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November: Time to be Thankful, Care and Share

November 10, 2018 by Mama Carmody Leave a Comment

November: Time to be Thankful, Care and Share

It’s the first of November, which means the holidays are quickly approaching. Although we should always be thankful for the many blessings we receive, this is the time of year that those things especially come to mind. We have gatherings with family and friends. We laugh and share memories.

The children start making Christmas lists and thinking about the things they are hoping to get. It’s a good time of year to introduce your children to the fact that there are children, around the world, with much less than they have.

Introducing Your Child to Sharing/Caring

If you have been following me for a while, you know that I like to start out any learning experience with a book. I found a good book on my Epic! App. It is titled, “Sharing with Others”. I found a few copies on Amazon by third-party sellers (affiliate links included). The book shared how everyone has needs but we don’t NEED the most expensive items. It talks about who and how people earn money and that some people don’t make enough money for the things they need. The book gives examples of how to share (donate) items and money to help others. Even how donating our time can be very helpful. I like this book as a starting point for conversations on how we can help others.

Operation Christmas Child

An event I have enjoyed supporting, for many years, is Operation Christmas Child. It is sponsored by a ministry called Samaritan’s Purse. In the past, I have participated in this event with my children. This year I was able to introduce it to my grandchildren. I have wanted to do this with them the last couple of years but by the time I think about it, it’s too late. I stopped by Hobby Lobby, in October, and saw a display reminding me about the event.

How It Works

It is a fairly simple concept, which is one of the reasons I like it so much. You take a shoe box and fill it full of items that will then be delivered to a boy or girl (your choice), in a foreign country. The Samaritan’s Purse site gives you ideas of things you can (and can’t) put into the boxes.

Our Adventure

The Boxes

The grand-babies and I jumped in the car and headed to Hobby Lobby. I thought I had seen the cardboard boxes that we used to get from our church, but that is not what they had. I don’t know if all of the cardboard boxes were gone or if I had been so excited to see the display that I didn’t really look at it closely.

You see, when my children were young we either picked up special Operation Christmas Child boxes at our church, or we simply used an old shoe box we had around the house. Hobby Lobby had nice plastic ones that we could purchase.

I considered not purchasing the boxes and just going home and getting an old shoe box but I had already explained, to the children, what we were doing. They were excited so I wanted to move forward with the project. I had them each pick up a box, a lid, and a pamphlet, explaining what we could and couldn’t put in the boxes.

Shopping

Amaya

I decided to make it easy on myself and take the children shopping one at a time. I took Amaya first. She is 2 years old. I was a little worried that she wasn’t going to understand that we were not buying things for her but that she was picking things out for a friend that couldn’t afford them. I was very proud of her.

The first thing she wanted was a pair of sunglasses. I reminded her that they were for her friend and she said, “Ok.” I was finally convinced that she understood when she picked a pack of hairbands for her friend and then told me that she needed some too. Amaya picked out some useful things (guided my me) such as a hair brush, toothbrush, hairbands, washcloth and sunglasses. She also picked up some less practical things like bracelets, stickers, a mermaid doll (Amaya is REALLY into mermaids.) and a washcloth/hand puppet.

Amaya picking out things for the shoe box.

The “Wow” Item

The pamphlet from Samaritan’s Purse suggested we put a “wow” item in the box. I decided on a piece of clothing as our special item. Amaya and I headed to Kohl’s. We found a really cute little sundress, on the clearance rack. I bought one for the box and one for Amaya. I thought it might be exciting for Amaya and her friend to have matching dresses.

Keagan

Now that we had the items for Amaya’s box it was time to take Keagan shopping. He is 5 years old. The practical items that Keagan picked out were a brush and comb set, socks, toothbrush, washcloth, bandaids, a small notebook and crayons. The fun items he chose, for his friend, were a set of paints (watercolors), a ball, a Rubik’s cube style toy, some stickers and a dinosaur that you can sail through the air. I picked up the “wow” item earlier when Amaya and I were at Kohl’s. I chose a tee shirt with a monster truck on it, for Keagan and his friend.

