Harriet Tubman Activities for Kids

Elementary school students in the United States study many interesting people who impacted American history. One such person, Harriet Tubman, escaped slavery and then helped other slaves escape to northern states and Canada where there wasn't slavery. A number of engaging activities can help kids retain information about Tubman and her work.

  1. Survival Skills

    • Slaves like Tubman had to depend on their survival skills to escape. Kindergartners through second graders can get down on the ground and pretend to escape by moving from one hiding place to another. Your child can pretend to listen for search dogs, look for food, avoid strangers who might capture an escaping slave and find a safe place to rest during the day. You can take an older elementary child into a local park, hiking trail or camp ground and pretend to be an escaping slave using survival skills. You can fish, look for nuts, find safe places to rest and look for clues that point toward freedom.

    Games and Puzzles

    • Games and puzzles are an enjoyable way to learn and retain information. Free educational resources about Harriet Tubman may include mazes, word puzzles, coloring pages, coded messages and math exercises based on Tubman̵7;s story. These activities reinforce the main points of Tubman̵7;s personal history and why many slaves left their masters to find freedom. Scholastic.com also provides resources you can use with your child, including an informative page that dispels commonly held beliefs about the Underground Railroad.

    Tubman's Biography

    • You can share a short biography about Tubman, which is found in ̶0;The Book of Virtues." You can also read books such as David Adler̵7;s ̶0;A Picture Book of Harriet Tubman̶1; and ̶0;The Drinking Gourd: A Story of the Underground Railroad̶1; by F. N. Monjo to kindergartners through second graders. Older elementary children can read books such as ̶0;'Wanted Dead or Alive̵7;: The True Story of Harriet Tubman̶1; by Ann McGovern, ̶0;Who Was Harriet Tubman?̶1; by Yona Zeldis McDonough or ̶0;Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad̶1; by Ann Petry. Young children can illustrate Tubman̵7;s story using a picture from Education.com. Older children can write their own story of Tubman̵7;s life using material found in any of these resources.

    Geography

    • You can use Tubman̵7;s story and information about the Underground Railroad to learn more about United States geography. Your child can map Tubman̵7;s journey from her Maryland home to freedom in Pennsylvania. Your child can also map 19 more trips Tubman made as a conductor on the Underground Railroad and places she traveled with the Union Army as a spy, cook and scout. Your child can shade all the slave states in one color and the free states in a different color. That helps your child identify the path of slaves escaping from other states. Point out the states where it would be easier for a slave to make it to freedom and states such as Louisiana and Mississippi where the journey would be long and hard.

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