Fourth of July fun: a craft, a snack, and some songs

I intended to start doing some fun red, white, and blue activities on Flag Day, but it slipped my mind and we started later.  However, we have still been doing some festive things to get in the spirit of celebrating Independence Day.  

Even though we live across the street from the public library and a church, both places where the American flag flies proudly, I realized that we hadn't talked to Mini Me a lot about the flag and what it means.  I'm not sure how much soaked in but I talked to him about the colors and how the flag represents the country we live in.  He was struggling with how we can live in a town, state, and country so I left the explanation at that for now.  By the end of our first activity, though, he was able to rattle off the colors and shapes in our flag.  

A craft:
We used this craft idea from Family Fun to make a spinner.  The assembly went great (and I had all the supplies!).  Mini Me decorated it with our flag colors, of course!

 I pulled the rubber band through the straw and it looked ready to spin.

 But, it was a dud.  I think the rubber band is too thick for the straw so we can twist it up but it doesn't spin out.  And, Mini Me keeps thinking he should be sucking or blowing through the straws.  Ha ha!

 Then, Little Lady got a hold of it.  

 Uh oh.  We're still waiting for Daddy to try and repair the spinner so that it actually spins.  It does look great, though!

A snack:
Our snack (which we ate with supper the other night) stemmed from a distant memory of something I read last year, the need to use up our blueberries, and the note on the fridge that said "make Rice Krispie treats".  
We used marshmallows, blueberries, and cut strawberries to make a pattern on a skewer.  Don't worry, Mini Me was closely supervised with the skewer.  

We talked again about the colors on the American flag and discussed what "pattern" means.  This was the first time that I remember him actually making and continuing a pattern on his own.  Go Mini-Me!  This was pretty and tasty.  I think we'll do this activity again.

Some Songs:
This one I have been doing at least since Flag Day - singing patriotic songs.  Mini Me requests "Yankee Doodle" or "Yankee Doodle Boy" about once a day (yes, they are different songs and I had to look them up).  I've merged them into a delightful medley.  
We also like "Glory, Glory Hallelujah", "America the Beautiful" and "The Star Spangled Banner".  Did you know that our national anthem has four verses?  I did not! 


See more of our 4th of July activities here.