One of the greatest treasures that we can give our children is teaching them about America and the history of our great nation. Of course, it is always exciting if you can teach history and pair it with a field trip that highlights history in a fun new way. If you haven’t explored a presidential memorial as a family, this can be a fun way to bring together history and fun on a vacation.

As with all things intended to be educational, I have found that the best strategy for making learning fun with my children is incorporating interesting facts to go along with your visits to new places. For your visit to these presidential monuments, consider jotting down some presidential trivia for your child on index cards to use throughout the trip to bring history to life in a way that your child will not soon forget.

Here are just a few great presidential memorials to take your children to and a few fun facts that you can share with them about these wonderful tributes to some of our nation’s greatest leaders.

Lincoln Memorial - The Lincoln Memorial was built in honor of our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln,  and is located in the National Mall in Washington, D.C. This monument is most notable for its Greek Doric structure and the infamously large seated sculpture of Lincoln himself. The memorial was dedicated to Lincoln in 1922 and contains 38 Grecian columns that surround the statue. It is also encircled by engraved readings of the Gettysburg address, his second inaugural address, and murals by the French painter Jules Guerin. This monument is open 24 hours a day and approximately 3.6 million people visit the memorial each year.

Did You Know? Lincoln was our tallest president. At 6’4″, he was approximately a foot taller than the average man!

Mount Rushmore National Memorial - Mount Rushmore is one of the most famous memorials in the world and is located near Keystone, South Dakota. This mountainside sculpture comprises the heads of our former presidents George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln. The entire memorial covers a jaw-dropping 1,278.45 acres and is 5,275 feet tall! This monument was carved by Doane Robinson who is known as the “Father of Mount Rushmore.” It was his dream to create an attraction that would draw people from all over the country to visit his state and its beautiful Black Hills. His vision truly came to life as over three million people annually visit this astounding attraction.

Did You Know? More than 90 percent of Mount Rushmore was carved by using dynamite. Dynamite blasts removed approximately 450,000 tons of rock from the mountain.

Mount Vernon - Nestled in northern Virginia is America’s most visited presidential memorials since 1858.  It was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1960 and is owned and maintained by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association. This gorgeous landmark was the plantation home of George Washington, our nation’s first president. The property consists of 500 acres and visitors are invited to tour the mansion house along with a dozen outbuildings that include the slave’s quarters, kitchen, stables and greenhouse. Take a stroll through four different gardens, hike the forest trail and explore the George Washington: Pioneer Farmer site, which consists of a four-acre working farm and a recreation of Washington’s barn. After you tour the grounds, you can visit the gravesite of George and Martha Washington and even participate in a wreath-laying ceremony that is held daily.

Did You Know? George Washington’s favorite food was ice cream. He loved it so much that he installed two “ice-boxes” at his Mount Vernon home so that the Washingtons and their guests could eat ice cream as often as they liked.