Star Spangled Project

Since its so outrageously hot out today, why not stay in and create some 4th of July fun??  I used this project to teach the kids a little about American history and the history of our flag.

I started by taking them outside and showing them our flag and pointing out the stripes and stars.  Then we came in and got started.

I began by taking 1/2 a piece of paper and with a white crayon, drew on an outline for the blue area and the stripes (I used white so it wouldn't show if the painting got out of the lines).

Then, I had the kids take the glue and put it in the area for the blue.  They used paint brushes to spread it around.  Once covered in glue, they took blue jello (still in powder form of coarse), and sprinkled it over the glue.  When the glue was covered, they shook off the extra.

 I feel I should state the obvious: This gets messy.... but that is part of its appeal!  And besides, whats more fun than playing with with jello????  It smells soooo good!!  Plus, as it dries, it mixes with the glue and makes the most vibrant colors.

Anyway, when the blue was finished, they painted glue on every other stripe for the red stripes.  Then, we sprinkled red jello over the stripes, and again, shook of any extra.  Now of coarse I know I didn't do enough stripes or stars (it gets a little difficult for the younger ones with that much detail), but I did explain to them how many stripes and stars the flag has and the significance of each.   

The "stars" couldn't be added until the blue was dry, so while waiting, we painted fireworks.  They were done on black paper (for night) and made by painting glue x's.  We covered some in different jello colors and some with glitter.

Now back to the flags:  using a paint brush, the kids dabbed dots of glue on the blue and then sprinkled on glitter. 

And.....  TAH-DAH!  My babies made their first flags!  Pretty good for a 2 and 5 year old :) 

Yep, these will be framed and added to the wall-of-art.