Flag Day Activities Kids Love

June 14 is Flag Day in the United States. When the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776, Congress decided a national flag was needed to symbolize the unity of the new country. The original flag was raised for the first time on June 14, 1777. It had 13 stripes that represented the original 13 colonies. It also had 13 stars that represented each state in the union. Today we still have the 13 stripes but now have 50 stars that represent the 50 states.

To kick off Flag Day this year, my son made a flag from Legos. He is a Lego maniac and will find anyway possible to tie in Legos with learning activities.

We read  Red, White, and Blue (Penguin Young Readers which is a fantastic book about the US flag. My kids and I learned so much from this book. It teaches about Betsy Ross, Francis Scott Key, and the multiple US flag designs. It is full of US history that is perfect for the elementary grades. 

 

After reading the book together, we said the Pledge of Allegiance and discussed the meaning of the words. We also listened to the "Star Spangled Banner." Then my kids made a flag using tissue paper to celebrate this historical symbol. I actually made this art project when I was a kid and I remember loving it! This is how it is made.

Draw a flag on poster board and label the colors. 

Cut 3"x3" squares of red, white, and blue tissue paper.

Make a few lines of glue.

Center a pencil eraser on a square of tissue paper.

Crinkle up the paper around the pencil.

Take the pencil and dab the paper onto the glue.

Randomly add small metallic stars on the blue paper and adore your beautiful masterpiece!

What is super about this art project is that we can keep it up as a decoration for Fourth of July, too! And this is a great activity for Veteran's Day, as well as Election Day. I did this project with my fourth grade class many eons ago for Veteran's Day. Notice the date below. Yes, I am totally ancient. :o) This flag was huge and the kids worked on it together as a team. It was really nice to display. Notice that the stripes came out much straighter in the larger version.

You can also make a dessert pizza to celebrate Flag Day. {CLICK HERE} to learn how.

Enjoy!