Labor Day Coloring Fun

Labor Day: What it Means

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

Labor Day Legislation

Through the years the nation gave increasing emphasis to Labor Day. The first governmental recognition came through municipal ordinances passed during 1885 and 1886. From these, a movement developed to secure state legislation. The first state bill was introduced into the New York legislature, but the first to become law was passed by Oregon on February 21, 1887. During the year four more states — Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York — created the Labor Day holiday by legislative enactment. By the end of the decade Connecticut, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania had followed suit. By 1894, 23 other states had adopted the holiday in honor of workers, and on June 28 of that year, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories*.

Founder of Labor Day

More than 100 years after the first Labor Day observance, there is still some doubt as to who first proposed the holiday for workers*.

Some records show that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a cofounder of the American Federation of Labor, was first in suggesting a day to honor those “who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold*.”

But Peter McGuire’s place in Labor Day history has not gone unchallenged. Many believe that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, not Peter McGuire, founded the holiday. Recent research seems to support the contention that Matthew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J., proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. What is clear is that the Central Labor Union adopted a Labor Day proposal and appointed a committee to plan a demonstration and picnic*.

After your exciting outdoor activities or you finish resting from your labor, top off the holiday with some coloring fun! 

Click the image to download.

Enjoy!

 

*https://www.dol.gov/general/laborday/history

Pink Flamingo Day

Pink Flamingo Day was declared in 2007 by Dean Mazzaralla, the mayor of Leominster, MA to honour the work of Don Featherstone, creator of the plastic lawn flamingo.

Show your love for pink flamingos on Pink Flamingo Day! Decorate your front yard on June 23 each year with pink plastic flamingos in celebration. A minimum of four flamingos is required to have a decent size flock*.
Click the image to download the coloring sheet. Enjoy! 

* http://savetheflamingos.org/pink-flamingo-day

Happy Earth Day

Besides coloring this great coloring sheet, below are the TOP 5 ways to celebrate Earth Day at home, school, and or at work.

1. Plant trees. As the date also roughly coincides with U.S. Arbor Day, over time Earth Day has taken on the role of tree-planting. Planting trees helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, cleans pollution, secures soil in place to prevent erosion, and provides homes for a lot of biodiversity.

2. Make nature crafts at school or home. Get together with your family and build a birdhouse or make a bird feeder to encourage the local bird population, which plays an important role in every ecosystem. For an extra-special Earth Day craft, use objects that would’ve otherwise been thrown away to create beautiful works of art.

3. Learn more about the environment. Earth Day is a good time to make a commitment to learning more about the environment and how you can help to protect it. Borrow some library books and read up on an issue such as pollution, endangered species, water shortages, recycling, and climate change. Or, learn about a region you’ve never considered before, like the Arctic, the deserts, or the rain forests. Think about the issues that concern you the most and if you haven’t done so already, join a local group that undertakes activities to help protect the environment in your area.

4. Reduce, reuse and recycle all day long. Buy as little as possible and avoid items that come in lots of packaging. Support local growers and producers of food and products – these don’t have to travel as far and so reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Take your drink container with you, and don’t use any disposable plates or cutlery. Recycle all the things you do use for the day or find other uses for things that you no longer use. Carry a cloth bag for carrying things in and recycle your plastic bags.

5. Hold a garage sale, donate, or reuse household items. Many of us take up a lot of natural resources with stuff we don’t really need, want or use. Ironically, there’s a still lot of people who don’t have basic necessities. Plus, a lot of your unwanted clutter can be used by local charities to resell for much-needed cash.

Click the following link to find additonal ways to celebrate earth day: http://goo.gl/oVG6E Click the above image to download the Earth Day Coloring sheet. Enjoy!

Roller Skating Doodle

Did you know that there is a National Museum of Roller Skating in Lincoln, Nebraska? Well there is…

The National Museum of Roller Skating holds the largest, most varied, and unique collection of antique roller skates in the world. Included in its collection is the James L. Plimpton family collection (considered the father of modern roller skating), patent models of early skates of American manufacturers, skates of international origin, competitive and vaudeville costumes, memorabilia of roller skating rinks, in-line roller skates dating from 1819 to present, and various manufacturing innovations and experiments. The museum archives contain an extensive collection of publications, photographs and documents covering over two centuries of roller skating history*.

*http://www.rollerskatingmuseum.com/education.html

First Day of Winter

Today, December the 21st marks the first day of the season. To show my excitement, I doodled a winter penguin.

Click the image below to download the coloring sheet. Enjoy! 

 

My Size Scarecrow Doodle

Scarecrows are one of the more popular symbols of Fall and the harvest season. The origin of scarecrows dates back thousands of years, protecting ripening crops from birds. While we think of them as constructed of straw, they were made of many things. Often, scarecrows were also men hired to roam fields, to scare birds. If this is your job, YOU are a scarecrow.

Scarecrows continue to be popular today, in many home gardens. They help to protect fruits and vegetables, as they begin to ripen. That’s why scarecrows are so closely associated with the fall and harvest season, making them a popular symbol of Fall.

History of Scarecrows:

The first scarecrows were in Ancient Egypt, dating back over 3,000 years. They used scarecrows to protect wheat fields along the Nile river from quail. The Greeks, Romans, Japanese and many other cultures, used them to protect their crops, too. Many forms of scarecrows, from life-sized wooden carvings of scary men, to real-live humans were used. In the middle ages, Europeans believed scarecrows had special powers. Native Americans used scarecrows, to keep crows and other birds from their corn crops.

Click the above images to download the coloring sheets/crafts.
To finish the My Size Scarecrow, you’ll need colors, scissors, and brads.
Enjoy! 

* http://www.gardenersnet.com/birds/scarecrow.htm

Celebrate Native American Day

When: 4th Friday in SeptemberThis day is set aside to honor and celebrate Native Americans, the first Americans to live in the U.S. Still commonly referred to as American Indians, the term “Native Americans” has been used in recent years as a sign of respect and recognition that they were indeed the first people to populate our great and wonderful nation. By the time the first explorers and settlers arrived from Europe, Native Americans had populated the entire North American continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the Gulf of Mexico all the way to the northern reaches of Canada.* http://holidayinsights.com/other/native.htm Click the below images to download the coloring sheets. Enjoy!

Beach Coloring Fun

Come to the Beach 

Come to the beach.
Come to play in the sun.
Come to splash in the water.
Come to have fun!

-Unknown Author

Earth Day Activites

National Nutrition Month

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March is National Nutrition Month, which is an annual campaign sponsored by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics to promote nutrition awareness and education. It originated in 1973 as “National Nutrition Week” and expanded to the month-long observance in 1980 in response to growing public interest in nutrition. The theme changes each year, but it always focuses on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits.*

In recognition of National Nutrition Month, I’ve created these 3 coloring sheet. Click the images to download the coloring sheets. Enjoy!

* http://www.eatright.org/Public/content.aspx?id=6442462682