Thursday, October 1, 2026
Children didn’t just learn about the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Long Island Children’s Museum on Monday — they got to know his legacy in an annual program, “AdvoKids: Let Freedom Ring with MLK!”
Families gathered at the museum for a program that helped young visitors explore equality, freedom and kindness through discussion, the viewing of historic images and hands-on activities.
The program focused on why the United States celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day, why King gave his “I have a dream” speech, and what his dream was all about.
To keep 15 children ages 5 and up engaged during a history-heavy lesson, Jean Mansfield, the museum’s director of special projects and community initiatives, began by asking what they already knew about Dr. King. Hands shot up, and kids told her that he kept going, he didn’t give up, he wrote a famous speech, and he wanted the world to treat people the same whether they were Black or white.
Mansfield guided the group into a conversation about equality, explaining that during King’s time, people were treated differently because of their race, gender or religion.
Children and their parents were invited to learn together while connecting the civil rights movement to their own lives. Afterward, they created small “freedom bells” — decorated plastic cups with bells inside them. The kids were encouraged to ring their bells throughout the museum as a reminder of respect and equality.
Mansfield’s approach centered on family participation, as she encouraged children to continue the conversation at home with their parents.
“I feel like we foster those conversations at home,” said Stephanie Siler, the museum’s communications coordinator. “And the bells are something they can bring home and pull out at bedtime and say, ‘Let’s talk about this again.’”
The lesson continued with a discussion about freedom. The children said it meant living a happy life, sharing, speaking their minds and choosing friends without being judged.
“It means being able to say what you think without getting in trouble for it,” Mansfield added. “It means being friends with whoever you want and going wherever you want to go.”
From there, families took part in a gallery walk, rotating through displays four historic photos from the civil rights movement. The children examined each image, and spoke about what they noticed and how the people in the photos might have felt.
One photo showed King comforting a young boy, Eric James, during a 1964 school segregation protest in St. Augustine, Fla. Another showed marchers crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge during the Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march the following year. A third, taken at a freedom rally in Los Angeles, captured King addressing a crowd of thousands. The final image showed college students sitting at a restaurant counter during a sit-in, as food was dumped on them.
“People were sad,” Madison Sinclair, 6, of Rockville Centre, said of the last shot. “They weren’t treated nicely, and also probably got bad food.”
“Not everybody agreed with what they were trying to do,” Mansfield said. “But Dr. King believed in protesting inequality in a peaceful way. Sometimes you have to stand up for yourself. And sometimes you stand up for someone else who’s afraid.”
Madison’s mother, Dottie Sinclair, said Madison is very vocal about wanting to celebrate meaningful events. She has been learning about King at school — and watching YouTube videos at home about him — but coming to the museum made the experience real.
“My daughter has been learning about Martin Luther King Jr., and since there was no school today, we were trying to find something close by that can continue teaching her,” Sinclair said. “She really wanted to do something to celebrate.”
When the children were asked what they would say if they had the chance to speak with King, Madison answered without hesitating, “I would say thank you for supporting America.”
Other children said they learned how King had been arrested while fighting for civil rights, and they recognized photos from videos they had seen in school, connecting classroom lessons to the museum experience.
The museum staff said the workshop works differently than traditional classroom teaching because families learn together.
“In school, teachers scaffold content over time,” Mansfield said. “Here we have about 45 minutes, so the goal is awareness and opening the door to vocabulary and history.”
“When we do the gallery walk, the kids talk with their grown-ups first,” she added. “That encourages learning at home, not just here.”
The bells, she said, help extend the lesson. “They can take them home and say, ‘What do you remember from today?’ It keeps the conversation going.”
Many parents said they wanted their children to understand why they were off from school — and how King’s message still applies today.
“It’s a gentle, safe space to talk about our history and how to move forward,” Mansfield said. “It teaches kids how to have a voice at a very young age.”
At the end of the session, bells rang throughout the room — small sounds carrying a big reminder of equality, courage and kindness.