Packing Our Boxes

Now that the shopping was done, we put everything into our plastic boxes. We placed the special “wow” items (dress/shirt) on top. I took a picture of each of the grand-babies, in their special piece of clothing, holding the packed Operation Child Christmas box. We will place a picture in each box for their special friend.

Shipping

We now need to find a place to drop our boxes off. You can go to the Samaritan’s Purse site and find a drop-off location near you. There is a suggested donation of $9, per box, to help with shipping. In the past, when I participated through my church, I didn’t have to add the shipping, although it was helpful. You should check with the site you are dropping off at, to see if they require the shipping cost or not. Samaritan’s Purse has an option, this year, if you donate the shipping cost online, you will be able to track the boxes. I decided to do that so the grand-babies and I can see where our boxes go.

Final Thoughts

I have always enjoyed participating in this event. I’m glad to have included my grand-babies this year. Hopefully, they will begin to see the needs of others and have a heart to help out. Since my grand-babies are young, I purchased the items this year but it will be a good future lesson for them to learn to save some of their own money to help purchase these items.

The National Collection Week for the boxes is November 12 – 19. Although this date is upon us, you still have time to participate. If you have never done anything like this before, I highly recommend it. It is a lot of fun and it has been especially rewarding sharing it with my grand-babies.

Thanksgiving Fun with Turkeys

November 23, 2013 by Mama Carmody 7 Comments

Thanksgiving Fun with Turkeys

Let’s have some fun with turkeys. Why is it that the turkey has become a symbol of Thanksgiving? The turkey probably was part of the first Thanksgiving meal along with deer, several types of seafood and many fruits and vegetables. Wild turkeys are found in 49 of the 50 United States. Alaska is the only state where they are not found. The fact that they are so wide spread across our nation is probably why they are a common symbol to our Thanksgiving.

Below are some fun activities to do with turkeys during this Thanksgiving holiday.

Fun Time
Fun with Food
Craft
Story Time
Related Posts

Fun Time

Since it’s almost Thanksgiving, I thought it would be fun to have a turkey themed day with my 2 year old great-nephew. We started out with a movie. The movie was Free Birds. It’s a story of turkeys that travel back in time, to the first Thanksgiving, to try to get turkeys off the menu. Although it is currently in movie theaters (November 2013), it might be on DVD by the time you are reading this. I would recommend watching it. It was a fun addition to our turkey themed day.

Right before naptime we read Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano. I love including books in our fun time. This turkey was also trying to find ways to not be included in the Thanksgiving festivities. I loved some of his disguises. I have more suggestions of fun turkey books below in my Story Time section.

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Fun with Food

You can find all kinds of fun turkey themed bento meals on Pinterest. If you aren’t familiar with Bento meals, they are artistically crafted foods that are popular in Japan. If you are on Pinterest, you can find several fun ideas by clicking here. I was especially inspired by the one I found on Creative Food. I adapted their idea to get this:

Fun with Turkeys: Bento style Turkey Sandwich with colored pepper tail and ranch dip

1. For the body, I made a turkey sandwich and cut it out with a circle cookie cutter.

2. I had purchased a package of 2 oz. portion cups (like the ones you might get butter or single servings of dressing in with your take-out food) at Costco. I used one of those for the head. I put some ranch dip in it.

3. We then cut eyes from a piece of American cheese with a straw. I used edible food markers to make the pupils in the eyes.

4. I cut the beak and feet out of carrot pieces.

5. I used a small piece of red pepper for the snood. (The snood is the fleshy piece that grows from a turkey’s forehead and hangs over it’s beak)

6. For the turkey’s tail feathers I cut thin slices of red, orange and yellow peppers.

The meal was a hit! Everyone gobbled it down (pun intended).

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Craft

When I taught preschool, I would do this craft with my classes. I originally found it on Enchanted Learning. You use the child’s hands and feet to make the turkey. The original instructions say to use colored construction paper for the parts but my daughter inspired me to do something different. Read the instructions below to find out how to make this special Thanksgiving turkey and a fun memory of little hands and feet.

