Hands on History at Home!
It’s time to get hands on, South Florida! With Hands on History, you’ll have the opportunity to learn and create with kids and teens in your household! Find story recommendations, activities, and resources that will fill your home with learning and some HistoryMiami fun!
A Letter to Amy by Ezra Jack Keats
Peter is inviting only one girl to his birthday party: his friend Amy. Rather than asking her in person, he decides to send her a special invitation, but a thunderstorm on the way to the mailbox sends Peter’s plans into a tailspin. Watch the read aloud of this book here.
Delivering Your Mail (Community Workers) by Maureen Fergus, illustrated by Elina Ellis
This book provides an introduction to the important job of mail carriers. Through fun illustrations and easy-to-read text, this nonfiction picture book describes what a mail carrier is, how their mail truck works, and how the mail must get delivered no matter what the situation.
Additional Books:
Recommended for grades PK – 5
- Mail Carriers at Work by Karen Kenney
- Mail Trucks Busy Day by Traci Todd Peyton
Recommended for grades 6 – 12
- There’s Always Work at the Post Office: African American Postal Workers and the Fight for Jobs, Justice, and Equality by Philip F. Rubio
- How the Post Office Created America: A History by Winifred Gallagher
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Activity 1: Make a Postcard
Supplies:
- Colored pencils, crayons, or markers
- Decoration supplies
- Glue
- Pencil
- 1 piece of blank 8.5” x 11” paper
- 1 postage stamp
- Printer
- Ruler
- Scissors
- 1 thin cardboard box (i.e. cereal box)
Instructions:
- Download and print out the postcard template provided on blank 8.5” x 11” paper.
- On the left side of the vertical bar, write your message to the recipient. On the three horizontal lines, write the address of the recipient. A recipient is a person who receives a document through the post. Remember, postcards do not require return addresses like letters do.
- Glue template to the thin cardboard. If you’re using a cereal box, make sure you glue the back of your template to the outside of the cardboard.
- Cut out the cardboard and template along the thick black line.
- Create a picture for the recipient to enjoy on the cardboard side of your new postcard. Be creative! Magazines provide excellent images and words for collage, as do used postage stamps or newspapers. Print off an image that has special meaning to the recipient and glue it to the postcard, or try your hand at calligraphy for a beautifully graphic message!
- Attach a stamp on the rectangular box (printed side of postcard template) and drop in your local collection mailbox.
Activity 2: Word Search
Images from the Black Heritage Stamp collection: https://stamps.org/news/c/collecting-insights/cat/stamps-in-history/post/discover-the-black-heritage-series-part-1 Be a stamp designer. Use the frame below to design your own postage stamp featuring a special person, or someone you would like to honor.
Miami Stories
What is your Miami Story? How did your family get here? What is it like being in Miami during this challenging time in our country?
HistoryMiami Museum has launched a new way for you to share your story online about your life in Miami! Upload a video to share your story with your community. Record your video and upload it.
Feeling camera shy? You can submit a written story as well.
HistoryMiami Museum’s Miami Stories Initiative is proudly celebrating its 11th anniversary. This oral history project documents life in the Magic City which is preserved in our museum’s archive and shared online.
Explore This: Historic Miami Photos
Explore Miami’s past from the comfort and safety of your home! View our online archives collection and find photos of Miami from every decade. Who knows what treasures you’ll dig up from the past!
Teacher Resources
Our catalog of online resournces is a great reource for teachers of all grades. Learn how museums care for objects or learn how Miami’s pioneers made Miami home in our variety of our online tools. Click here to see our offerings.
Become a Member
Accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, HistoryMiami Museum is sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture. Support is provided by the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners.
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