The JumpStart Blog

O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain! For purple mountain majesties, above the fruited plain… Our ode to you, America! How much we love your magnificent colors of red, white, and blue. Oh, and your purple mountains, of course!  (My little cousin’s favorite part of the song, only because the thought of purple mountains makes him giggle.)

With all these fun Fourth of July projects, the little ones will be sure to feel the American pride in their big hearts! Don’t be frightened if your front yard gets mistaken as a government helicopter landing because of the astounding amounts of red, white, and blue plastered all over! In all seriousness, these simple projects are sure to inspire love for our country in the heart of every neighbor and innocent passerby.

Patriotic Pinwheel

A bouquet of pinwheels!

What you will need:

• 8×8 inch piece of white paper
• Long pin
• Unsharpened pencil with eraser
• Pencil
• 1 bead
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Red and blue markers, crayons, or colored pencils

How to create the pinwheel:

1. On one side of the paper, color alternating red and white stripes. Use the ruler to create the stripes. On the opposite side of the paper, draw white stars and color the background blue.
2. Using a pencil and ruler, draw 2 diagonal lines from corner to corner across the paper. The lines should cross in the middle of the paper, and there should be 4 triangles on your paper now.
3. Cut on the penciled lines and stop 2 inches from the middle. (If your child wants to “do the cutting,” make sure to draw horizontal “stop lines” on the corner lines to show him where to stop cutting!)
4. Draw a small X on the right corner of each of the 4 sections and a small X in the middle of the paper. Then, fold the 4 corners with an X towards the middle X. Stick the long pin through all 5 Xs that are now folded into the middle.
5. Slide the bead onto the pin behind the pinwheel and push the pin into the eraser of the unsharpened pencil. The purpose of the bead is to ensure proper spinning!
6. Stick the pinwheel in your lawn and watch the wind make it spin!

Step 1.

Step 2. (Notice the Xs from Step 4.)

Step 4.

Step 5. (Use a bead to enhance spinning.)

The finished product!

Hanging Firecracker

Things you need:

• Quaker Oats cylinder
• Blue poster board
• Red and white construction paper
• Red, white, and blue curling ribbon
• Glue
• Scissors
• Hole puncher

How to create the firecracker:

1. Remove lid of Quaker Oats container and cut out the bottom. (So you can stick your arm through it.)
2. Cut the blue poster board so it matches the size of the oats container. Wrap it around the oats container and glue it on.
3. On the red and white construction paper, draw and cut out different sized stars. Glue them to the blue oats container.
4. Using the hole puncher, punch out 6 evenly spaced holes around the container toward one end.
5. Tie one end of a piece of curling ribbon on the inside of one hole. The ribbon should be about 7 inches long. Do the same for the 6 other holes.
6. Combine the 6 ribbons at the top and tie a ribbon around them. This end should be used to hang the firecracker.
7. With the remaining curling ribbon, make your firecracker tails. Cut pieces of ribbon about 30 inches in length. Curl with scissors.
8. Make 6 groups of 8 curled ribbons each and tie the bundles together. On the inside of the oats container, glue the bundles so they dangle out.
9. Hang outside on your porch or inside of a window.

These crafts are an easy way to remind your child that the flag was one of America’s first symbols of independence, and it will help everyone celebrate the 4th of July!  People will drive by your house saying… For the land of the free and the home of the brave!