Kids and the Fourth of July make a great combination.  From picnics to fireworks, this time of year seems to crack some smiles and cause little eyes to sparkle in amazement and excitement.  Why not add some fun and easy crafts to the festivities?  It’s also a great way to educate on why we celebrate this special day and what it means to our country.

There are 4 super easy yet very fun Fourth of July crafts that your child may enjoy:

1. Hand Print Fireworks Craft
2. Toilet Paper Roll Fireworks Craft
3. Fourth of July Star Man
4. Fourth of July Wreath

Hand Print Fireworks Craft

What you will need:

• Red, white, blue, and black construction paper
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Glitter
• Glue

How to make hand print fireworks:

1. Trace your child’s hand print on one sheet of construction paper.   Trace the hand print onto several other pieces of construction paper and cut out several copies.
2. Glue the hand prints in a circular pattern on black construction paper.  Have the hands overlap giving a desired wreath appearance.
3. After all the hands are glued onto the construction paper, squeeze a thin line of glue all around the hand print edges.
4. Dump or shake glitter all over the glued areas.  For younger children, give them small cups of glitter to pinch and sprinkle onto the wreath.
5. Shake off any excess glitter.

Toilet Paper Roll Fireworks Craft

What you will need:

• Toilet paper roll (1 per child)
•  Paint brush
• White paint
• Red and blue glitter
• Red and blue streamers
• Yarn or string
• Scotch tape
• Scissors

How to make toilet paper roll fireworks craft:

1. Paint the toilet paper roll white and set aside to dry.
2. Cut up streamers into desired lengths.  Preferably 11 inch length then cut down the center of each stream section so the strips are not too wide.
3. Stick the streamers into one side of the toilet paper roll with scotch tape.
4. Punch a hole at the top of the toilet paper roll so that you can tie a piece of yarn or string through it to hang as decoration.
5. Your child can decorate the white toilet paper roll with glitter, crayons, markers, etc.

Fourth of July Star Man

What you will need:

• Scissors
• Glue
• Red, white, and blue construction paper
• Googly eyes
• Black marker

How to make Fourth of July Star Man

1. Trace or draw a large star shape on red construction paper and small stars on blue construction paper.
2. Cut 4 strips of construction paper.  You will want them to be about 1 in thick.
3. Fold back and forth to achieve the accordion look for the arms and the legs.
4. Glue 2 white pieces of construction paper on each side of the red star and 2 white pieces of construction paper side by side on the bottom of the star.
5. Glue a blue star to each piece as to look like hands and feet.
6. Glue on the googly eyes and draw on a happy face.

4th of July Wreath

What you will need:

• Paper plate
• Red, white, and blue construction paper or craft foam
• Paper plate
• Blue 3-D paint or regular tempera paint
• Scissors
• Glue
• Tape

How to make 4th of July Wreath:

1. Cut out the center of a paper plate and throw away.
2. Spread glue evenly all around the paper plate rim.
3. Glue on the stars onto the rim alternating red, white, and blue.
4. If using foam stars, tape the back for that extra support in case they are too heavy for the glue.
5. Use the 3-D paint to spell out USA on one or all of the stars.

All of these crafts have either been completed by my children or in a classroom of children that I have taught in the past.  They always turn out to be a hit and make memorable Fourth of July decorations.

Happy 4th of July to you and your family!