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Another good idea for celebrating Black History Month with your kids is to look into events in your area. Many universities, museums, churches, adoption groups, clubs, etc. have special events to celebrate Black History month, some of which are even tailored for children. You can check with the Student Union or websites of local universities or even go to good old Yahoo or Google and search for “Black History Month” and your state or city.

If you are lucky enough to live near a big city that has an area like “Little Ethiopia” (or other ethnic area), going for a visit and some shopping and eating is a fun way to celebrate for a day. Ethnic restaurants are always great too if there is an appropriate one in your area.

We travel to a nearby state every February to attend a fun “Black History Month Fair” at a large university. The event is held by the Multicultural Students Services, and is for kids. It is free, and there are tons of games, crafts, activities, treats, etc. There is a hair and skin area, where kids can get their hair braided and parents can get advice on caring for textured hair (there are lots of adoptive families), and there is African story telling. My kids really look forward to going to this every year, as do Josh and I. There are always lots of other adoptive families that “look like ours”, and it is a really fun event for us.

If you don't have any events going on near you, there is lots that you can do at home as well. Renting movies, reading books, listening to music, doing crafts, checking out sites online and preparing special foods are just a few ways that you can celebrate black history with your kids at home.

I know that “Black History” can be a complicated thing, especially for kids adopted from Africa or Haiti or some parts of South America, who do not share the same “history” as many blacks in the United States. It is true that the heritage of my black kids born in the U.S. is different than that of my black kids born in Ethiopia. However, we see Black History Month as an opportunity to learn about and celebrate a variety of black cultures, heritages and individuals in our country.

If anyone has a resource, event or tradition for celebrating Black History Month that they would like to share, please leave a comment.

Happy Black History Month!