Columbus Day: Exploring Stories, Journeys, and Many Perspectives

Columbus Day can be approached with children as a moment to talk about journeys, curiosity, and stories, while also making space for listening, questioning, and noticing that not all stories feel the same to everyone.

Rather than focusing on dates or facts, this day can become an invitation to explore how stories are told, whose voices are heard, and how kindness and respect matter when we talk about the past.

Start With the Idea of a Journey

Young children naturally connect to the idea of traveling and exploring. You might begin with simple, open questions:

• What does it mean to go on a long journey?

• Have you ever gone somewhere new?

• How do you think people felt sailing for many days without knowing what they would find?

Use picture books, maps, toy boats, or loose parts to create small scenes that invite storytelling. Let children imagine, move pieces around, and talk freely.

Tell Stories — Then Pause and Wonder

When sharing the story of Columbus, keep it simple and neutral. Focus on the journey across the ocean, the meeting of different peoples, and the idea that many people already lived in the lands he arrived at.

After the story, invite gentle reflection:

• How do you think the people living there felt when strangers arrived?

• How would you feel if someone came to your home without asking?

• Can two people experience the same moment in very different ways?

There’s no need for right or wrong answers. The goal is noticing and empathy.

Use Play to Explore Perspectives

Play offers a natural way for children to process complex ideas. You might:

• Create a small world with boats, land, people, and nature

• Act out different viewpoints using puppets or figures

• Build ships and homes with blocks or recycled materials

As children play, listen to their stories. You may hear them naturally explore ideas of welcome, fear, curiosity, or conflict — all through their own language.

Focus on Respect and Care

Instead of celebrating a single figure, shift the focus toward values:

• respecting other people and their homes

• listening before acting

• understanding that history has many sides

Invite children to share ideas about kindness, fairness, and what it means to live together peacefully.

Create Space for Expression

Children can express their thinking through:

• drawing what they imagine life was like for different people

• creating two pictures: “before visitors arrived” and “after”

• telling a story from the point of view of someone who lived on the land

These quiet, reflective moments allow children to process big ideas safely.

Closing the Experience

Columbus Day doesn’t need to be framed as a celebration or a lesson. It can simply be a moment to pause, to listen to stories, and to notice that history is made of many voices.

When children are given space to wonder, play, and reflect, they begin to understand that the past isn’t just something we learn about — it’s something we think about, question, and learn from.

And that, in itself, is a meaningful beginning.

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