Columbus Day
As a busy homeschool mom, I know all too well how some “lesser-known” holidays come around and I haven’t had time to prepare anything special to teach my children about it. Well, Enrichment Studies is aiming to make things easier for you by doing all the legwork! Our hope is that this Columbus Day resource collection will make it super simple for you to just jump in and enjoy sharing the information with your kids. We have bunches of printables, videos, and interesting things to learn. Whether you have little tykes or teens, there is something for everyone here.
If you like what you see, please feel free to sign up to get a whole bunch of freebies that we offer. These will help you get a feel for the various products we offer. I’ll send them to you right away.
~Erica Johns
Enrichment Studies
mother of six, and home educator since 1997
(1451-1506)
Christopher Columbus is the man credited with finding the American continent for the country of Spain on October 12, 1492. Columbus Day is the day the USA and many other North and South American countries commemorate his discovery! Most US states observe the holiday on the second Monday of October. Columbus Day is also known as Dia de la Raza in many Latin America countries, Discovery Day in the Bahamas, Dia de la Hispanidad and Fiesta Nacional in Spain, Day of Respect for Cultural Diversity in Argentina, Day of the Americans in Belize and Uruguay. These holidays have been celebrated unofficially since the late 18th century, and officially since the early 1900s.
During Columbus’ lifetime, the countries of Europe traded mostly with Asia along a land route called the Silk Road. This route was long and dangerous, and many explorers wanted to find a shortcut by water, to trade more easily with the Asian countries.
Christopher Columbus had the crazy idea to sail west, across the Atlantic Ocean all the way to Asia. It took him three years to get funding for his voyage, and after being turned down many times by different countries, the Spain’s Queen Isabella finally gave Columbus three ships, and a full load of food and supplies.
On his way to what he thought would be Asia, he ran into the Bahamas, accidentally stumbling upon what would later become known as North and South America.
Columbus returned to the Americas three more times, exploring the Caribbean islands, and some of Central and South America.
Although there were accounts of a few other Europeans who discovered these lands before Columbus did, his voyage ultimately led to the colonization and full exploration of the huge American continents.
We hope you enjoy learning about him!
Click here for a biography. Easy to read and enjoy for kids of all ages.
Click to see the timeline
Fun Stuff
Choose from many different coloring pages here
Race to the New World with this Columbus Day game!
Click for printable word search
Click for challenge word search
Educational Helps
Click for free notebooking pages
You can get free biography notebooking pages here, when you sign up for a free account using this special referral link. Once you get your account set up (very quick) you’ll see the Biography Template Notebooking pages, which are useful for any person you are studying.
Test your knowledge of Christopher Columbus with this quiz!
Living Books Curriculum was so kind to allow us to share their wonderful Columbus Day Holiday Helper with you. This helpful resource includes poetry, art, stories, and copywork for you to use with your children. The proceeds from Living Books Curriculum go to supporting schools in Africa. Learn more about that here.
This notebooking collection features lapbooks, vocabulary, facts, historical information, and more!
Put these words into alphabetical order
Printable word jumble
Learn about the four voyages that Columbus took.
Make a map of Columbus’ voyage and small replicas of his three ships.
Free Ebooks, audios, and movies
We do not preview many of these, so please rely on any reviews and your best judgment. We do our best to pass long items that have gotten good reviews. All of these items were free at the time we posted. Prices are always subject to change, but we do our best to choose items that appear to always be free. Affiliate links may be used.
Kindle version
Watch on Amazon Prime
Kindle version
Watch on Amazon Prime
Kindle version
Kindle version
Videos
We have selected a variety of videos for you to enjoy that we believe are valuable and offer a good range of styles and information about this person and their work. Occasionally the videos we choose malfunction or become unavailable. If you see a video that is not working, please click here to contact us (a new window will open) and let us know what page you are on and what wasn’t working. Thank you.
Vintage movie about Christopher Columbus, perfect for younger kids!
It is very common that children are taught only good things about Christopher Columbus, but there were many sad and terrible things that went on as well. This video does a good job of explaining this for children without being too graphic.
Here’s a look at the first land, plants, and fish his crew would have come across!
Tour the Santa Maria!