As part of our mini-unit about America, we had a very basic craft at the free art center. This American flag craft gave the children the chance to recreate the American flag on their own.
How to Make An American Flag for Kids
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The summer is the season for all things patriotic.. and there’s nothing more patriotic than the American flag! This week we celebrate Flag Day, established as an official holiday by President Harry Truman in 1949. What better way to celebrate than to share fun facts about the American flag for kids, and let them create their own.
The American Flag for Kids – Fun Facts
Before the girls created their American flags, we spent a few minutes learning about the history of our nation’s most prevalent symbol. A few summer’s ago, on a holiday weekend visit to my in-laws, we occupied the girls in the car by playing I Spy an American Flag; for kids, an easy game to play, especially from Memorial Day through July 4th when you can spot flags just about everywhere.
Given our game, they were quite familiar with the basics – stars and stripes, red, white and blue. But my 5 year old especially was very interested in the specifics. Download and print our Flag Facts printable to use as a guide for crafting your own American flags!
The one page printable features two columns, which allows the sheet to easily be cut in half. The left half covers brief facts about the American flag for kids, including the flag’s origin, the establishment of Flag Day, and how our flag has changed over the years. The right half outlines the current physical features of the flag, and what the features and colors represent.
American Flag for Kids Craft Supplies
You can choose from any range of craft supplies to craft your American flags. I’m a huge fan of using contact paper in lieu of glue for crafting with heavier supplies – I consider it the ‘great crafting equalizer’, allowing both my 3 year old and 5 year old (and sometimes even my 1 year old) to do projects together with less frustrations.
To invite your kids to create their own American flags, we recommend the following craft supplies:
I found our paper straws in the Dollar Spot at Target, but you can choose just to use and color craft sticks as well. I set up the supplies in our favorite project organizer – a Dollar Store dip tray – and displayed the American Flag Fun Facts Printable using $1 Ikea frames.
Materials for the American Flag Craft
You don’t need much for the American flag craft. In fact, I am willing to bet that you might have all of the materials in your classroom already! Here’s what we used (I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post):
- Scissors
- Glue
- Red and white strips of construction paper
- Blue construction paper cut into rectangles
- Star stickers
Creating the American Flag Craft
While I didn’t interfere in their craft time, I had fun watching the kiddos! It was nice to sit back and observe as they set about using the paper and stickers to make their own version of the flag. In particular, I was entertained by the attention to detail they showed! Some of them even brought our class flag over to use as a point of reference. They counted the stripes on the flag, noted that there were more red stripes than white stripes, and many observed the patterns in the stripes.
I heard things like, “Hey! It’s like a pattern here!” and “Well, that’s a lot of stars!” During our mini-unit, we had already discussed the American flag, it’s colors, and the meaning behind the stars and stripes. Still, it was nice to hear the observations they made on their own. I think the kids did a great job, and all of the flags turned out so well!
Even though each child was given the same materials, each flag was almost as individual as the kiddos! Some were incredibly long flags, while others were rather misaligned. Still others were as accurate as the children could make them. I’m actually surprised that a few of the students didn’t sit and count out 50 stars. I was impressed with how all of the kids really took their time with this craft. There was no rushing off, even by the students who aren’t too into arts and crafts.
Have you ever done an art or craft project involving the American flag with your children/students? How did it go?
Simple Art Materials for Kids
Now that you’ve got a cute American flag craft idea in your back pocket, you’ll need to make sure that you’re all stocked up on some useful art supplies.
Here are a few of the materials you might use for a variety of preschool art projects (I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post):
- Liquid watercolors
- Coffee filters
- Washi tape
- Dot markers
- Contact paper
- Construction paper
- Washable tempera paint
