4th of July Crafts

By Barbara Feldman

The 4th of July will be here soon. This is a great time to spend with friends and family while celebrating our country's heritage. One great way to help kids learn about the 4th of July is through crafts.

As you do these crafts with kids, you can help them learn about the various meanings behind them.

Hand Print Flag

The project uses kids' handprints to make an American flag. This is a great time to discuss what the flag means, such as the significance of the number of stars and stripes.

Materials needed:

Red, white and blue construction paper

One large blue rectangular piece of paper

Scissors

Pen or pencil

Glue

Instructions:

Have each child trace his or her handprints on the red and white paper, then cut them out.

Cut out the number of stars you would like to use from the white paper.

Arrange and glue the handprints on the blue background piece of paper, making sure to leave a rectangle in the upper left-hand corner. The handprints will make up the stripes on the flag.

Glue the stars to the blue corner.

Liberty Bell

You can teach kids the story behind the Liberty Bell as you do this fun craft.

Materials needed:

Gold craft paint

2-inch clay pot

4-inch clay pot

Hemp cord

Paint pen or permanent marker

Unfinished wooden beads

Instructions:

Paint pots and wooden beads with the gold craft paint. You can experiment with different colors to make the pots look aged.
String a bead onto a length of hemp cord. Fold the cord in half, keeping the bead at the center. Tie a knot above the bead to secure it in place on the cord, then tie another knot approximately 1 ½ inches up.

String another bead onto the cord and knot it in place. String the 2-inch pot onto the cord, going up through the inside of the pot so the beads dangle inside the pot. Tie a knot above the hole in the pot. Add another bead and tie a knot to hold the bead in place.
Add the 4-inch pot to the cord, going up through the inside of the pot and out of the hole, so the 2-inch pot is dangling on the inside. Add another bead, knot to hold in place, and go to around 2 inches from the end of the cord. Tie a knot, add a bead, and tie a double knot to secure it.

Using the permanent marker, write "Liberty" on the rim of the bell and add a painted crack.

Fireworks on Paper

Kids of all ages will enjoy doing this craft while you discuss firework safety with them.

Materials Needed:

Black or dark construction paper

Glitter

White glue

Newspapers (or other type of paper to lie down for easy cleanup)

Instructions:

Spread the newspapers out and place the construction papers on top of them. This helps make cleanup easier.

Spread glue on the paper in geometric shapes to resemble fireworks. Note: If your glue is a soft consistency, try putting a glob on the paper and then blowing it outwards to give it more of the effect of a firework.

While the glue is still wet, sprinkle glitter over the top. Slide the excess glitter back into the glitter container or on the top of the newspaper.

Continue the above steps until you have the desired amount of fireworks. Experiment with different colors of glitter and shapes.

For more Independence Day crafts, coloring and games, visit Independence Day Fun at http://www.independencedayfun.com

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Arts and Crafts and Recycling

By Micah Powell

There are lots of means to integrate recycling with arts and crafts and have hours of entertainment and perhaps make a small number of holiday gifts.

One of my favorite crafts is to decoupage. The materials needed to do this are simply old magazines, a couple of scissors, some white glue and something to decorate. I've seen people use this art medium on every sort of article from wooden boxes up to queen bed head planks.

Once you've the item (or items) you need to decorate you can put them aside and begin flipping through the magazines for pictures and words that jump up at you or help convey something you would like to say. The fantastic thing about this craft is that there is no "wrong" way to do it. Some people will use an entire advertisement including the setting in the ad and others may cut out the individual or object from the background. The belief is to have an article of a page to be layered upon the object to be decorated.

After you have plenty pictures and words remove you can begin to decorate your object. The ideas and creative imagination, from this point on, are endless! Use all cut outs of flowers and birds to decorate your job, ready every picture of a dog and see how many you can discover and use all of them to decorate your recycled project!

Arrange your clippings onto the surface of whatever it is you're going to reuse or decorate and put a layer of glue over the total project. Using white glue or Mod Podge will provide you with a plain coating over your art and when that layer is dry, coat it again, and so on. The coatings of glue will protect your artwork and if you use a gloss-finish, it will have a nice shine to it, too.

I started making "Blessings Boxes" for the Christmas gifts I would give to my children's instructors. I would reuse an old shoe box, and cover the whole beyond it with remove pictures from magazines. The principle objective was to cover up the shoe brand on the outside the box with the pictures and words.

The belief behind the "Blessings Boxes" was that throughout the year, when there was a blessing in their life, maybe a ticket stub to a baseball game or a movie shared with a buddy, birthday cards, get better cards, etc. they were to place these blessings into the box. The best part is that, during that year, when they had each day where they would feel blue or needed a grin, they knew they may always open their "Blessings Box" to be reminded of the beautiful things that have happened in their life.

These gifts were the talk of the elementary school the first year I made them and I will say that at the very beginning of annually after, my children's instructors would let me know how gorgeous they thought my creations were and (wink, wink) they would not mind getting one for themselves!

The best part is that I never spent extra money making one of those gifts! It was an achievement all attributable to being recycled materials.

Find out more about the author in: Pet Water Fountain Padded Folding Chairs --------------------------------------------------------- For more on Arts and Crafts, see www.bestguidetocrafts.com.