Looking for some fun and easy crafts or snacks to do with your kids that celebrate America? Or fun book activities? Whether it’s for the Fourth of July, Flag Day, or any other patriotic occasion, these patriotic crafts, snacks & book activities are sure to get your kids in the patriotic spirit. From DIY flags to patriotic strawberries, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.
Before I share our patriotic crafts, snacks and books, you should grab these free July 4th notebooking pages. These Free Printables are the perfect tie-in of the fun crafts, snacks & books listed below.
Just read one of the books below and use the notebooking pages to record what your kids learn. Then, the fun part. Make a patriotic craft or snack below.
Now, on to the patriotic crafts and activities for kids.s I had so much fun making these snacks to share at our 4th of July celebration. Use any of these food activities for kids learning with patriotic crafts and books listed below. Red, white & blue everywhere!
Patriotic Strawberrries
Melt white chocolate (or 3 squares candy bark). I used a mug so I could dip the strawberry all the way to the leaves. If you use a shallow dish, you’ll have to roll the strawberry in the melted candy.
Dip tip of strawberry in blue sugar. I found it was better to roll the tip around the blue sugar. If I plunged the strawberry into blue sugar, it would move the white chocolate up too much.
DIY American Flag T-Shirt
Let your kids show off their patriotic pride with this fun and easy DIY American flag t-shirt. All you need is a plain white t-shirt, red and blue fabric paint, and some masking tape. Use the tape to create the white stripes and star field on the shirt. You might want to put tape around the border of the flag. Or, you can let it have a “loose” feel on the edges.
Kids paint red in between the masking tape stripes. Add blue in the upper right corner. It’s up to you if you want to add white stars after the paint dries.
Once the paint is dry, carefully remove the tape and your kids will have a one-of-a-kind patriotic shirt to wear on any occasion.
Patriotic Wreath
Here’s how you can make this 4th of July craft wreath in less than an hour. Gather materials:
1 roll red deco mesh or burlap ribbon
1 roll white deco mesh or burlap ribbon
1 roll dark blue deco mesh or burlap ribbon
1 roll 1-3” ribbon (silver or printed burlap)
1 package of U-shaped floral pins
12” styrofoam wreath
- Cover wreath with white deco mesh or burlap. I used white because I knew I would use more red on my wreath. You can cut the deco mesh or burlap into 2” strips and wrap the wreath. Pin at the beginning and end.
- Cut deco mesh or burlap into 6-9” pieces. On the first wreath, I measured with a tape measure. On the 2nd wreath, I guessed at the length and it worked fine. I used the entire roll of red for each wreath. For white & blue rolls, start with 15 and cut more as needed.
- Roll each cut piece up and place a pin in the middle of your roll. Insert into wreath. Continue placing rolls around your styrofoam. Every once in awhile, place a white roll among red rolls to give it a look of the American flag. When you get 2/3 of the wreath covered in red & white, start placing blue & white rolls in your wreath. (See image below)
- Cut 5-6″ strips of your ribbon. Insert pin mid-ways and place around your wreath to add pizazz.
- You’re done…really! It’s that easy!
Firework Salt Painting
This craft is perfect for older kids who want to create a unique and colorful firework display. All you need is some black construction paper, glue, salt, and watercolors. First, draw firework shapes with glue on the paper. Then, sprinkle salt over the glue and let it dry.
Once dry, use watercolors to paint over the salt and watch as the colors spread and create a beautiful firework effect. Hang up your masterpiece and enjoy the patriotic display!
Patriotic Salad
When everyone get home from the Round Top Parade (longest, continuous running parade in Texas), we need a snack to tie us over til lunch. What better than fruit & cheese.
Cut the watermelon & white cheese into cubes. Although I had seen this salad with feta, I used cheeses my family would enjoy. The top row was monterrey jack and the bottom row is swiss cheese. Place them in stripes across your platter.
Find a small bowl, preferably square, for the blueberries. I couldn’t find one, so I bought a set of 5 colored square bowls for $5 at HEB years ago. You can probably find one at Dollar Tree now.
Firecrackers Patriotic Crafts
Gather your supplies of patriotic craft paper, red twizzlers, red or blue curling ribbon and tape. Cut the paper into 2″x5″ strips. Twist together 3 red twizzlers for each firecracker.
I thought my firecrackers needed a little more depth or pizazz so I tied red curling ribbon around the top ones.
These were a huge hit with my 7 year old niece. We finally had to tell her she had to wait to eat any more.
Patriotic Crafts Display
Patriotic Books & Activities
Making this list brought back fond memories of reading these books with my kids. I hope your family enjoys them, also.
Click on any image to get your own copy or read more about that title
You probably guessed it – I love all Peter Spier books. Last week’s post about Bored, Nothing to Do introduces you to the first Spier book our family ever read. Be sure to grab our Free Printable, 206 Fun Summer Activities for Kids.
This info-packed story of our national anthem includes illustrated lyrics; the fascinating history of the War of 1812 and the battle that inspired Francis Scott Key to pen the words; musical notation; historical photographs; plus a reproduction of Key’s original manuscript.
You can get The Star Spangled Banner by choosing the Kindle option or watch it below!
Mr. Spier also wrote about the Constitution of the United States in We The People, another excellent book to read around 4th of July. It’s a stirring American tale of how this most important document came to symbolize freedom, justice, equality, and hope for all citizens.
Spier’s book includes an illustrated preamble to the Constitution, illuminating its significance from its birth through to modern times; the fascinating history of the struggle to create and ratify the Constitution; a historical reproduction of the original document; plus the complete text of the Constitution.
*** FREE printables about the Constitution
Folk art paintings illustrate the life of Betsy Ross. Simple story for kids to follow. Also includes information about conflicting information about Betsy Ross, as the original flag maker.
*** FREE lesson: Betsy Ross: Truth of Fiction?
My kids enjoyed reading the Childhood of Famous Americans series when they were 8-12 years old. If you have kids at this age, they may enjoy the book about Betsy Ross’ childhood in Betsy Ross, Designer of Our Flag..
In The 4th of July Story, the characters of the American Revolution come to life: Patrick Henry speaks, George Washington leads; Thomas Jefferson writes; John Adams instructs; Benjamin Franklin teases; John Hancock signs. Across America, townsmen and frontier settlers and slave holders and free men hear the news about liberty and react to it.
One mom says, I found my children (including myself) absorbed in the book wanting to keep reading more. I had checked this book out from the library but decided I needed this great resource in our home library so ordered it.
*** 4th of July activities for kids
*** 4th of July Printables
*** 4th of July Crafts & Recipes
Our Patriotic Holidays Unit Study is a fun way to encourage learning more about the 4th of July. You’ll receive books to read, videos to watch, activities to enjoy and snacks to eat. All based on Independence Day.
In addition to 4th of July, there are units for Flag Day and Election Day. Click here to read more about Patriotic Holidays Unit Study.
Question: Please share your favorite patriotic books for kids . . . and any activities for kids that you have, especially for Flag Day & 4th of July. You can leave a comment by clicking here.
NOTE: This post may contain affiliate links.
