Month of the Military Child
Military members and military-connected families make many sacrifices for the security and safety of our nation, specifically military-connected children during their K-12 careers. April is designated as theMonth of the Military ChildǰPurple Up! For Military Kids. Across the nation, states and school districts will celebrate the important role military children play while their service member parents serve our country through special events and wearing the color purple.
Please join the MIC3 and the Viva88Education Department in celebrating military children throughout the month of April.
Special Programs
April is Month of the Military Child, a time to honor the resilience, strength, and sacrifices of children in Military and Veteran Families. To celebrate, the Viva88Department of Veterans’ Services has organized an exciting lineup of free events across the state for Military Children and their families.
These incredible experiences range from behind-the-scenes tours of the Keybank Center, home of the Buffalor Sabers to hands-on adventures at zoo encounters, ice cream museums, Legoland, and even a naval ship tour with lunch aboard!
All events are completely free, but space is limited! RSVPs are required, so please sign up as soon as possible tobenjamin.pomerance@veterans.ny.gov. When RSVPing, be sure to include:
- The event(s) you’d like to attend
- The number of attendees (children and adults)
Highlighted Events Include:
- April 4, 10 a.m.: Museum of Innovation & Science! A full, fun day in Schenectady featuring a show in one of the best planetariums around, plus plenty of time spent in this hands-on museum’s Design Zone, earthquake exhibition, invisible energy discoveries, mind-bending illusions experience, and much more. Pizza party lunch, too! Generously co-sponsored by the Albany County Veterans Service Agency.
- April 11, 9.a.m.: Solar-Powered Buffalo Heritage Carousel! Start your morning with a spin — or many spins! — on this beautiful hand-carved historic carousel powered entirely by solar energy. Complete your morning with a tasty breakfast provided on-site! Generously co-sponsored by Western New York Heroes.
- April 11, 11 a.m.: KeyBank Center Behind-The-Scenes Tour! Experience the home of the Buffalo Sabres . . . as only the Sabres themselves see it! Visit areas that generally only a professional hockey player, coach, or broadcaster would get to see. Bring your camera for plenty of photo ops in this beloved arena that has hosted thrilling on-ice battles since 1996.
- April 12, 10 a.m.: Museum Of Play! A paradise for kids of all ages waits for you in Rochester. In one day, you can stroll through Adventureland, get your picture on the front stoop from Sesame Street, experience the many wonders of the Video Game Hall of Fame, play with centuries of toys from around the world, race titanic marbles on the Marble Speedway, step into a life-sized doll house with a car complete with working ignition and headlights, walk through a giant kaleidoscope, and much more! Train ride on the museum’s indoor railroad included — and a special adventure inside the Butterfly Garden. Lunch included on-site, too! Generously co-sponsored by COMPEER Corps.
- April 18, 11 a.m.: Legoland! Spend the day with us in Legoland New York, a haven of fascinating explorations. Ride in a giant pirate ship, take the wheel of a Lego fire engine, get magically shrunk to the size of an action figurine aboard the Lego Factory Adventure Ride, view America’s landmarks built from 22 million Lego bricks in “MiniLand,” join the party at Dizzy’s Disco Spin, rebuild the world at Planet Legoland — the possibilities for adventure are endless!
- April 19, 10:30 a.m.: USS Intrepid! Come aboard this fascinating floating museum docked at Pier 86 in New York City. The space shuttle Enterprise waits for you on board, as does a Soyuz TMA-6 space capsule. On deck, get up close to an incredible array of aircraft. Then check out what a Sailor’s life was like aboard this resilient aircraft carrier that served in World War II, the Vietnam War, and the Cold War. Conclude your day with a pizza lunch for all participants! Generously co-sponsored by Veterans Rebuilding Life.
- April 19, 5 p.m.: Museum Of Ice Cream! Unlimited ice cream samples for all attendees!! But if that isn’t enough to attract you to this one-of-a-kind museum, then the fourteen interactive “playscapes” surely will seal the deal. Dive into the Sprinkle Pool, get creative in the Sundae Kitchen, venture through the Banana Split Jungle, explore the history of this favorite dessert from ancient times to the present day, learn how ice cream is made from scratch — and zip down New York City’s longest indoor slide to make your experience complete.
- April 25, 9 a.m.: Heroes, Cowboys & Companions Farm Visit! On this farm near Middletown comes a day filled with stimulating small-group activities. Meet the horses and goats of the herd, create and play your own drum, make s’mores over the campfire, venture out on a fascinating guided nature exploration, and more! Kid-friendly lunch (burgers, chicken tenders, etc.) provided on site!