Hands & Feet Turkey

Materials Needed:

Markers, crayons or paint
White cardstock
Brown construction paper
Wiggly eyes
Pencil
Glue
Scissors

Instructions:

1. Trace the child’s feet on the brown construction paper. Yes, both feet.

2. Cut out the feet. (I got my great-nephew started on the next part before I cut out the feet so he had something to do.)

3. Trace the child’s hands on the white cardstock. You will need 3 sets of hands (Since my great-nephew’s hands are small I was able to get a set of hands on a half piece of paper.)

4. I chose fall colors for the feathers (the fingers become the feathers). We used orange, red and brown. At first I gave Jeremiah the half sheet of paper, without cutting out his hands, for him to color. Since he is only 2 yrs old, I figured he would scribble more than actually color.

Fun with Turkeys: Hands and Feet Turkey Craft

Then he started coloring real intently on one corner.

I decided to cut the hands out so he didn’t waste time working so hard on a piece that would get cut off and thrown away. Here he is working on one of the fingers.

Fun with Turkeys: Hands and Feet Turkeys

I would give him one color for each set of hands.

5. Jeremiah helped me glue the feet together to make the body and then we arranged the hands to make the tail feathers.

6. Finally, we glued on the eyes.

7. I would recommend putting the child’s name and date on the back of the turkey. We took ours and had it laminated. I had to take the eyes off so we could laminate it but then we glued them right back on.

Here is Jeremiah and his prize turkey. I would recommend doing this activity every Thanksgiving, while they are little, just to see how much they grow from year to year.

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Story Time

10 Fat Turkeys by Tony Johnston
Reading Level: 3 to 5 yrs old
This book doesn’t have anything to do with Thanksgiving but since turkeys are closely associated with Thanksgiving I thought this would be a fun book to include. The story starts out with 10 fat turkeys “fooling” on a fence. There are lots of funny words such as, “Gobble, Gobble, Wibble, Wobble” and lot of silly antics out of the turkeys. This will be smiles and giggles to your little one..and a few from you too.

Gus, the Pilgrim Turkey by Teresa Bateman
Reading Level: Ages 4 to 8 yrs old
Gus loved being a turkey and loved living on the farm until one day his friends told him some sad news. Gus was looking forward to playing in the snow and celebrating the New Year until his friends told him that turkeys usually don’t make it to the New Year. When his friends shared with him that turkey is one of the main items to eat for Thanksgiving he decided it was time to leave the farm. He travels far and wide to find a safe place to live. As he finds a new safe place to live he comes to the realization that he is now a Pilgrim. Pick up this fun little book for a light spirited look at Thanksgiving and the deeper definition of a pilgrim.

A Plump And Perky Turkey by Teresa Bateman
Reading Level: Ages 4 to 8 yrs old
The people of Squawk Valley really wanted turkey for their Thanksgiving dinner but they couldn’t find one anywhere. The turkeys around Squawk Valley had become quite smart and learned to hide when Thanksgiving was near. The townspeople decided to trick the turkeys by having a special art event that featured turkeys. They posted signs all over the forest saying they were looking for a plump and perky turkey to be their model for the different art projects. Pete the turkey saw the poster and believed he could help out so he went to model for the special event. So Pete posed while the townsfolk created their turkey art. Everyone was excited because now they were going to be able to catch Pete and have him for their Thanksgiving dinner. Pick up this fun little book to see if the townspeople get to eat turkey for dinner or if Pete gets away.

Run, Turkey, Run! by Diane Mayr
Reading Level: Ages 3 to 7 yrs old
If you aren’t ready for your child to understand that the turkey we eat at Thanksgiving is a live animal, before we get it, then avoid this story. It is not a morbid, overly detailed, story but the fact that the other farm animals keep telling the turkey to run and the farmer is chasing him through the whole story means you will probably have to have the discussion. It’s actually a cute little story. The turkey tries to roll in the mud with the pigs and swim in the lake with the ducks in order to hide from the farmer. In the end, the farmer and his family eat grilled cheese sandwiches with peas and mashed potatoes. Have fun with the story of the turkey who got away.

