1. Attend a local Juneteenth celebration
There’s likely to be a parade, pageant, festival, block party, or some other Juneteenth celebration near you. Local museums, libraries, and community centers also host Juneteenth programming.
2. Make red soda water
Juneteenth's signature drink is red soda water, a strawberry soda served with meals at many Juneteenth get-togethers. Red foods and drinks are a staple of Juneteenth feasts, believed to symbolize the bloodshed throughout slavery as well as the use of hibiscus in West African drinks. The drink is slightly sweet, majorly refreshing, and requires only a few ingredients.
3. Create a Juneteenth Flag
Yes, Juneteenth has its own flag, and it's red, white, and blue just like the American flag. The design is simple and kids can write the date on the side to help them remember the history.
4. Learn freedom songs together
“Lift Every Voice and Sing,” commonly known as the Black Nation
al Anthem, was first performed as a poem in 1900 and has since evolved into a gorgeous hymn with lyrics about hope and freedom. If kids aren’t already familiar with the song, Juneteenth is a great occasion to teach it to them. But Juneteenth music doesn’t have to explicitly explain the holiday’s origins—we can take on that job as parents.
Juneteenth music can be any family-friendly music by Black artists, from John Coltrane to James Brown to Beyonce. If I had to make one recommendation here, it would be Jon Batiste’s 2021 album WE ARE. It’s hard to imagine a better musical representation of Black Joy, with a title track featuring a high school marching band alongside a children’s gospel choir.
5. Make a traditional Juneteenth meal
While there’s no specific meal to eat, barbecue is a Juneteenth favorite due to the holiday’s Texas roots, and the fact that families like to gather for cookouts. Some red foods traditionally served at Juneteenth festivities include barbecued meats, red beans and rice, red velvet cake, and watermelon. Outside of Texas barbecue, southern comfort foods and traditional soul food like fried chicken, grits, sweet potatoes, and collard greens are common. Sweet potatoes and collard greens are especially meaningful in many African American households since they were easy crops for the enslaved to harvest.
6. Read books about Juneteenth
Picture books are helpful for younger kids to make sense of the holiday’s origins and importance.
7. Support Black-owned businesses
Buy books, food, clothing, and more from Black-owned businesses near you.
