If you are teaching your kids or classroom about President’s Day, and more specifically Abraham Lincoln, then we have plenty of activities and teaching resources for you!

Our Top Hat Writing Book makes a great writing activity which your students can research and record information about Abraham Lincoln in! In fact it can really be used for anyone with a top hat! (You could even use this idea and change the colors to red and white for Cat in the Hat!)

And don’t forget about our NEW “I Am Abraham Lincoln” Literary Guide for 2nd-3rd grade with 5+ Days of Teacher Guided Reading, Worksheets, STEM activities, crafts and MORE! ALL Common Core aligned!

black top hat Lincoln writing book activity

If you picked up our “I Am Abraham Lincoln” Literary Guide for your classroom than you can use your printable template to cut out the construction paper top hat and print the writing pages to go with it.

Otherwise you can just easily free hand a top hat by cutting out two slim long ovals out of black construction paper and two large rectangles. There are plenty of references and templates out there if you really need it.

Top Hat Writing Book Materials:

The list of materials for this activity is simple and more than likely already in your classroom supply closet or at home in your craft closet!

Black Construction Paper
Writing Paper
Tape/Stapler/Glue
Optional – our printable template

If you don’t have our printable template for the writing section, you can just cut up small rectangles of white paper for writing on. It’s nothing fancy!

I used taped to hold our top hat booklet together but you can use glue or staples if you want! It just depends on your preference and if you are pre-making these books for your students, or if they are creating them on their own! It’s completely customizable!

Just attach your black top hat pieces together as you see in my photos, then add a writing booklet inside! If you want to make this even easier you can cut out your top hat in one giant piece of black construction paper and glue in a mini notebook of paper.

There is no right or wrong way to make this activity! This is just a creative idea starter that you can change based on your supplies, age group and need.

I recommend having at least 6 sheets of paper inside of the top hat depending on the project that you decide to do with this top hat writing booklet!

If you ask a student to tell you about Abraham Lincoln you might get answers like “Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States” and “He was born in a log cabin in Kentucky and grew up in a poor family”.

They may even remind you that he was one of the few presidents who were assassinated. (Did you know that you can see Lincoln’s death mask, chair, and other items at the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit?) Lincoln loved to read books and study too.

But there’s so much more to this popular president in history. He made headway in his fight for equality and his leadership came at a time with much unrest in our country.

Here are just a few writing activity ideas based on Abraham Lincoln:

If I Were a President of the United States of America
Facts about Abraham Lincoln
My Proclamation
The History of President’s Day
My Favorite President
Myths About US Presidents
US President Quotes
A Day in the Life of a President

If you’d like to incorporate some other president’s day crafts for kids check out our popular ones below:

Quotes by Abraham Lincoln:

You could even just use this top hat writing book idea to create a book of quotes by Abraham Lincoln! Below are a few you could discuss:

“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”
“My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.”
“Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.”
“I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts.”
“The best way to predict your future is to create it.”
“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.”
“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”
“Whatever you are, be a good one.”
“I don’t like that man. I must get to know him better.”
“You can have anything you want if you want it badly enough. You can be anything you want to be, do anything you set out to accomplish if you hold to that desire with singleness of purpose.”