Paper American flag (kids' craft).

This is a simple little Fourth of July craft that I did with the three and a half year old that I watch. He had a blast making it, and has been showing it off to everyone. I love that he had so much fun while working on his cutting, coordination, and listening skills too (not to mention practice with colors, shapes, and counting!).

These directions are based on how I did it with him, but this is easy to adjust to other ages/levels of development. I had him cut out the shapes himself (using children's safety scissors of course), but you could do the cutting for younger kids. For older kids, you can give the more autonomy when putting everything together.



Supplies (for each flag)
1 sheet of white cardstock, plus a small scrap for stars
1/2 sheet of red cardstock
1/4 sheet of white cardstock
double sided tape
star punch, or white star stickers
glue stick

Directions
1) Draw lines lengthwise across the red paper (these will be the red stripes, so make them as thin or thick as you like). Have the child cut along these lines.

2) Draw a rectangle on the blue paper, and have the child cut it out.

3) Put lines of double sided tape down on the paper where you want the red strips to go. Have the child stick the red strips onto the tape. Add some tape in the top left corner, and have the child stick the blue rectangle on top.

4) Have the child punch out stars using a paper punch (make sure there's no way to pinch little fingers in it first). Let the child use the glue stick to attach the stars to the blue area.

5) Display proudly :)

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