- April 26, 10 a.m.: Ross Park Zoo! Guided tours exclusively for you at one of the oldest zoos in the entire United States. The zoo’s highly engaging educators will teach you about the many species who reside there, from the Arctic fox to the red panda, the howler monkey to the two-toed sloth, the snowy owl to the African penguin, the Pallas’s cat to the snow leopard. And when you are done visiting the animals, a pizza lunch awaits you — with ice cream sundaes to follow!
If you have any questions regarding any of these programs, please feel free to contactbenjamin.pomerance@veterans.ny.gov.
Purple Up! Celebration Ideas
The following list provides suggestions to celebrate theMonth of the Military ChildԻPurple Up! Day.
- Purple Up Day
- Observe Purple Up Day. Challenge students, faculty, and staff to wear purple. The class with the most purple wins a prize. Share photos on social media!
- Social Media
- Utilize the Social Media Hashtag: #MIC3Compact and #purpleup4militarykids when posting on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Web Site Feature. Promote the Month of the Military Child on the school web site. List activities that will take place on different days during the month.
- Special Announcements
- Have a military child do the announcements and share an interesting fact about their life as a military child.
- Daily Factoids
- Have a daily or weekly announcement with military-connected student facts. Start with the national facts and move into school facts.
- Light it Up!
- Get a local landmark, district office or school building lit up purple.
- Dress Up Theme Day
- Have a dress-up theme for each week in April. Ideas include favorite service logo day, patriotic day, etc.
- Military Memorabilia
- Decorate display cases and bulletin boards throughout April with military focused memorabilia, or items brought by military children reflecting their experiences (where they have lived or traveled, family members’ service memorabilia, parts of a uniform, patches, coins, etc.)
- Where in the World?
- Create a world map and pinpoint where students and staff have lived because of their military lifestyle.
- Adopt a Service Member
- Adopt a deployed service member or unit. Send cards, letters, and care packages to deployed troops. Adopt a Family. Adopt a family whose military member is deployed. Find out what the family needs help with - yard work, in-home technology, childcare, tutoring, homework help, etc. – and have a class or club step in to help out.
- Guest Speaker
- Ask a military member (a parent or sibling of someone in the class) to be a guest speaker and share their perspective on life in the military as well as their profession.
- Wall of Heroes
- Create a Hero Wall to honor members. They could be family members of students or historical figures. Time Zone Wall. In a main hallway set up a series of clocks showing the time in different countries where military children’s family members are deployed.
- Poster Contest
- Decorate the school or virtual learning environment. Have a group of kids design posters thanking military children and their parents for their service. Have military children make posters reflecting their experiences. Have a contest for students to choose their favorite poster.
- Chalk Art
- Ask families and students to decorate the sidewalk at school, at home, or at a park and share through social media.
- Share Stories
- Invite a deployed service family member in the classroom or at an assembly. Or through a virtual meeting, podcast, webinar.
- Ribbons
- Tie purple ribbons, one per military child in the school, on a tree outside the school or attach on the walls of the lunchroom or main hallway.
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Share Your Stories
The Viva88Education Department wishes to highlight localMonth of the Military ChildԻPurple Up! Daycelebrations. Please observe the following parameters to share a local celebration of New York's military children.
- Typed stories should no more than one page in length and submitted as an attached document to an email sent to P12StandardsInstruction@nysed.gov.Please use the subject line "Month of the Military Child".Documents must be submitted in an editable word processor file format (Word, Pages).
- It is the responsibility of the entity submitting the story to ensure that there is compliance with all relevant copyright and privacy laws. Responsibility for obtaining any third-party permission(s) if necessary, rests with the entity submitting the story.
- By submitting a story to Viva88, you understand and acknowledge:
- That you have the right to submit the story (you are the author or you have the author’s permission and/or any other necessary third-party permissions);
- That you have permission from school/district/BOCES administration to submit a story to Viva88 for publication; and
- That you permit Viva88 to publish the story in various formats.
- Viva88 retains the right to edit submitted stories for grammar, mechanics, and spelling. If significant editing of content is required, Viva88 may correspond to submitter with a request for edits.
- Viva88 encourages the inclusion of pictures. Links to videos may be embedded in the story or submitted as the story. The school or district is responsible for obtaining and maintaining the appropriate release forms.
- Release forms must be signed and retained by the school or district for all visual and audio content that features people, both children and adults. The release form for children must be signed by a parent or guardian.
- Release forms must also be signed by the owners of the visual and audio content (photographers, videographers, etc.) verifying that the content may be posted on the website.
- If you would like to share files related to your story, please provide a link to your website or a person to contact for more information in the body of the submission email. Viva88 cannot post files on its website.
- Publication is not guaranteed. If your story is published, you will receive notification via email.
Additional Resources
- Military Interstate Children's Compact Commission (MIC3)
- Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA)
Questions pertaining to theMonth of the Military Childor theInterstate Compactcan be directed to P12StandardsInstruction@nysed.gov.