In preparation for Memorial Day (tomorrow), Flag Day (in June) and the 4th of July, my girls and I spent some time yesterday working on a cute and fun American flag craft. I actually got this idea walking out of work last week -- I work at an agency that provides services for individuals with developmental disabilities -- one of the groups in day services created an American flag out of paper chains and had it hanging in the window. I thought it was so great that I took the girls out the next day to buy paper and glue sticks so that we could make our own!
Here's what you will need:
- Red, white and blue construction paper (I got a huge pack of multi-colored paper from Walmart for about $4.00)
- Glue sticks
- Scissors
- Tape
- Little helping hands (if they are willing!)
Start by holding the paper horizontally and cutting it into 1" wide strips. Then, start making the paper chain -- put some glue on one end of a strip of paper and glue it to the opposite end to form a circle. Then put another strip of paper through the first circle and glue the end into a circle. Follow that process to complete your chain. 
To complete a flag like mine (although you can adjust the number of links to suit the size you want), you will need:
- 4 chains of 6 blue links and 7 red links in each chain
- 3 chains of 6 blue links and 7 white links in each chain
- 3 chains of red with 13 links in each chain
- 3 chains of white with 13 links in each chain
Once you have all of your paper chains put together, you are ready to hang them on a window! I made sure to look at an actual flag so that I would have the right number and order of stripes! I ended up putting a piece of clear tape through each of the "flat" loops in the chain to tape them to the windows. It took a little bit of time, but it looks super cute! (Although -- please do not be like me and hang it so that it is facing the right way INSIDE the house... Apparently it looks like a distress signal on the outside... Guess what I'll be doing later!)
This was a great, easy craft project that both of my girls enjoyed doing. The chains were so easy to make that my 10-year-old made a rainbow chain that she draped upstairs in her bedroom, and the girls want us to make paper chains for the Christmas tree this year.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Paper Chain American Flag Craft
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6 comments:
This is super cute!!! I bet it would look nice blowing around outside at your 4th party if you could figure out some way to hang it!
Hmm... I'll have to think about that!
I love this craft. I'm hoping to use it in a round-up I'm doing for Kids Activities blog. I will use one picture and a link back. Let me know if you have an issue with this. Thanks! Jodi @ Meaningful Mama
Hi Jodi - so glad you like it! By all means, feel free to share it! I've actually seen it pinned on Pinterest and in other places with links back to my blog, but you are the first to ask, so thank you! Deanna
My daughter was supposed to do a craft like this for school this year, but I lost the instructions so I googled making a construction paper flag and yours is almost exactly like what she was supposed to do. I can't wait to do this with her (and her sisters) later today. Thanks for the pictures--they help a lot!
Oh good! I'm so glad you found it to be helpful! This was a fun project and easy for the kids to do!
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