Fourth of July art

Are you enjoying your summer so far? Can you believe it's already July?! Yeah, me neither. But we are enjoying GORGEOUS weather, and are particularly appreciating it after having a lot of rain last month. The good news was that I didn't have to water the garden, right? :)

I love Independence Day. I love the picnics, the barbecues, the parades, the carnivals, the fireworks, the desserts, the colors... everything "Americana" to me. I wanted to stop in our seasonally neglected blog to briefly share an easy activity we did to celebrate! There's a couple of different ways to go about this project, so I'll share what I had planned out, and maybe one of them will appeal to you... or all of them!


Remember the red and blue paint I mixed up for Dr. Seuss' One Fish, Two Fish project a few months ago?


Check to see that the lid secure and give it a little shake if you haven't used it for a while (like we hadn't). It tends to separate a bit as it settles. Also, grab a paintbrush or two!

Option #1:

You will need:

• Paper or cardstock
  
• Star stickers

Option #2:

You will need:

• Paper or cardstock
  
• Masking tape

Option #3:

You will need:

• Paper or cardstock
• Star cookie cutter
• Plastic (or even better, disposable) plate or tray
  

Give your child a sheet of star stickers (is it just me, or does everyone have these lying around somewhere?) and let them go to town on a big sheet of paper. We used cardstock because I have a mountain of it, and I like that it holds up during painting projects a little better.


Meanwhile, use the masking tape to make star shapes on another sheet of paper. One of these I did freehand, and I used the star cookie cutter as a guide for the next one. Both ways were pretty easy!


Use your red and blue paints (which inevitably become various shades of purple on some parts of the paper), and paint away! You can remove the star stickers when it dries, but we chose to leave ours on.


This was a great outside activity for this Step 2 easel I found at a garage sale a few weeks ago for... one dollar! Woohoo!


Let dry and remove the masking tape and/or star stickers... it's up to you! My two-and-a-half year old had a fabulous time with this, and I loved watching her and taking pictures! I also love when I can give her a project that she can do somewhat independently, because that allows me a few minutes to clean up dishes, start some laundry... or just enjoy a few minutes of quiet! :) I don't remember for sure, but I would guess she spent at least thirty minutes, just concentrating on her artwork. She ended up having no interest in the last option (using the star cookie cutter as a stamp), so we skipped that one. Maybe we'll do that another day!