Independence Day & America!

This is one of my favorite holidays because I love my country! America's founders were free thinkers and knew that the key to a great country was to provide as much freedom as possible to their citizens. The result of their commitment to freedom and liberty has been the greatest country this world has ever known. It is important to begin to teach our kids to have pride and love for our country.

CIRCLE TIME

We celebrate Independence Day on July 4th because that is the day that America's "fathers" said that we would be an independent nation. In other words, no other countries could rule us. It is kind of like America's birthday! Our country is different from all other countries because we were promised freedom by the people who started this country. We are also different because our laws are based on Christian principles. We follow God's word as a country.

**There is a LOT you can talk about here! Please follow this LINK to several short stories and learning materials that you can use to fit the lessons to the kids in your care.

**Christian based lesson - Freedom Isn't Free - http://www.sermons4kids.com/freedom-isnt-free.html


VIDEO

Provide small flags for the kids. Play this "School House Rock" video about the Fourth of July.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmSVnP-oDRs

Encourage the kids to wave their flags around proudly! (This is most likely a little over their heads, but kids love music and cartoons, so maybe they will learn something without even realizing it!)

MUSIC

The Star Spangled Banner

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Wave (Tune: Row, Row, Row Your Boat)

Wave, wave, wave the flag,
Hold it very high.
Watch the colors gently wave,
Way up in the sky.

March, march, march around,
Hold the flag up high.
Wave, wave, wave the flag,
Way up in the sky.



BOOKS


On Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Story-Americas-Birthday-Patricia-Pingry/dp/0824941705/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_5

Very well written for toddlers and preschoolers! Really helps them understand what we are celebrating.





On Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/America-Devin-Scillian/dp/1585360155/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1371577473&sr=1-1&keywords=a+is+for+america

A wonderful book which doubles as Alphabet practice and learning about our amazing country!



COLORING

July 4th Page
http://www.dltk-kids.com/t.asp?b=m&t=http://www.dltk-kids.com/usa/posters/bposter-usa1.gif






MATH

Star Counting

Star Counting Worksheet

Print the worksheet. Provide the kiddos with those cheap little foil star stickers. They should place the number of star stickers to the paper that is listed in each box. This helps with counting skills and number recognition.


Duplo Number Cards

http://www.learnwithplayathome.com/2012/09/printable-duplo-number-cards-plus-5-fun.html

Go to this site and print out their FREE cards! Use them how you wish. This week we will be using them for counting and patterning! Have the kids match each card. Count out the correct number of Duplos and also match the patterns.





SCIENCE

Making a "safe" explosion!

The Fourth of July means many things, and everyone's favorite (especially kids!) is the fireworks! It is important to know why we shoot fireworks on Independance Day. They represent the cannon fire and shooting that Francis Scott Key was witnessing as he was held in a British ship during the bombardment of Fort McHenry. A very large flag was sewn to fly over the fort so that all the British could see it. During the night, Mr. Key could see the bombing taking place. He knew that if the giant flag still flew over the fort in the morning, that the Americans had won the battle! Sure enough, when daylight broke, the flag was tattered and torn but still flying proudly! This event caused Mr. Key to write the poem that became our National Anthem, The Star Spangled Banner (song lyrics above in the music section).

Fireworks can be dangerous, so we are going to make a much safer explosion!

Materials Needed:

Mentos mint candies

Diet Coca Cola, 2 liter bottle (diet is important!)

(**This is a very messy experiment and is best done outside!)

When these 2 substances mix together they cause a BUNCH of bubbles to form really quickly! If the bubbles are squished together inside a container, such as the Coke bottle, they will find the quickest way out. Since the opening in the bottle is small, it causes the bubbles to shoot out of the opening like a rocket!

Ask the kids, what do you think will happen when I put the candies into the bottle?

Drop 2 or 3 of the Mentos into the opening of the Coke bottle and RUN! The reaction happens really quickly. It is not dangerous, only messy.




ART/CRAFT

Art - Blow Paint Fireworks!

Materials Needed:
Large pieces of construction paper. Dark colors work best
Many different colors of tempera paint
Glitter in a sprinkle container
Straws
Shallow bowls

This is super fun but can also be pretty messy! If the kids in your care are likely to suck paint up the straw, poke a pin hole in the straw near the top to prevent paint from being able to be sucked up very far.

Show them how to dip their straw into a bowl of paint and then blow the paint onto their paper. It makes really cool splatters that look like fireworks! Once they have the paint on the paper, allow them to sprinkle some glitter onto the paper to complete the look.

Craft - Sponge Paint Flags

Print the coloring sheet from ColoringCastle.com. This flag has big sections to color in. http://www.coloringcastle.com/pdfs/flags/flag-usa-simplified.pdf

Materials Needed:
Flag coloring sheet
Shallow bowls
Red and Blue tempera paints
Sponges, cut into 1" x 1" squares

The children should dip their sponges into the paint to paint the flag. Painting using a new "brush" makes the activity so much more interesting!



Gross Motor

A Twist on "Simon Says"

Cut out large circles in red, white and blue. Set them out on the lawn or in the house where you have a large space. Line the kids up and say "Hop to a Red circle!" All the kids should hop to a red circle. Next, say "Crawl to a Blue circle!" And so on. This game is excellent for color recognition, following directions and getting some of their endless energy out! In order to make it more challenging, remove some of the circles after each turn.

COOKING

Graham Cracker Flags

Ingredients:

Graham Cracker rectangles

White frosting
Red Frosting
Blue Frosting

Provide plastic butter knives and allow the kids to create flags from the frosting! Really fun and yumm-my!

PS-I put some frosting in little plastic baggies and cut the corner off so I could easily squirt the frosting in the lovely straight lines in the picture! You could also put the frosting in these squirt bottles that you can get for pretty cheap at a dollar store or Wal-Mart. Whichever way would be easiest for your kiddos!







Here is what my 3-year-old did before he decided to just eat the frosting!