Too Many Turkeys by Linda White
Reading Level: Ages 5 yrs old and up
This is not a Thanksgiving story but it is a cute turkey story. Fred and Belle have a tiny farm that they take very good care of. One day a baby turkey, which is called a poult, wanders onto their farm. Belle is not very excited about the idea but Fred says he will take care of the little turkey. The turkey ends up being a great benefit to the little farm until too many of his friends show up. Pick up this book and find out how having a turkey on the farm was helpful although a little stressful at times.

A Turkey for Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting
Reading Level: Ages 5 to 8 yrs old
Mr. & Mrs. Moose are getting the table set for Thanksgiving. They are very excited to have all of their friends over but there is one thing that is making Mrs. Moose sad; there is no turkey for Thanksgiving. Mr. Moose wants to do what he can to make this a special Thanksgiving so he heads out to find a turkey. Pick this book up to find out what happens when Mr. Moose finally finds a turkey, it might surprise you.

Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano
Reading Level: Ages 3 to 7 yrs old
If you aren’t ready for your child to learn that the meat on the table comes from live animals, it would probably be best to skip this book. Other than possibly needing to have that conversation, this book is adorable. Turkey is in trouble because Thanksgiving is almost here and he is the main course. He tries several disguises to hide from the farmer. In the end, he comes up with a fantastic substitution for turkey. Pick up this book and share it with your child to find out what the farmer’s family has to eat this Thanksgiving.

Turkeys on the Family Farm (Animals on the Family Farm) by Chana Stiefel
Reading Level: Ages 5 to 8 yrs old
This is a wonderfully informative book about turkeys. Your child will get to see actual pictures of turkeys. They will learn how turkeys are raised and cared for, on an organic farm. They will learn the different terms used when referring to turkeys such as tom, hen, jake or poult. This is a great book to get some basic information about turkeys.

Turkeys That Fly and Turkeys That Don’t (Rookie Read-About Science) by Allan Fowler
Reading Level: Ages 3 to 7 yrs old
Your child will learn a lot of fun facts about turkeys. Even I found it interesting as to why some turkeys fly and some don’t. There are lots of pictures of wild turkeys and domestic turkeys so your child can see the difference. I enjoyed learning about the similarities and differences between wild and domestic birds, I’m sure your child will too.

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Thanksgiving Learning Activities
Pumpkins are Orange; and Other Learning Concepts

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Celebrating the 4th of July with Children

July 1, 2015 by Mama Carmody 10 Comments

Celebrating the 4th of July with Children

4th of July! A time to celebrate the birthday of the United States of America. For me, the 4th of July is the 2nd biggest holiday of the year. I love celebrating the 4th and all it represents. I believe we, too often, fail to remember what it took to become a nation.

People traveled across the ocean, in uncomfortable conditions, to get to the New World. Once here, they experienced many hardships, including sickness and death. Settlements were established but then they realized they wanted to make their own laws and govern themselves. They had to fight to become independent and begin building their own nation. The freedoms we have today are granted to us because of the people that sacrificed their lives fighting for it. We need to appreciate and celebrate their sacrifices.

Patriotism has always been taught and celebrated in our family. It is something I have tried to instill in my children and now I hope to pass it on to my grandchildren. Now that I have a son-in-law serving in the Armed Forces, it means even more to me.

Celebrating the 4th of July with Children

You might be wondering how to teach your children the deeper meanings of the 4th of July. If you have been following me for very long you know I like to start with books. You will find several that I have read and reviewed below in the Story Time section. Choose a couple books and share them with your child. You will be surprised the conversations that will come up. Maybe not at the time you are reading but sometime over your 4th of July celebration, someone will bring up something you read to them in a book.

