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4th of July Arts and Crafts for Kids

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Just like any celebration, the 4th of July is a truly special event that gives family and friends the opportunity to come together and enjoy each other's company. For many RVers and campers it's the Super Bowl of celebrations, and is a much anticipated event.

As with anything that involves children, it's key to keep the kids entertained. RV parks and campgrounds offer many activities and amenities for young children, but as we all know too well children's attention spans only run so long; it is only a matter of time before they start getting bored and cranky, making it quite a challenge for parents to enjoy the vacation.

One great way to keep your children entertained and involvedis with arts and crafts. The benefits are many: arts and crafts allow children to tap into their creative side and explore their talents in a group setting.The activity encourages the children to mingle and socialize with kids their age.

If you are planning a camping road trip for the 4th of July vacation with your kids, here are some fun 4th of July crafts they can do that will keep them busy. These great crafts will also help you decorate your RV or car perfectly for this holiday.

Stars and Stripes Pinwheel

Stars and Stripes PinwheelKids will have loads of fun watching these pinwheels spin in the wind, especially when these classic summer crafts are made in different sizes.

Age group:  8 years and older
Level of difficulty:  Easy

Materials

  • 2 pieces of construction paper with a US flag design (the thicker the construction paper is, the better)
  • Scissors
  • Push pins
  • Unsharpened pencils with erasers

Optional Materials

  • Red, white and blue ribbons
  • Glue

Instructions

1.  Cut the construction paper into squares by folding each piece into a triangle and cuttingthe edge with a pair of scissors.

2.  Unfold the paper and place one piece on top of the other, with the plain side (the one without the US flag design) facing each other.

3.  Fold the paper into a triangle, and then fold the triangle in half. This will allow you to find the center point of the square.

4.  Unfold the paper. With a pair of scissors, cut the paper following the creases made by folding the paper, making sure to stop halfway from the center.

5.  Bring one corner of the cut segments of the paper towards the center. Let the paper bend, but not get folded, as you do this. Do the same to the remaining three segments.Make sure that you only choose one corner all throughout the four segments. Otherwise, the pinwheel will not spin when it is completed.

6.  Take a push pin and push it through the four overlapped corners and the center of the pinwheel. Then, push the push pin through the eraser on top of the unsharpened pencil.

7.  To get a more patriotic-looking pinwheel, you can twirl ribbons on the body of the unsharpened pencil, alternating the colors red, white and blue, or use the leftover strips of construction paper. To add this, apply a bit of glue onto the pencil, and then attach the ribbons or construction paper, making sure that you apply the glue a little bit at a time as you go along. Trim the ends off when you get to the bottom.

Exploding Star Writing Materials

Firework PensKids of all ages would enjoy these pens and pencils with starry arms bursting with stars and little bells.

Age group:  10 years old and above
Level of difficulty:  Moderate

Materials

  • Wired star garlands in red, white and blue colors
  • Red or blue electric tape
  • Ball pens
  • Pencils
  • Small jingle bells
  • Wire cutter

Instructions

1.  Cut the wired star garland into nine pieces using the wire cutter, each measuring between 6 to 8 inches long. You can purchase these wired star garlands at your local party supply store and arts and craft shop. Trim the tinseled stars one inch from the bottom of the cut wired star garland.

2.  Get a piece of electric tape, about 1 to 11/2 inch long. Line up the trimmed ends of the wire star garlands on the sticky side of the electric tape, leaving 1/2 inch of the sticky side of the tape free. Wrap this on the top part of the pen. If the pen has a separate cover, wrap this on the top part of the cover of the pen. Alternate the colors red, white and blue for a truly patriotic look.

3.  For pencils, choose those that have erasers. Stick each piece of the wired star garland onto the eraser, again alternating the colors red, white and blue. Secure this with electric tape.

4.  Slide small jingle bells onto the ends of some of the garland lengths. Do this on those wired garlands that do not start with a star. Twist the wire around the bottom part of the jingle bell to secure it.

5.  Bend the top ends of each of the wired star garland at various lengths so that it resembles a fountain of exploding stars and fireworks.

Glitter Fireworks Art

Glitter fireworks Kids will enjoy spending time creating their own glitter fireworks display to show off to friends and family members.

