The Basics
Happy Alexander Graham Bell Day! Is this a new-to-you holiday? Regardless, it isn’t a newly celebrated holiday! It honors an important person in our history who was alive a long time ago- from 1847 to 1922.
Alexander Graham Bell Day is celebrated on March 7 each and every year. This day is important because it honors Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone! On this day (March 7, 1876) Bell was granted a patent for the telephone. Just days later, he made the first ever phone call through the telephone that he invented.
History
Alexander Graham Bell sent his first message through a transmitter. His assistant, who was in the next room, received the first ever telephone call. What did Bell say in this first telephone call? He said, “Mr. Watson, Come here, I want to see you.” Wow!
Fun Facts
Did you know…?
- Alexander Graham Bell had a lifelong commitment to deaf education. (Dailies is continuing his legacy today with our very own American Sign Language classes!)
- During Bell’s funeral, every phone in North America was silenced to pay tribute to him.
- Bell is famous for first saying the well-known quote: “When one door closes, another one opens…”
- Bell didn’t only invent a telephone. He also invented the metal detector and the once fastest watercraft!
At-Home Activities
To make the most of this holiday with your children at home, here are some ways that you can celebrate Alexander Graham Bell and his still-important invention of the telephone!
- With your child, research the science and technology that went into the invention of telephone. Have your child make a brochure or a poster sharing this information!
- How has the telephone evolved over time since it was first invented? Have your child make a timeline showing dates and information of how the telephone has changed.
- Play the game of telephone! Get a group together, have the first person start out with a saying, whisper it from person to person in a line (or circle), and see if the message has changed at all by time it gets to the last person.
- Have your child make their own invention. They can draw a picture of this invention and write some sentences. What does this invention do? Who does it help?
- Encourage your child to research other famous inventors and inventions. Which inventor/invention is most interesting to them? Why? Have a discussion about it.
- Understand how a telephone works by creating your own! Use a piece of string to connect two paper cups together. Talk in one cup while your child listens through the other. Do you notice how the sound causes the string to vibrate? Does the length or thickness of the string affect the sound? Does the position of the string (how tight it is) affect the sound?
We’d love to hear how some of these activities work out! Drop a comment on our blog or on our socials to share the way you celebrated the holiday together.
