Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in Honolulu, HI

I have to be honest.  I can't imagine teaching Noah about history at this point.  He can't really answer questions about yesterday yet, so I don't really think he'd understand the concept of real things having happened a long time ago. But still, I can appreciate that it's important to the development of a human being to know what happened before they came into existence.  So, I try to do things that will lay a foundation for further discussion later.  I guess you could call it exposurehopefully the idea of history will become easier to deal with as he gets older. 

1. When we come across a statue of a historical figure, I point it out and talk about the person in simple terms.  Example: we were walking in Waikiki.  We happened to come upon the statue of Duke Kahanamoku.  We stopped and I told him that was Mister Duke, who was a really good surfer.  Noah answered Woah, really good surfer.  Mister Duke! and admired him for a minute before we moved on.  I've also pointed out the King Kamehameha statue [pictured above) (He was the great King of Hawaii!) and the Alfred Apaka statue (He helped make awesome music in Hawaii!) located at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Hotel.  I'm hoping that he'll at least remember what these guys are known for so we can build on that knowledge later on.
2. We also make sure not to miss gazing at the big clock at Aloha Tower.  Noah calls it the very big clock! whenever we go visit the landmark.  While we're there, we'll also spend some time gazing out into the ocean watching boats and ships go by.  I have tried to explain as simply as I could that people could only go to other places on boats before there were airplanes. 
3. Our state also has a significant Military history.  A visit to the Hawaii Army Museum is free and simple.  There isn't much to the museum, so don't expect to stay for very long, but there are cool things to see, especially for preschool boys.  We took Noah recently.  He completely ignored any of the historical things we tried to read to him about what was on display.  But he did listen to my paraphrased and shortened versions of what things were, and he really REALLY liked the Helicopter they keep on the roof. 
4. Another part our military history is Pearl Harbor.  I don't think I can expect a preschooler to understand what happened there, but I do think they would enjoy the boat ride out to the Arizona Memorial.  I've been putting this particular field trip off for some reason, even though I know Noah would love seeing the sunken battleship you can see just under the water. 
5. A visit to the Dole Plantation can also be a history lesson. I wrote about it in this post.  I have a couple of Uncles who aren't related, but are family friends who worked there when they first immigrated to Hawaii.  I tell him that Grandpa so and so worked there making the pineapples a long long time ago, hoping that a concrete tie to history will make it more real for him.

He's not quite three years old yet, so a lot of this probably goes over his head.  Maybe in a year or two though, that little light will go on when I'm trying to share some history with him.