Celebrate the 4th of July - Make the Holiday a Learning Experience for Your Child!

With the 4th of July fast approaching, many families are planning for a day filled with activities that included: baseball, picnics, swimming, camping, fireworks, and other family friendly events. In preparation for our Nations’ Birthday, here are a few ideas to use with your young children that will get them into the holiday mode and share with them the importance of celebrating our nations’ birthday.


Patriotic Crafts

Maybe your child would like to make patriotic decorations for the home. Gather materials that are red, white, and blue: tissue paper, sheets of construction paper, colored markers and paints, ribbons, and scraps of material or gift wrapping paper. You will also need safety scissors, glue, and a clean work space on the floor or table.

You may even have some patriotic music playing in the background, like: Yankee Doodle, America the Beautiful, America, My Country Tis of Thee, just to name a few.

1. Patriotic Wreath: use a paper plate and cut out the center part, leaving the ring for the wreath. Select red, white, and blue tissue paper and form balls by squeezing the paper in your hand. Arrange the paper balls in a colorful pattern around the ring and glue into place. Add a bow at the top and hang the wreath on a door or window. Your child can make more than one and place them throughout the house for decorations.

2. Sponge Paint American Flag: begin with a white sheet of construction paper. Place water color paint into small bowls. Use a kitchen sponge and cut into three pieces. Show your child a real American Flag and discuss the color pattern of red, white, and blue. Place each sponge piece into the colored paint bowl and paint the strips and blue box on the white paper. After the blue dries a little, use the sponge to dip into the white paint to form the stars.

3. Red, White, and Blue Collage: using old magazine pictures make a patriotic collage. Start with a sheet of construction paper and randomly spread the colorful pictures all over the paper. Then glue the pictures onto the sheet to display a patriotic collection of red, white, and blue pictures. Make a wall handing that your child will be proud to display.

4. Star Rice Crispy Treats: follow the directions on the Rice Crispy box for making the treats but add red and blue candies (M&Ms or jelly beans). Instead of cutting the treats into squares, use a star shaped cookie cutter to place the treats on a platter. This will be a true patriotic treat for the family.

Celebrating the 4th of July with friends and family is a wonderful time to show appreciation to our Armed Forces for the many sacrifices they have endured to insure that we have liberty and freedoms in the United States of America. Happy 4th of July!