Kids' Activities Webpage

Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park tells the story of the 36th President of the United States. By completing the webpage activities below you will discover things about this man known as "LBJ"--his past, his land, and the things he accomplished. So scroll down! See what you can find out about this tall Texan who is often referred to as "The Last Frontier President." Some of these activities require the use of a pen or pencil, so you may want to have them available. Have fun!

Birthplace Crossword
Lyndon Baines Johnson was born on the rainy day of August 27, 1908. His parents, Sam and Rebekah, were cotton farmers near Stonewall, Texas. They lived in a home built with a large breezeway in the center of it to help keep it cool during the hot months. Houses built this way were known as dogtrot houses because the dogs would often lounge in the breezeway trying to stay cool. The house didn't have electricity or indoor plumbing, so the Johnsons cooked on a wood stove and used a bucket to bring water in from their well or cistern. They used the restroom in an outside building known as an outhouse. When LBJ was President, he and his wife 'Lady Bird' Johnson reconstructed his birthplace on the site of the original home.

Click on a space to type your letters. Use the TAB key to move to the right. Across: 1. Name of the family that lived in the birthplace 3. Thing used to carry water 5. Flies from flagpole 6. Place where cows are fed and kept 7. Things Lyndon Johnson played with in his nursery 9. President's first name 10. Name of 200-year-old tree LBJ played under 11. Weather day President Johnson was born Down: 2. Month President Johnson was born 4. Style of house 6. This was rung to call the family to dinner 8. Old-time restroom 9. President's wife's name 12. President's father's occupation when he was living at the birthplace								12

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LBJ Ranch Word Scramble
When President Johnson could find time, he enjoyed leaving Washington and flying to the LBJ Ranch. He would land at the ranch in a jet or a helicopter and deboard at his hangar. He loved to drive in his white convertibles to the top of the ranch where the cowboys would put his prize winning bulls on display in the show barn. Sometimes he would get on a tractor and help bale the hay. He also enjoyed seeing the white-tailed deer run through the live oak and cactus of the brush country, or the white-faced hereford cattle come down to one of the many ranch tanks for a drink of water. Unscramble the words below. Click on a space to type your letters. Use the TAB key to move to the right.

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Activity #3 Seek-n-Find
This applet takes a simple list of ideas and things you can learn about at Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park and hides them within a field of random letters. To circle a discovered word, mouse-click on one end of the word and mouse-drag to the other end of the word. Words may be hidden horizontally, vertically, diagonally, forward, or backward. Words on the list will disappear as you circle them.

Activity #4 The President�s grandfather, Sam Ealy Johnson, Sr., was a cattle drover in the 1860�s. He drove longhorn cattle 800 miles up the Chisholm Trail to Kansas, where they were shipped by train to eastern cities.
What things do you think an 1860�s cowboy would need? What do you think a rancher 100 years later would need?
Label the things below : C=Cowboy, R=Rancher, B=Both


Chuckwagon C R B	Horse C R B	Pickup Truck C R B

Hereford C R B	Tractor C R B	Boots C R B

Saddle C R B	Lariat C R B	Longhorn C R B

Brands Read a Brand
Make a Brand

After the Civil War there were many loose longhorn cattle in south Texas. Cowboys, such as Lyndon Johnson�s Grandfather, gathered up these strays and branded them to claim ownership. Read the brands below, then draw a brand of your very own and write its name.

	President Johnson did his part to help educate young children by creating a program called Head Start. He passed legislation bettering education at all levels. His own education started at the age of four at the Junction School. Spelling bees, penmanship, elocution (speech class) were parts of school life. The President�s mother, Rebekah Baines Johnson, was a college graduate. She gave elocution lessons on the front porch of their home in Johnson City.
	Try practicing some old-fashioned penmanship below, have a little spelling bee with your friends or family, and recite this old poem.

Copy these numbers below:

See if your friends can spell these words correctly:

absence
committee
disappoint
embarrass February
irresistible
meant
vacuum

(From list of 100 most commonly
misspelled words)

Recite this poem or have someone read it aloud:
Oh, young Lochinvar is come out of the West!
Through all the wide border his steed is the best...
So faithful in love, and so dauntless in war,
There never was knight like young Lochinvar.

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Last Updated: November 2, 2003
http://www.nps.gov/lyjo/EdKidActivity.htm
Authors and Illustrators: Donna Hunt, Curt & Liesse Schiller, Gene Warren and Richard Dvorak
Webmaster:
Ranger Cynthia Dorminey