Memorial Day Flag Craft

by Mrs. Farnham (teacher, mom, CMoR member)

Memorial Day is almost here! This national holiday is a day of remembrance for soldiers lost in battle. Originally called Decoration Day, communities celebrate by marking the graves of fallen soldiers with American flags. While this can be a difficult concept for kids to understand, it is important to include them in this cultural event. Here is a kid friendly video to help your children understand Memorial Day:

Does your family have any traditions for remembering lost loved ones? It would be great to connect your traditions to this holiday to help your kids understand its significance. For instance, my family decorates the grave of a lost loved on her birthday each year. We bring flowers and notes to leave on her grave. This simple act helps us honor and remember her. When we decorate with patriotic items on Memorial Day, we are honoring a whole group of brave soldiers.

Make Your Own Flags

To help decorate for the upcoming holiday, you can complete this simple craft with your family.

Materials:

Popsicle sticks

Red paint (I prefer acrylic)

White paint

Glue (I used hot glue to make sure it stayed together)

Blue paper

Instructions:

1. Lay down popsicle sticks to make a rectangle (see below). I used 7 sticks for my toddler’s flag so he would have less to paint. My 8 year old wanted to make an accurate flag so I used 13 sticks for hers. Did you know the American flag has 13 stripes?

2. Lay a few sticks across the back of your rectangle and attach with hot glue. This should hold the flag together.

3. Attach a stick on one side to use as the flag pole.

4. Paint the popsicle sticks red and white alternating stripe and let the paint dry. You may want to start with painting the white stripes to minimize the colors running into each other. We also let the first color dry before painting the other.

5. Cut a small rectangle from your blue paper.

6. Have your child use the white paint to add white spots to the rectangle. My 8 year old tried to add 50 spots, but ran out of steam! Did you know our flag has fifty white stars?

7. Glue your blue rectangle into the top right hand corner of your popsicle stick flag.

Art at CMoR

Have you been in the CMoR art studio lately? My kids love visiting to see what fun new activity prompts are out. The last time we visited the Chesterfield CMoR location my daughter had so much fun! She enjoyed the challenge of creating something with the provided supplies. I appreciated that the CMoR staff is continuing to provide ideas and different materials for my kids to explore.

Be sure to share this post and pictures of your flags with us on Facebook or Instagram. Happy Memorial Day!