Presidents
—Pictures and dates of all the presidents in order
—Secret Service code names are chosen for all president and their families, as well as for important locations.
Activity Ideas:
–Have your student guess the ages of the youngest and oldest presidents (reminding them that 35 is the minimum age)
Youngest was John F. Kennedy (at age 43) and oldest is Joe Biden (at age 78)
–Have your student calculate which year they will be 35 – old enough to be eligible to be president or vice president. (Don’t know how valid this explanation is about people running who aren’t quite 35 at election time, but it’s interesting.)
–Draw a self-portrait or pose for a photo, similar to those seen in lists of presidents, usually from the chest or waist, up, with an American flag in the background.
–Secret Service code names are usually chosen by the presidential family from a list of recognizable, uncommonly used words that are easy to pronounce and understand. What would you pick for a code name? How about for your family? Your house? Car?
White House and Grounds
—What’s Inside the White House?
–Floor Plan of the West Wing
–You can also view maps of the grounds, the East Wing, and the Residence. View different floors by using the menu above. Here are some of the furnishings and art.
–From this menu, you can view photos and history of different rooms in the White House and on its grounds. Check out places like the bowling alley and theater and putting green.
Activity Ideas:
–Have your student guess how many rooms, bathrooms, doors, windows, etc. are in the White House. Although the link is broken, a search for this information shows this info below from whitehouse.gov You can also start by having your student do a scavenger hunt in your own home for how many windows, doors, bathrooms, and rooms there are.
The White House is a place where history continues to unfold. There are 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, and 6 levels in the Residence. There are also 412 doors, 147 windows, 28 fireplaces, 8 staircases, and 3 elevators.
–Have your student address an envelope to the White House, or better yet, write and send a letter! (Email is probably preferred, but knowing the address is important to practice too.)
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20500
–Which rooms would you most want to visit at the White House? Why?
–If you could add a room, what would it be?
–If you lived at the White House, who would you invite to come stay?
–Build a paper White House
Oval Office
–Oval Office photos and More past photos
–replica of LBJ’s Oval Office and replica of Clinton’s Oval Office
—Biden’s Oval Office
–Story of The Resolute Desk and another story of the desk
–Magic House -Children’s Museum – oval office replica (Go straight through the red doors, follow the long corridor. Keep going… Once through the double doors, look left when you see Airmazement on the right. You’ll have a virtual map tour of a mini courtroom (Judicial Branch), mini Oval Office (Executive), and a mini Legislative chamber.
Activity Ideas:
–Franklin D. Roosevelt requested a hinged panel be added to the Resolute Desk to hide his legs. Here’s a photo of John F. Kennedy’s daughter and niece playing there and one of John F. Kennedy’s son. If you were allowed to play here, what would you do with this hinged panel?
–Each president is able to choose colors for the rug, the drapes, the couches. They also select which artwork they’d like to display. If you could design the Oval Office to your liking, what would it look like? Draw a picture, make a collage, or build a diorama to show your office.
Food at The White House
—White House menus from the past
Activity Ideas:
–Design your own menu of favorites
First Children
—Some of the children who have lived in the White House
–Only one child has been born in the White House
Activity Ideas:
–Think about what it would be like to be a kid living in the White House. What would be some benefits? Some disadvantages? If you started living in the White House this year, how old would you be when your parent’s term was up?
Presidential Pets
—White House pets
–New White House dog, Major, the first-ever rescue dog at the White House, got his own Indoguration on January 17
—List of Presidents and their pets with hyperlinks for more info on each pet
—Trivia questions each week about presidential pets
Activity Ideas:
–Draw or collage a picture of your pet(s) at the White House
–Look through the lists of past pets and find the most unusual, your favorite, the cutest, etc.
Other Ideas:
–Have your student calculate which year they will be 18 – old enough to vote (For those November bdays, my understanding is you can register to vote if you will be 18 on or before election day, but may not be eligible for early voting.)
–If you were President, what priorities would you tackle during your presidency?
–Watch a parent-approved movie or movie clip that features the White House or a fictional President.
(This is a short scene from the movie Dave. The White House Chief of Staff comes in, angry, at the man he hired to pretend to be President. He yells some words, and I can’t hear them clearly enough to tell if they’re bad words. But, the clip does show a brief glimpse of a White House tour, an office, President’s Outer Office, and the Oval Office. (For those with a keen ear, you will hear Sally from Cars/Dolly from Toy Story as the White House guide.))
