Celebrating Independence Day:
Flag Art and Games
The US Flag is a true symbol of our nation’s independence. Here are some crafts to do while exploring the flag’s history and designers.
Every day the flag flies over government buildings, schools, post offices, American ships at sea. Before the declaration of independence from Great Britain, America was represented by many different flags, hundreds of them. There were flags for each of the colonies, a flag for each town and flags for both army regiments and ships. The only flag flown in all the colonies was the Grand Union which was a flag with red and white stripes and with a small replica of the British flag in its upper left-hand corner. There were 13 stripes on the flag … one for each colony.
After the declaration of independence was made, the Continental Congress wanted a new flag for America. They decided on the symbols, but not how they were to be put together. There is no record … no one seems to know for sure … who designed the first true American flag. The most popular legend has George Washington making a sketch which Betsy Ross used to sew the first American flag. As more states joined the union, more stars were added to the original 13.
Flag Art I:
Obtain a large piece of white butcher paper. You will also need blue paper, red and white paint and star shaped sponges. Have the children glue on the blue square to the upper left hand side of the paper. You will then have them use the star shaped sponges in the white paint to make the stars. Then, use the red paint to paint each child's hands and then make the red stripes of the flag with their hand prints.
Variation I: Use silver star stickers instead of sponge painting.
Variation II: Use smaller pieces of paper and have each child do their own using their fingerprints to make the red stripes.
Variation III: Paint the lines red instead of using hand prints.
Torn Paper Flags:
Supply the children with blue, red and white paper. Have the children make a flag by tearing the paper and gluing it onto another piece of paper.
Variation I: Let the children use silver star stickers for the stars.
Star Art:
Cut out star shaped for the children and have them decorate the shapes with markers, crayons, pens, paint, glitter, torn paper or create your own ideas with materials you have.
Sticker Star Art:
Supply the children with star shaped stickers to place on another piece of paper. This activity is great for fine motor skills!
Stars and Stripes
Supply the children with red and blue paint and star and stripe (long thin) sponges to create a sponge print picture.
Star Rubbings
Cut Star shapes from paper doilies or sandpaper. Tape these stars to the table. Have the children place a piece of thin white paper over the stars and rub a crayon over the star.
Star Shaped Potato Prints
Cut a large potato in half. You will need a star shaped cookie cutter that will fit on the potato half. Press the cookie cutter into the flat side of the potato. Then, using a knife, cut the potato around the outside of the cookie cutter, leaving a star shaped potato stamp. Supply the children with the potato stamps, different colored paints, and paper. Have the children dip the potatoes in the paint and press them firmly onto the paper. If the potatoes are not cut evenly the shapes will not appear clearly.
Star Necklaces
Supply the children with star shaped beads and yarn. You can also have the children cut out star shapes from construction paper. Then, have them use a hole punch to make a hole, so they can thread them onto a piece of yarn.
Star Stencil Art
Provide the children with star stencils to trace. They may use markers, glitter, paint, crayons.. etc to decorate the shapes.
Star Sizing
Cut out many different sized stars. Ask the children to line up the stars from largest to smallest.
Star Numbers
Cut out ten star shapes. Number them one to ten. Ask the children to line up the shapes from one to ten.
Star Colors
Cut out many star shapes from different colors. Ask the children to sort the stars by color
Flag match game:
Obtain pictures of the flags of the world. Make two color copies of each (they need to be about the same size) Then glue each flag to an index card and play memory.
Flag Talk:
Show the pictures of many flags to the class. Name a few of the countries the flags belong to. Ask the children which is their favorite. Why do they like it?
Name that Flag:
Have the children guess which flag belongs to which country. Start with just a few for the young ones... like USA and Canada or Mexico.
