Thanks to Springfield Moms contributor Lauren Coleman for sharing how she celebrates the 4th of July with her family.
It’s always so much fun to celebrate holidays with family. Ever since my daughter, Isabelle, discovered that everyone has a birthday, she is infatuated with celebrating them. In July, we have a very special birthday to celebrate, the birth of America.
To get the party started, Isabelle and I checked out books from the library. We started with a book that taught us about the American flag and now we know why the flag has red, white and blue on it. From there, we moved on to a book entitled “Happy Birthday, America!” by Martha Wilson Chall. This book talks about the many different ways we celebrate the birth of our country.
Every birthday party needs decorations, so we made a few holiday inspired firework crafts. Here are the directions in case you want to make your own too.
Supplies:
• Paper towel rolls or toilet paper rolls
• Red and blue construction paper
• Pipe cleaners
• Glue and Scissors
• Something circular in shape to make the patterns (I used the top of a Tupperware container)
Follow these steps:
- Wrap the paper towel roll with construction paper and glue at the seam.
- Using your Tupperware lid, trace a circle onto a different sheet of paper and cut it out.
- Cut a single line from the outside of the circle to the center and fold to create a cone.
- Make a line of glue around the top of the roll and place cone on top.
- Attach pipe cleaners to the bottom to make the rocket look like it is soaring.
- You can attach string to hang the decoration around the house or even from the trees in your yard.
What good would a birthday celebration be without yummy treats? Isabelle and I read the book How to Bake an American Pie by Karma Wilson and then baked an apple pie together.
Every great party has a little entertainment. Putting my little entertainer to work, I helped Isabelle learn a poem to recite for the rest of the family. In addition to providing entertainment, teaching children to recite or memorize poetry, songs, or nursery rhymes encourages early literacy. Older children can use songs including “My Country Tis of Thee” or “The Star Spangled Banner.” For my little Yankee Doodle, we used a poem by Gareth Lancaster entitled “Fireworks.”
“Fireworks”
Whoosh! Up high above the house,
Behind a trail of sparks,
Yellow, Orange,
Red and White,
Exploding in the dark!
Submitted by Springfield Moms contributor Lauren Coleman. Lauren is a former Chicago Public Schools, Special Education teacher turned stay at home mom/domestic engineer. She is wife to Christopher Coleman and mother to Isabelle, Ireland and Hudson.