Start teaching your children how to respect the United States flag. Did you know that during a parade you are supposed to stand for the American Flag? You don’t have to stand every time you see one because, especially during an election year, many groups or floats might have the American flag with them. The very first American flag in a parade (usually carried by an Honor Guard) should be shown our respect by standing (removing head coverings) and placing your right hand over your heart. It’s not a time for chatting and goofing around but for remembering what the flag stands for and the cost of freedom. My 23 month old grandson is all ready learning this.

Craft

4th of July Puzzle from Craft Sticks

D.I.Y. Flag Puzzle

I got the inspiration for this from Ginger Snap Crafts. I did not use the 3 ½” sized sticks to hold all the pieces together because I wanted it to be a puzzle. Instead I put magnets on the back of each of the large sticks so my grandson could put them together on the metal pan he plays with.

I also found a new product: foam craft sticks. I was going to use the large wooden craft sticks for this craft but when I found the color foam sticks I decided to give them a try.

Materials Needed

Foam craft sticks (tongue depressor size)
Small star stickers
Magnets
White foam sheet
Glue
Scissors

Directions

Cut the rounded end of 3 blue foam craft sticks into 3 inch pieces.
Get 3 red foam craft sticks.
There were no white craft sticks in the set I purchased so I bought a white piece of craft foam and cut out 2 white craft sticks, using one from the package as a pattern.

4th of July Craft: White foam craft sticks for flag puzzle craft.

Line up the longer foam sticks starting with a red stick, then alternate white and red.
Glue the 3 short blue pieces on top of the top three large craft sticks. This makes your blue field for your stars.
Add stars to the blue field. I couldn’t find white stars to purchase so I use a star shaped punch and punched them out of white card stock. I was hoping to punch them out of the white foam but the foam was too thick to get inside the punch.
4th of July: Stars for Flag craft stick puzzle.
Turn the sticks over and add magnets to the backside.
4th of July Craft: Attaching magnets to back of foam pieces.
Now you can put your flag puzzle together.
4th of July Craft: Flag Craft Stick Puzzle

Using the foam sticks made the project go quickly but if you want to make it more of a craft for your child, then I suggest using the wooden craft sticks and letting your child paint them the colors you need.

Story Time

(affiliate links included below)

Celebrate Independence Day: With Parades, Picnics, and Fireworks by Deborah Heiligman
Reading Level: Ages 6 to 10 yrs old
This is a picture book with bright illustrations and lots of information. Your child will learn a little of our history and a lot about celebrating. It shares many different ways American’s celebrate the 4th of July. You might dress in red, white and blue or you might head to the beach. If you need some ideas, you will find plenty in this book.

Independence Day (Our Country’s Holidays) by Sheri Dean
Reading Level: Ages 4 to 8 yrs old
Although this book mainly covers Independence Day for the United States, it also talks about Canada’s special independence day, which is called Canada Day. This is a great book for the younger child. It explains Independence Day in general terms. I like that it points out that Independence Day is our country’s birthday. Even young children understand the concept of a birthday and the fact that we celebrate it.

Independence Day (Holiday Histories) by Mir Tamim Ansary
Reading Level: Ages 6 to 8 yrs old
Although this is a picture book, it is packed with loads of information. If your child is interested in learning a little more about how the United States formed this book will be a great choice. It shares a little of the history of our ancestors coming from England. It talks of the first 13 original colonies and how they were treated by England. Your child will learn why we wanted our independence from England and ways we celebrate our nation’s birthday.

Independence Day (Holidays and Festivals) by Rebecca Rissman
Reading Level: Ages 3 to 6 yrs old
This is a great book to introduce the 4th of July to younger children. The text is fairly simple. It covers a little of the history of the United States without going into too much detail. The illustrations are a mixture of bright photographs and drawings.

Independence Day (Rookie Read-About Holidays) by Trudi Strain Trueit
Reading Level: Ages 5 to 8 yrs old
This is a cute little picture book that will help your child learn about Independence Day (4th of July). Your child will learn a little about our history and breaking from England. They will learn about some of the symbols and traditions for our 4th of July celebrations. How do you like to celebrate the 4th of July?

