Patriotic Crafts for the 4th of July

July 4^th, here we come!  We hope you plan to celebrate our great nation and freedom in a big way this year.  Patriotic crafts are a wonderful opportunity to teach your kids about America and some of the themes and symbols of patriotism.  Plus, you can work on fine motor skills and foster creativity while you’re at it.  Get your kids excited about the 4^th of July holiday with these themed patriotic crafts.

American Flag:  One of our favorite patriotic crafts is an American flag wind sock.  Take a blue paper cup and decorate it with white stars.  You make the stars with stickers, stamps or by drawing or painting them on.  Then fasten red and white streamers to the inside of the cup with tape and let them hang down in long, alternating strips.  Wa-la, you have a clever American flag wind sock to display outside your home for the 4^th of July holiday.

Stars:  There are endless patriotic craft ideas involving stars.  One fun craft is a star dream catcher.  Make a star using crafts sticks.  Then cover the open spaces with red, white and blue tissue paper.  Also add tissue paper or streamers to dangle from your star.  Attach a string and display your beautiful star dream catcher in a window to allow light to shine through.

Red, White and Blue:  July 4^th is a terrific time to work on patterning with patriotic colors.  Let your tots create necklaces, bracelets and headbands out of beads, cut up straws or colored pasta.  String the materials on ribbon or pipe cleaners and encourage your kids to create a pattern using red, white and blue.  Then they’ll have fun jewelry to show their patriotism and creativity on the big day.

Fireworks:  Start with a sheet of black construction paper, cardboard or canvas.  Dip the ends of q-tips into red and blue paint.  Place the q-tips in a circular fireworks pattern with 8 to 10 of them making each “explosion.” Repeat several fireworks throughout the page.

Statue of Liberty:  Your kiddos can make an adorable Statue of Liberty hat using a paper plate and some construction paper.  Cut the paper plate into a crescent moon shape and paint it blue.  Add white stars cut from construction paper.  Then cut red and white triangles from construction paper and fasten them to the round part of the plate.  Finally add a strap and let your children wear their liberty hats on the 4^th.  You can also make a torch using a toilet paper roll with orange and yellow tissue paper coming out of the top.

Uncle Sam:  Teach your kids about good ole Uncle Sam with this fun patriotic craft.  Glue six craft sticks together side by side.  Paint the top half of each alternating red and white.  Cross one red craft stick horizontally and add a blue strip of tape or construction paper to complete the hat.  On the non-painted ends of the craft sticks, make Uncle Sam’s face.  Finally, glue down cotton balls for his beard.

We hope you and your kids have a blast with these patriotic crafts for the 4^th of July!  Happy July 4^th!

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