Here is a simple and fun activity that not only lets your kids help you decorate fort he 4th of July, but is a fun patriotic project too. All you need is a piece of cardboard or poster board and some to decorate your outdoor space with stars to your hearts content.
We took a trip up North to the family cabin over Memorial Day and gave this super easy project a try! While the guys got the cabin all ready for the weekend’s festivities the kids and I gave it a stars and stripes style patriotic makeover! The best part is that it cost next to nothing to do because the secret ingredient to this decor is flour (which everyone has in their cupboard) and a simple piece of poster board. We lined the driveway with some cute little flags and then got to work making a template so we could add stars up and down the black top drive.
Our first step was to cut a piece of poster board in half. That way each of my kids had their very own star stencil. I first had the kids decorate their piece of tag board using red and blue crayons however they wanted. That way they knew whose board was whose and there was no fighting over which was which. We talked about why we celebrate Memorial day, and why it is important! Next I drew a star in the center of their paper and cut it out with scissors. That was all we needed to make the perfect star stencil. You can use cardboard, foam board, or tag board. Whatever you have will work just fine!
I gave each of the kids a small amount of flour. They were instructed to place their stencil on the ground and then sprinkle a little bit of flour over the cut-out star on their poster board. Instant star in the lawn, driveway, or any flat surface. They were fascinated and thrilled with the results of their stencil and flour decoration.
Because we were traveling I wanted to pack as little as possible so 1 small bag of flour, one piece of poster board, and some crayons is all I took. If I were doing this at home I would definitely have given them a flour sifter to use for sprinkling the flour and they each would have gotten a bigger piece of poster board (with a wider edge). We will be giving it a try this fourth of July at home, and I think they will turn out a little less messy that way. I spotted this idea on Pinterest via Pink and Green Mama and that is exactly how they did it. But, it worked just fine without, and the kids enjoyed the entire process from start to finish. Of course, they went way overboard with the flower and had a hard time keeping the flour inside the stencil because they just wanted to throw it around, but as long as they had fun doing it I was thrilled!
The stars looked pretty cute lining the driveway at the lake along with the little flags and red, white and blue chalk art! It was a great little patriotic activity to do with the kids, and we will be doing it again this 4th of July. This would be a great activity to get a group of kids in on at any family 4th of July party! It is fun, simple, cheap, entertaining, and super cute! A little flour goes a long way and makes a big impact in your outdoor space.