Age group:  5 years old and above
Level of difficulty:  Easy

Materials

  • Red, Silver, Blue and Gold glitters
  • Glue
  • Water
  • Black construction Paper
  • Newspapers
  • Straws

Optional Materials

  • Bright Acrylic Paints

Instructions

1.  Lay the newspapers around the area to make sure that the place remains glitter-free and easier to clean up after your kids make the crafts.

2.  Get some of the glue and dilute this with some water. It should be a slightly runny consistency. Drop a bit of the diluted glue onto the black construction paper. Take the straw and place this above the blob of glue. Blow through the straw while the blob is still soft. This will create different firework patterns. Older kids can also use the glue like a pencil and draw different fireworks onto the black construction paper. To create a faded appearance of firework tails, take another piece of straw and use this to lightly drag the glue down. Remember, the less glue there is on the paper, the less glitter will stick later on.

3.  Working quickly while the glue is still soft, sprinkle different colors of glitter onto it, covering the glue. Shake off the excess from the black construction paper. Let this dry.

4.  You can also combine some fireworks made using bright acrylic paints that have been slightly diluted in water. Drop some onto the paper and use the straw to blow out the center.

Stars and Stripes Chimes

Stars and Stripes Wind Chimes Let freedom ring throughout your camp site with this easy-to-do wind chime that you can put by your RVor car windows.

Age group:  7 years old and above
Level of difficulty:  Moderate

Materials

  • Regular and decorative scissors
  • Pencil
  • Ruler
  • Red, blue and white craft foam
  • Hole puncher
  • White paint
  • Star stamp
  • 30 small red, white and blue paper clips
  • Wooden skewer with the sharp tip cut off
  • Wire
  • Yarn or thread
  • 13 small jingle bells

Instructions

1.  Take the blue craft foam and cut a rectangle measuring 4 inches by 41/2 inches. Punch 4 holes evenly spaced from each other on the top side of the rectangle, and punch out 7 holes on the bottom side of the rectangle. Again, make sure that they are evenly spaced from each other.

2.  Next, get the star stamp and white paint. You can purchase star stamps from your local arts and crafts store. Dip the stamp onto the white paint and stamp on the stars onto the blue craft foam.

3.  Cut out three red craft foam strips and three white foam strips measuring 8 inches by 1/2 inch using your decorative scissors, which you can also get from your local arts and crafts shop. Cut an additional four red and three white foam strips measuring 1/2 inch by 31/2 inches.

4.  Punch out a hole on either side of the shorter part of the red and white strips.

5.  Thread paper clips into each of the holes that have been punched out. Match the paper clip colors with the color of the craft foam.

6.  Now, thread the 7 short red and white craft foam strips on the bottom part of the blue craft foam. It should start with the red strip on the leftmost side followed by a white strip, and so on.

7.  Take the wooden skewer and slide this through the four paper clips attached on the opposite end of the blue craft foam. Then start threading the remaining red and white strips, starting with a white strip followed by a red strip, and so on.

8.  Attach a small jingle bell on the bottom paper clip. Pinch the paper clip slightly so that it will close and the jingle bell will not fly away.

9.  Finally, take a yarn or thread and tie it on both side of the skewer. The thread should be slightly longer than your skewer to give it enough space for you to hang it.

Starry Luminaries

Starry Luminaries Light up the night (and your site) with these patriotic luminaries as you wait for the fireworks display.

Age group:  7 years old and above
Level of difficulty:  Easy

Materials

  • White paper lunch bags
  • Red, white and blue tissue paper
  • Star puncher (you can get this at your local crafts store)
  • Cardboard
  • Pencil
  • Ruler
  • Sand
  • Tea lights or votive candles
  • Glue

Instructions

1.  Cut out a 2 inch star onto a cardboard and use this as the template to create your red, white and blue tissue paper stars.

2.  Glue the red, white and blue tissue paper inside the paper bag randomly.

3.  Take your star puncher and punch out some holes onto the brown paper bags. Be careful that you do not punch out the tissue paper stars that you attached inside.

4.  Fill about 2 inches of the bag with sand. Sink a tea light or a votive candle in the middle of the sand.

5.  To light the luminaries, take an uncooked spaghetti noodle or any long stick light the candle.

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