Celebrating Flag Day
Earth Day: Gardening with Children

Memorial Day Learning Activities

May 30, 2016 by Mama Carmody Leave a Comment

Memorial Day Learning Activities

with free printables

The meaning of Memorial Day can be taught to young children. Below are some activities that can easily be done with preschool age children.

Content

What is Memorial Day?
Ways to Celebrate Memorial Day
Craft
Story Time

What is Memorial Day?

Did you know that the observation of Memorial Day was actually started to remember soldiers that lost their lives in the American Civil War? More soldiers died in the Civil War than any other war from then until now. That’s hard to believe, isn’t it?

Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day. People would put flowers and flags on the graves of soldiers, to honor the sacrifice they made.

Many years later, World War I broke out between the countries of Europe. The United States entered the war and many U.S. soldiers lost their lives. Decoration Day was then changed to honor U.S. soldiers that died in any war, not just the American Civil War. People started calling the holiday Memorial Day.

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Ways to Celebrate Memorial Day

Fly a United States flag, at your home, to honor the soldiers.
Purchase flags or flowers, take them to a cemetery and put them on soldiers’ graves. If you take flowers, it would be a nice touch to add a laminated thank-you note. The reason I say to laminate it is because it will be out in the weather in a cemetery.
Send a sympathy or thank you card to a family that lost a soldier in a war.
Go to a parade, wave a flag, stand and cheer loudly for soldiers that march by. Be sure to yell, “thank you” a few times.

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Craft

Fingerprint Poppy Flower
I found this craft idea on the Craft Morning blog.

Materials Needed

Memorial Day template (This one was designed for my preschool class. Cut the 8 ½” x
11” piece of paper in half to create two pictures.)
Blue construction paper, cut in half to make two 4 ½” by 6” pieces
Red paint
Black paint
Green paint
Glue stick
Paint brush, small point brush
Paint brush, wide brush

Instructions

Glue ½ of the white template to the cut blue piece of construction paper.
Either have the child put his/her thumb in the red paint or use a paintbrush to cover the thumb with paint.
Make 4 or 5 thumbprints to create the petals.

Cover the tip of the index finger with black paint and place in the middle of the flower.
With small point paintbrush, make the flower stem.

With wide paintbrush, make overlapping X’s to create the grass at the bottom of the picture.

Memorial Day: Fingerprint Poppy Craft with free printable

Fingerprint Poppy Craft by Crafty Morning

*Because I was using this craft in a 3 year old classroom, we only made one flower per paper. If I were doing this craft at home with just one or two children I would make several flowers on a 8 ½” X 11” piece of paper like the original craft from the Craft Morning blog. Here is a template for the larger size picture: Template for 8 ½” X 11”

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Story Time

Below are books that I have read and reviewed for your convenience. (affiliate links included)

Memorial Day (Holidays and Festivals) by Rebecca Rissman
Reading Level: Ages 4 to 6 yrs old
This is a great introduction to Memorial Day, for the young child. The text is simple and the information is basic. It does not go into a lot of depth about the wars and people dying although it does mention it. I would use this book in a preschool class.

Memorial Day (Let’s Celebrate) by Clara Cella
Reading Level: Ages 3 to 8 yrs old
This is probably my favorite book for the younger child. It gives very basic information as to what Memorial Day is and how we celebrate it. The illustrations are big beautiful photographs. The book suggests ways to thank soldiers that are currently serving. There is even a section in the back of the book with a craft and other activities to carry on the learning.

Memorial Day (Our Country’s Holidays) by Sheri Dean
Reading Level: Ages 4 to 8 yrs old
This little book is a great introduction to Memorial Day. There aren’t a lot of details on the history of Memorial Day but your child will get the general idea of why we are celebrating. I would use this book with a younger child that is just beginning to learn about Memorial Day.

