3 Fun and Educational Patriotic Activities for Kindergarten Kids

3 Fun and Educational Patriotic Activities for Kindergarten Kids
Page content

Patriotic Shaker

What You Need:

  • Cardboard toilet tube
  • Blue poster paint
  • Paintbrush
  • Paper plate or cup
  • Red construction paper
  • Sticker stars
  • Safety scissors
  • Thin white ribbon
  • Heavy-duty glue or low-temperature glue gun
  • Dried beans or dry pasta shapes

Directions:

  1. Since your students will be using paint and glue, it’s best to cover your table with newspaper to catch excess art materials. A paint smock is also a good idea to protect the child’s clothing.
  2. Pour a small amount of blue poster paint onto a paper plate or inside a paper cup. Have them dip their paintbrush into the paint and proceed to paint the cardboard toilet tube blue. When finished covering the entire surface, set this aside to dry.
  3. In the meantime, find a circular jar lid that is about one-quarter inch larger than the opening of the cardboard tube. Invite the kids to trace around this lid to make two circles and then cut out these circles. I used pinking shears to give the circles a decorated edge.
  4. Spread glue around the edge of one circle and adhere this to one end of the cardboard tube. Press the edges with your fingers to help the glue set.
  5. Turn the tube around and fill the open end one-quarter full with dried beans or dry pasta shapes.
  6. Proceed to glue the second circle to this end of the tube with the dry materials inside. Let this shaker dry thoroughly.
  7. Embellish the patriotic shaker with sticker stars. Then tie a thin white ribbon or two around the tube.

Your students are now ready to shake, shake and shake to the beat of a favorite patriotic song.

American Flag

What You Need:

  • White cardstock or poster board
  • Red and blue construction paper
  • White packing peanuts
  • Adhesive stars
  • School glue
  • Safety scissors

Directions:

  1. Give each child a sheet of white cardstock or poster board cut to a standard paper size (9 ½ x 11).
  2. Invite them to cut red construction paper into strips (the size of the 9 ½ x 11). Each strip should be about an inch or so. Each flag will need seven stripes.
  3. Cut a blue square from blue construction paper.
  4. Begin by gluing the red strips on the paper leaving a white space between each stripe.
  5. Next glue the blue square in the top left corner of the page.
  6. Take the Styrofoam packing peanuts and glue these in the white spaces between the red stripes.
  7. Last, place the sticker stars in lines on this square. See if you can fit all 50 stars for each state in the United States.

Note: This American flag is not to scale and is a replica craft of what the United States flag looks like. It teaches young children that there are red and white stripes on the flag, as well as, a blue square with a gold star to represent the 50 states in our country.

An alternative to the paper red strips is to paint the stripes with red paint.

Patriotic T-Shirt

What You Need:

  • Cotton T-shirt (white or light pastel brought from home)
  • Cardboard
  • Pencil
  • Safety scissors
  • Tape
  • Fabric spray paint

Directions:

  1. This craft can be messy, so it is best to do it outdoors. Make sure to cover any table or floor surface with newspaper. You may also want to dress your students in a paint smocks to protect clothing.
  2. Make sure the t-shirts are pure cotton. If new, advise the parents to pre-wash them before starting this craft.
  3. Place a sheet of cardboard inside the shirt so when the fabric paint is applied it will not bleed from the front to the back.
  4. Take another sheet of cardboard and draw stars in different sizes. Make several to scatter on the front of the shirt. Allow the children to cut these carefully with safety scissors.
  5. Roll pieces of tape and place the roll on the back of the star shape. Press each star onto the shirt making sure the star is flat. Sometimes you make need more than one tape roll per star according to the size of the shape. Let your students scatter the cardboard stars randomly on the front of the t-shirt.
  6. You will need fabric spray paint. This comes in a variety of colors. For this project, stick to the patriotic colors of red, white, and blue. White may not be needed unless you are using a dark shirt. This paint can be found in craft, fabric stores or online.
  7. An adult can spritz the fabric paint onto the front of the t-shirt over the star shapes. You may want to use a couple colors. Then, let the shirt dry for several hours or overnight.
  8. Ask the students to peel off the stars carefully to see reverse printing. This means where the stars were taped will be the plain fabric showing through the speckled paint. Remove the cardboard insert and your students now have cute Americana shirts to wear for any patriotic holiday.

References

  • Photos by Tania Cowling, all rights reserved
  • Crafts from my experience as an early childhood teacher