4th of July popsicle flags for kids

 

Since summer began, we’ve been eating a lot of Popsicles. Yum-Yum! In my ever-constant attempt to be less wasteful, I have saved every Popsicle stick. My friends laughed at my constant request of, “Don’t throw that stick away, I’ll take it.” But we finally had a chance to put those sticks to good use this week, and I think my friends will finally understand. This project is green, easy, fun and cute!

• 9 Popsicle sticks (go on kid, have another!)
• Paint – We used Crayola Washable Paint (really great colors & washes right out!)
• Glue – Good old Elmer’s School Glue
• Paint Brushes
• Tape
• Ribbon

Start by painting the Popsicle sticks. You will need 2 all red ones, 1 all white one, 2 red/blue and 2 white/blue. (Notice that is only 7 sticks, you will use the other two sticks to hold your flag together.) To show my daughter where to paint, I taped off one end of the stick, then peeled off the tape to paint the other side. Be sure to put down some paper to compensate for over zealous painting

The hardest part of this craft is waiting for the paint to dry! We painted all of our sticks and then let them sit over night before assembling the flag. If you have a bigger kid, you could try assembling first then painting using the tape to mask off each stripe.

Once dry use your paint brush to paint glue along the edges of each stick to stick them together. Then use the extra sticks you have to reinforce your flag. Break one stick in half and glue the broken pieces and full stick across the back like so:

Add some ribbon to hang your flag and you have handmade 4th of July decor! I hope next time you have a Popsicle you will save your stick to create something beautiful.I still can’t decide if I like the ones with or without “stars” best. What do you think?