Memorial Day (Our Nation’s Pride Set 2) by Karen Latchana Kenney
Reading Level: Ages 5 to 8 yrs old
If you are wanting to share some basic information about Memorial Day with your children, this is a nice book. It shares about the reason we celebrate this holiday as well as some of the things we do to observe it. Your child will hear about wearing poppies and how to fly a flag on this special day. There is even a section at the back of the book with some additional fun facts.

Memorial Day (True Books: Holidays) by Christin Ditchfield
Reading Level: Ages 6 yrs old and up
You will find some very interesting facts about Memorial Day in this book. Did you know that Memorial Day was first started to honor the soldiers that lost their lives in the Civil War? I didn’t realize that myself. We now recognize and honor the soldiers that have died in any American fought war. This book shares the reason that poppies are associated with Memorial Day.

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Celebrating Flag Day

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Celebrating Flag Day

June 11, 2015 by Mama Carmody 23 Comments

Celebrating Flag Day

Did you know that not only do we celebrate Flag Day but there is a whole week dedicated to it? Flag Day is observed on June 14th, which is the beginning of Flag Week, that lasts until June 20th.

Your child might ask why we are celebrating a big striped cloth. Well, it’s not so much the flag that we are celebrating but what it stands for. It represents our freedom and all the people that have been injured or died to give us our freedoms. Not all countries get to go to church and worship God the way they want to. In some countries, people would be put in jail for speaking out against their government. We are a blessed nation and we need to remember and teach our children about the sacrifices made to get us here.

Pledge of Allegiance

A great way to celebrate Flag Day and Week would be to learn the Pledge of Allegiance. The pledge is not recited in schools like it was when I was young. We started each day with the Pledge of Allegiance. There is a good chance that your child is not learning this in school so this is something you can work on together.

If you don’t remember how it goes, here it is:

(Place your right hand over your heart)
“I pledge allegiance to the flag,
Of the United State of America,
And to the Republic for which it stands,
One nation, under God, indivisible,
with liberty and justice for all.”

Craft

I usually like to create my own crafts but I found this cute American flag dot craft on the Meaningful Mama blog.When I taught preschool, the kids loved Do-A-Dot paints. I can’t wait to try this one with my 2 year old grandson. There is a free printable included. Click on the picture and it will take you to her website, where you will find the printable.

Snack

I found this great appetizer plate, on The Better Mom. It would be great for celebrating Flag Day.

I recreated it, on a smaller scale, with different fruits, for my grandson. Berries upset his stomach so I used purple grapes, apples and cheese. You could also use watermelon and banana.

Flag Day Snack using grapes, apples and cheese.

Story Time (affiliate links included)

I read and reviewed these books myself.

A Flag for All by Larry Dane Brimner
Reading Level: Ages 4 to 8 yrs old
This is a simple little book that would be great to introduce your young child to Flag Day. It shares what the stars and stripes, on the flag, represent. Your child will also learn a little about what the flag means to different people. I love the way the kids bring the community together to form a big flag made of people.

Flag Day (Our Country’s Holidays) by Sheri Dean
Reading Level: Ages 3 to 8 yrs old
Although this is a good book to introduce young children to Flag Day, I wish it had a few more details. This book doesn’t cover what the stars and stripes represent but it does talk about proper handling of a flag. Even though it doesn’t have a lot of detail, I would still use it with a younger child.

Flag Day (Celebrations in My World) by Robert Walker
Reading Level: Ages 5 to 10 yrs old
This book is for a little older child and is crammed full of information about Flag Day. Your child will learn some of the history of our flag and the first Flag Day. They will learn about the different designs of the flag, over the years. The Pledge of Allegiance and other ways to celebrate Flag Day are included.

Flag Day (Holiday Histories) by Mir Tamim Ansary
Reading Level: Ages 5 to 8 yrs old
There is a lot to learn in this little book but it is written in a fun, picture-book style. Your child will learn some of the history of the flag and why flags were invented. I learned that, in the beginning, a star AND a stripe were added with each new state. The flag started looking too crowded so they went back to having thirteen stripes and just adding a star with each new state. Your child will also learn about some of those early celebrations. How will you celebrate Flag Day?