With the Presidential Election soon upon us there is lots of talk about both the President himself, as well as the role our president and first lady play in both our American Government and in our history. For this reason it has been the perfect time to learn more about our past presidents, first ladies, the house they live in, and the government they are a part of.

For my younger two, lots of reading and in-depth writing can be tedious, and while we do incorporate that into our studies, I also like to get as hands on with them as I can. They were thrilled when I opened up our box of Dover Publications coloring and activity books! {Disclosure: I want to thank Dover Publishing for supplying me with copies of the books in their White House Pack for me to review. While I received these free of charge in exchange for my review, I have been compensated for my time in writing this. However my opinions are my own, and have not been influenced in any way.}

Learn About the American Presidents

They found multiple books about the presidents that offered both my 4th and 7th graders something of interest to work on.

• American Presidents Coloring Book by Peter F. Copeland
• American Presidents Sticker Book by Tim Foley
• Presidents Facts and Fun: Activity Book by Len Epstein
• Standups! Presidents: 8 Easy-to-Make Models! by Mary Beth Cryan

The first thing that jumped out at my little one (4th grade) was the American Presidents Sticker Book. 

She immediately took to opening it up and putting it together. For years we have used a Presidents Song to learn the names of the presidents in order. I found her happily stickering along and singing the song to herself!

This was an awesome way for her to visually see what each president looks like, along with their name and how it is spelled, and to put them in the order in which they served.

Here is the Time Lapse Video she created of making the sticker poster. It was fun and easy to do with everything labeled for those that are younger and/or those that don’t know the names of the presidents.

The Presidents Facts and Fun: Activity Book has come in handy for times when she needs something to occupy her. With fun find the difference activities and mazes to keep her going, she has been happy to sit with us while we play cards with the older kids. We have had fun trying to find the differences in the photos and reading all the interesting facts on the bottom of each page.

My son dove into the Standups! Presidents: 8 Easy-to-Make Models! book and immediately erected Abraham Lincoln and George Washington.

These figures were easy to do with just scissors, his hands and some glue. We like using liquid glue on a paper plate with cotton swabs because it allows for more control with the glue, and keeps the glopping to a minimum!

What I love about these paper figures is how sturdy the paper is, and the fact that the figures are big enough for little hands to both create them and play with them!

Don’t Forget the First Ladies!

We also found two great books for learning about the First Ladies of the White House in our box!

• America’s First Ladies Coloring Book by Leslie Franz
• First Ladies Fascinating Facts Coloring Book by Diana Zourelias

All of these books would make a great addition to our Who Was Series Biographies! You could choose to use all the Who Was United States President’s books, along with the FREE Biography Printables to round out what your children are learning from these fun hands on projects!

Build the White House

The White House Cut & Assemble is one project I would recommend for older kids, especially those that love to build. Be sure to read the directions and gather the necessary tools. Having something to score the paper with (we used a puddy knife) and a sharp Exacto knife were essential to the ease of putting this one together.

Having previously put together a Lego White House, my middle school aged son and I spent some time creating this paper white house replica and talking about the history of the White House itself.

Another great way for us to review White House history is through the Dover Publications The History of the White House Coloring Book by Steven James Petruccio. This is 30 pages of White House History with accompanying images to color.