~ Ideas for learning about the USA ~
Books
Activities
American Flags
[Art]
We made a United States flag with a piece of white construction paper as the base. Children glued on 1-inch strips of red construction paper, spaced
so that you see stripes of red and white. Then they glued a blue paper rectangle in the upper lefthand corner, and glued white paper stars to that.
We didn't try to get 50 stars on the flag, each child probably had about 6 or 7 stars. I had a large bag of white stars donated to me by a print shop,
but you could also use a star-shaped paper puncher from a craft store.
Red, White, and Blue Collage
[Art]
The children used a variety of red, white and blue items to make a collage: paper, cloth squares, paper stars or star stickers, pieces of crepe paper
streamer, craft foam mosaic squares, colored pasta, yarn, etc. Children sort them by color and glue them onto red, white and blue construction paper.
The pages were stapled together to make a book of red, white and blue things.
Drums
[Art, Music]
Children painted a can (coffee can, peanut can, drink mix can, etc) with red, white, and blue paint and add glitter and sequins. The children marched
to the beat of Sousa's "The Stars and Stripes Forever".
USA Letters
[Art]
I cut the letters "USA" on a die cut machine in white construction paper. Children glued them in order on a piece of red or blue construction paper and
decorated with foil star stickers and red, blue and silver sequins, and added some glitter glue designs.
U.S. Puzzle
[Fine Motor Skills, Visual Discrimination]
Children put together a puzzle of the United States.
Star Patterns
[Math]
Children made color patterns with red, white and blue stars cut from a craft paper puncher (or use foil star stickers from an office supply store).
You can also have the kids make star patterns by coloring a stencil with markers. To make a star stencil, cut a strip of construction paper and punch
out a row of about 8 stars with a craft paper puncher.
USA Grid Game
[Math]
I made a grid game using flag stickers in each grid. I spray-painted small wooden stars from a craft store with gold spray paint to use as game pieces.
Children rolled a die and counted out that amount of stars to put on the flags. When the grid is full, they win the game. Children can play alone or
with friends. To change the difficulty, use more or less flags on the grid and make your own dice with the numbers that you want to use.
Flag Science
[Science]
Plain white paper was cut into fourths and five pages were stapled together into a booklet for each child. I wrote a day of the week on each page,
Monday through Friday. Each day, we went out to the flag pole to notice which way the wind was blowing the flag that day. The children drew a
straight line in the book for a flagpole, then stuck a flag sticker to the right or left of the pole to show which way the wind was blowing the flag
that day.
Apple Pie
[Cooking]
Place graham crackers in a ziplock bag and crush them. Pour the crumbs into a cup. Add apple pie filling and whipped topping.
Resources
- USA Theme Links: my bookmarks at del.icio.us
- Pledge of Allegiance Printable Book at Hubbard's Cupboard
