Father’s Day is a wonderful time for Montessori students to show their appreciation for all of the father figures in their lives. This can include fathers, stepfathers, grandfathers, godfathers, and uncles. Children might want to discuss why fathers are important and special. You may also want to have a discussion about the prominent males in a child’s life and famous fathers from history. Montessori teachers can help their students prepare gifts and plans for celebrating before summer break.

Celebrating Father’s Day With Montessori Classroom and Family Activities

Ways to Celebrate Father’s Day

Each family has its own unique interests. Use these interests to create traditions for Father’s Day. Some ideas: Plan a party for family and friends. Plan a family outing to play mini-golf or go bowling. Make a special handmade gift: Enchanted Learning: Father's Day Crafts and Activities. Have a family meeting (without Dad) to brainstorm ideas for how to make Father’s Day special.

Barbeques and breakfasts are two popular ways to celebrate Father’s Day. Below is a recipe for stuffed French toast that children can help prepare. It’s a little messy and very tasty! This recipe is from Linden Manor Bed and Breakfast in Nashville, TN. Why not have a B&B weekend at home for Dad?

Linden French Stuffed Toast

What You Need:

• 1 8-ounce package cream cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 12 slices 1/2 inch French bread
• 4 eggs beaten
• 3/4 cup cream
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• Butter
• 1 12 ounce jar apricot jam (or a fruit flavor of your choice)
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• Sliced bananas

What You Do: 

• Combine the cream cheese, walnuts and vanilla. Spread on 6 slices of bread to form sandwiches.
• Combine the eggs, cream, and vanilla. Dip each sandwich into egg mixture.
• Coat griddle with butter and grill sandwich each side on griddle until golden brown.
• Combine the jam with orange juice, heat on stove until it simmers.
• Garnish the top of French toast with banana or other fruit slices. Serve apricot sauce over all. Serve with eggs and/or bacon.

Books about Fathers and Father’s Day
Every father would enjoy being read to by his child. A child could write and create their own book/story to read to Dad, or read one of the following themed selections.

• Day Out With Daddy, by Stephen Cook
• The Summer My Father Was Ten, by Pat Brisson and Andrea Shine
• My Father's Boat, by Sherry Garland
• Bryanna and the Sand, by Jeffrey Yosick and Phyllis Stewart
• Ramona and Her Father, by Beverly Cleary
• Fathers, Mothers, Sisters, Brothers: A Collection of Family Poems, by Mary Ann Hoberman and Marylin Hafner
• Father's Day (Holidays, Festivals, & Celebrations), by Ann Heinrichs and R. W. Alley
• A Perfect Father's Day, by Eve Bunting and Susan Meddaugh
• Father's Day (Circle the Year With Holidays), by Laura Alden and Linda Hohag
• What Is Father's Day? by Harriet Ziefert and Claire Schumacher
• A Father's Day Thank You, by Janet Nolan and Kathi Ember
• Celebrating Father's Day: Father's Day Is for Special People, by Donna Marriott and Keiko Motoyama
• Father's Day, by Anne Rockwell and Lizzy Rockwell

For more Father’s Day ideas, visit our previous Father’s Day blogs:

• Celebrating Father's Day with Montessori Classroom Activities
• Montessori Curriculum Ideas for Father’s Day Activities

As much as possible, NAMC’s web blog reflects the Montessori curriculum as provided in its teacher training programs. We realize and respect that Montessori schools are unique and may vary their schedules and offerings in accordance with the needs of their individual communities. We hope that our readers will find our articles useful and inspiring as a contribution to the global Montessori community.
© North American Montessori Center - originally posted in its entirety at Montessori Teacher Training on Monday, June 15, 2009.