4th of July Patriotic Decorations

What You Need:

• Clean, empty cylindrical container (oatmeal and breadcrumb containers work well)
• Red, white, and blue construction paper, 12" x 18”
• Scissors
• Glue stick
• Tape
• Streamers in red, white, and blue (rolls of crepe paper work well)
• String

What You Do:

1. Start by making sure that your container is clean and empty. You won't need the plastic cap for this activity, so you can remove it and save it for something else!
2. Turn the container upside down, so that the solid cardboard bottom is on top. Help your child use the scissors to punch two holes in the bottom section, directly across from one another.
3. Have your child thread a piece of string through the holes, from one to the other as shown above. Secure the string on the inside to the bottom of the container. The string will be your “hanger” when you’re done!
4. With your child’s help, use a ruler to measure the box from the new “top” (which was the old bottom) to the new bottom, and mark a line around the container about ⅓ of the way from the top.
5. Cut your blue paper to fit this top ⅓ of your can. Wrap it around the can and glue it down.
6. Cut red paper to fit the bottom ⅔ of your can. Help your child wrap it around the can and glue it down as well.  At this point, your can should look like this:
7. Help your child mark and cut five point stars from the white construction paper, and glue them onto the blue section. Then mark and cut 1-inch strips from the remaining construction paper, and trim them to the length of your red section. Glue them all around the red section of your can, to make alternating red and white stripes around the outside.
8. Now you’re ready for the final stage: the streamers!  Help your child cut 8 streamers—you can use any combination of red, white and blue—each about 20 inches long. Have your child tape them to the bottom of the container on the inside of your cylinder.
9. Hang your patriotic wind sock from a trellis or on a porch. If you've got a group of kids to keep busy one afternoon, this is a perfect project for everyone to do together. Once you're done, hang all of your wind socks up in a row for your next American themed party. Let them fly in the breeze and celebrate the holiday in environmentally-friendly way!