There are certain important figures from history that all kids should know about, right? A few months ago, I picked up the National Geographic Kids book at Costco called Little Kids First Big Book of Who which I’ve been using with my kindergartner to go over some of the world’s most famous historical figures. I decided to make these cards in the spirit of that book.
15 of the 20 people featured in these cards are also featured in that book which at least briefly discusses about 60 individuals. Additionally, I choose 5 people not mentioned in the book to round out the range of time periods covered. I admit that there is an over-representation of individuals from the United States (9 of 20) simply due to the bias in my own history education (which I’m hoping to remedy in the future). I also did not include many of the darker figures in history, mainly because I plan to use these cards with my kindergartner and I’d rather not explain certain events and time periods at the moment.
It should also be noted that I excluded some men which were arguably way more important than some of the individuals in this set in order to include a number of women (7 of the 20 cards). Eventually, I would love to show my 3 year old daughter that even though women’s rights may have been limited throughout history, there were still many strong, powerful women who made a lasting impact.
As a bonus, if you use a blank world history timeline, I’ve also made some tiny little labels for each of these individuals that you can use to glue into your timeline.
Recommended Age Range: Kindergarten, Elementary, Middle School
Time Required: ~30 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Free printable, less than $3 to laminate.
Materials:
- Paper for printing 20 Historical Figures Worth Knowing cards and corresponding control cards. (Note that the last 3 pages of each document do not need to be printed as they just contain legal information regarding sharing and image sources.)
- 15 thermal laminating pouches
- Optional: Paper for printing blank world history timeline and 20 Historical Figures Worth Knowing timeline labels.
Supplies & Tools:
- Laminator
- Paper trimmer or scissors
Instructions:
- Print out the 20 Historical Figures Worth Knowing cards and the corresponding control cards.
- Laminate them using thermal laminating pouches, contact paper, or not at all.
- Cut them out.
- If using, print out the blank world history timeline and 20 Historical Figures Worth Knowing timeline labels, cut them out, and place them in your blank world history timeline.
Click here for more History activities for kids.
Related Links
History Activities for Kids
Social Science Activities for Kids
Government and Civics Activities for Kids
Michelle has a PhD in Engineering from Stanford University and a Bachelor's Degree from the California Institute of Technology. 
Pinning this great resource to my history board :)
Thank you! :)
Thank you soooo very much for making this resource available for us. I have a Timeline Notebook printed and bound for each of my children, and I am slowly trying to encourage them to fill it in as we come across dates! My aim is that it will be a book they will treasure long after our schooldays are over!!
This printable is just the thing I was looking for to add to our timeline! Thank you!
I am so glad it was helpful to you, Kylie! Thank you for your kind words! :)