MLK Sunday Supper is a great way to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Day and help kids learn more about serving community and helping others on this day of service. Definitely add this to your list of Martin Luther King activities!
Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Dr. King America’s Sunday Supper
What is America’s Sunday Supper?
America’s Sunday Supper was inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s vision that people of all different walks of life would come together around a Sunday dinner table to discuss issues affecting their local communities and how they can help with those issues.
What do you do during America’s Sunday Supper?
- Gather friends, family, and acquaintances of all different beliefs and backgrounds. (Don’t forget to include kids!)
- Host a Sunday night dinner (“supper”) featuring a pitch-in of each families’ favorite dishes and/or honor Dr. King with some of his favorite Sunday supper recipes. (See our list!) Let your kids get involved in the cooking!
- Discuss the mission of MLK’s Sunday Supper.
- Ask everyone to be prepared to discuss an issue affecting the community (even kids!). Brainstorm resolutions or ways you can help or volunteer.
- Honor Dr. King by discussing his accomplishments and reading MLK children’s books.
- Have a hands-on volunteer activity like stuffing backpacks of snacks for kids at a shelter, putting together blessing bags for homeless, etc.
- Regularly schedule Sunday night supper with friends and family! Make it a time of fellowship and focus on helping community.
If you’re looking for unique MLK activities for kids, incorporating these Sunday dinner ideas are perfect!
How To Celebrate MLK Day
MLK day of service ideas:
- Read children’s books about Martin Luther King
- Discuss how MLK Day is a day of service
- Help kids understand the dangers of discrimination and racism
- Make a helping hands craft
- Help a neighbor or family member with some errands or chores
- Declutter toys and games and donate to a local shelter
- Donate food to a local food bank
- Volunteer
- Host a Dr. King Sunday Supper with immediate family, friends, neighbors, or members of the community
FUN FACT: January is National Sunday Supper Month and there is a Sunday Supper movement to bring back Sunday dinner time with families.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:
Easy Georgia Peach Smoothie (to Honor Dr King’s home state!)
How to Host a Dr. King Sunday Supper
What was MLK’s favorite food?
Dr. King was from the south, so you’ll find many traditional southern foods in his favorites. Historical accounts (including information from his mama!) document some of Martin Luther King’s favorite foods.
Ideas for Sunday supper:
- Pecan pie
- Collard greens
- Baked sweet potatoes
- Fried chicken
- Smothered steak
- Ribs
- Peach cobbler
In the book Southern Food and Civil Rights: Feeding the Revolution, a story is included where Dr. King’s mother also said that one of Martin’s favorites as a child was a gelatin dessert that the kids called “Quilly.”
According to his mother, Mrs. King Sr., she explained that “Quilly,” a cool gentle dessert is necessary after the King’s favorite supper of ribs, collard greens, and baked sweet potatoes. Quilly, according to Mrs. King Sr., was the name the children had given this dessert years ago. She speculates that “maybe because it was garnished with spikes of thin sugar wafers.”
So, you might want to include a gelatin salad (from a gelatin mold) as part of your Sunday Supper ideas in honor of one of MLK’s favorite foods as a child!
Parent Read-Alongs For This Topic
If you want to dive deeper into Southern cooking and the history of Southern cooking, check out:
FROM OUR SISTER SITE, ALSO CHECK OUT:
Martin Luther King Jr Activities for Kids
Children’s Books About Martin Luther King Jr
Use some of these MLK books for kids to learn all about the history of Martin Luther King Jr. before you your Sunday Supper.
LET US KNOW IF YOU HOST AN MLK SUNDAY SUPPER!
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