Help your kids get involved in 4th of July festivities. Here are some wonderful and fun crafts you can make with your children.
No house is complete for 4th of July until there is a wreath on the door. Give your child a regular paper plate and have him cut out the middle circle, so there is only an "O" shape remaining. Cut a piece of twine or colorful yarn about two feet long. Staple the ends to the back of the plate on opposing sides. This will be used to help hang your wreath when it is completed. Using a stencil, have your child cut out star shapes from red, white and blue construction paper or cardboard stock. Let your child decorate each star with glitter or a picture of something that reminds him of the 4th of July, like the Statue of Liberty or fireworks. Once all of the stars have been decorated and have dried (if applicable), have him glue the stars onto the "wreath" paper plate. Now, you're ready to hang your 4th of July wreath on your front door for everybody to admire!
This next craft is so fun and easy, but the outcome looks magical! On a piece of card stock, have your child use their crayons to draw colorful patterns. Make sure that every inch of the card stock has been colored on one side and that your child presses down on the crayons when coloring, to make the coloring thick. Once the page has been completely colored with different shades, let your child color over the previous colors with a black crayon, once again making sure to color hard enough to cover the colors. After the page has been colored black, give your child a paper clip that has been twisted to form a point and have her "scrape" firework patterns on the page. Once she is done, the picture will look like a night sky with colorful fireworks!
At a local crafts store, buy each child a plain, unpainted terra cotta pot. On a table, spread out some newspaper (to avoid getting the table messy) and give each child a paintbrush, some red, white and blue paint and some 4th of July stencils (like stars). Have them paint the pot using the 4th of July holiday as their inspiration. Once they are complete, let them dry overnight. The next day, visit a nursery and get some potting soil and red, white or blue flowers to plant in the painted terra cotta pots. This will make a beautiful and festive decoration for the front porch.
