Last year, I had an idea to let my kids research and present their own projects teaching us about different traditions related to the Mardi Gras holiday. It was really fun watching them do the research, and teaching my littlest kids what information was important to share in their projects. They had the most fun decorating their poster boards of course, but they were all proud to show us what they learned!

Presentation Prep
I highly suggest coming up with some ideas of topics for your kids to choose from. If they think of other ideas, that is great! But it helps to have a few topics prepped and handy. Depending on the age of your children, you may let them do research online on safe sites you trust, or visit the local library and see what fun books you can find.

I don’t let my children online yet, so I did the Googling myself, chose some articles about each topic choice, and printed it all out for them to gather research from.

You will also want to decide what you want your children to use to present their projects and have the materials for that handy. Last year we just used large poster paper that comes in a pack of a few sheets, but this year I found some really cute mini trifold poster boards at Walmart and got one for each of my kids! One of your more crafty kiddos may want to build a Mardi Gras float! If you think that would be an option for your family plan for that as well.

Topic Ideas
Let your child select a topic to research for their presentation. Here are some options to help get your wheels turning:

Fun topic idea for younger kids:
What are the traditional Mardi Gras colors and what do they mean? (super simple but also fun to learn about and decorate!)

Topic ideas for older kids:
What is king cake and what is the meaning behind it? (you could purchase or help them make a king cake from scratch for the family to eat during their presentation!)

What is Mardi Gras and why do we celebrate it? (religious aspect would be a big part of this one)

Tell me about all things having to do with parades! When was the first one? Why do they have parades? Have they always thrown candy at parades?

Is Louisiana the only place that celebrates Mardi Gras?

Do The Research
Once your kiddos have selected a topic, let them do the research to learn about that specific aspect of Mardi Gras. Help them come up with fun creative ways to present that information!

You will probably have to teach younger kids how to pull important information out of what they are reading. Last year my youngest girls both worked on their presentation together (they chose Mardi Gras colors). I read them the material I had pulled from online and then we talked through what the three colors were and what each one meant. I helped them write that on their board and then let them have a good ol’ time coloring and decorating. Before they presented their projects to the family, I helped them go over all the colors again and what they meant. They were so proud (and so were we!)

Presentation
For our presentation we went over to my in-laws and let the kids present not only to us (parents), but to their grandparents and aunt/uncle as well. We traditionally hold our own Mardi Gras parade down the driveway each year, so this was our perfect opportunity to have everyone gathered, present some fun Mardi Gras facts, and then wrap it all up with a parade and too much candy eating!

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I hope this project is as fun for your family as it was for ours! Please share any photos of your Mardi Gras presentations with us in a post in the Facebook Group, or on Instagram using the hashtag #HomeschoolSWLA