Labor Day weekend is unofficially the last weekend of the summer for those of us in the U.S. and Canada. This is when many people will have backyard barbecues and attend parades. But do your students know the history of Labor Day and why it is celebrated? The videos below explain the history of Labor Day.

History of the Holidays is a series of videos from History. Each installment explains a different holiday. The Labor Day video is embedded below.

Why Do Americans and Canadians Celebrate Labor Day? Is a new TED-Ed lesson. The video is embedded below. You can find the full lesson here.

Applications for Education
Introduce these videos to students after asking them about what they did over the weekend and why they think that they had Monday off from school.

H/T to Larry Ferlazzo for the TED-Ed lesson.