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With the 4th of July being this week, I thought it would be a fun preschool theme. I wanted to teach Batman a little bit about the holiday and figured, what better way then to incorporate it into activities where we can talk about it. So here’s some fun 4th of July themed activities, songs, books, and snacks, I hope you enjoy them!
Activities
Paper Rockets
This one was super easy and greatly enjoyed. If you have a more responsible preschooler you can allow them to do the cutting, this is not the case in my household so I did the cutting and had everything all prepped. We haven’t quite learned following the lines yet (and struggle with following directions).
All you need is some rectangles and half circles. Then it’s as simple as using a glue stick and making the shapes for the rocket. Roll the rectangle up into a cylinder and place glue on the ends. Make a cone out of the half circle and apply the glue. Then place the cone on top of the cylinder (you can tape it if you want to hold it together) and
Voila… you have a rocket!!!
Our rockets flew around the room and “fell back to Earth” until they were utterly destroyed. Hours of entertainment from something so easy and simple. Added bonus, learning new shapes! We already know all the two-dimensional shapes, it was fun to introduce and work on learning the three-dimensional ones.
Red, White & Blue Rice Sensory Box
For this activity I colored some rice red and blue using food coloring and vinegar. Use 1 cup of rice per 1 tsp vinegar and add food coloring to achieve your ideal shade. Shake it up well, or stir until rice is coated evenly. The spread out on a baking sheet to dry. Once dried, you have colored rice that is perfect for sensory bins.
For my sensory bin I used 2 cups each of red, blue and plain white rice. I mixed the rice all together in a plastic bin giving me a very patriotic American sensory bin. You can place any objects that you wish in the bin for your preschooler to find. I didn’t have any patriotic themed items lying around the house nor did I have time to make it to the store, so I improvised.
I printed out 4th of July themed clipart and laminated them. I then placed the cards in the sensory bin and let Batman dig around and find them. After he found each one he named what the object was and we discussed how it relates to the 4th of July. Examples were fireworks, the number 4, stars, rockets, and ice cream cones all sticking with the red, blue and white color scheme.
Fireworks Painting
I love including painting activities with my preschool themes. They are able to express themselves and be creative. In an effort to encourage the creativity I’m never structured when it comes to painting. I have may bring specific colors and tools with an idea in mind, but then I let batman do with it whatever he wants (which is rarely what I had in mind). Most of our painting activities turn into finger-painting, just like this one did.
I saw this idea somewhere about using a toilet paper roll to make fireworks. Simply cut slits around one end of the roll (you can make it however long you want, the length will determine the size of the fireworks). Fold the ends out so the roll sits upright with the slits spread out (Batman thought it looked like and octopus). Dip the roll into the paint and let your preschooler go crazy making exploding fireworks.
We ran out of time this week after just the 3 activities but you should check out these other 2 that I found and thought would be fun.
Pompom flag painting
You can find a variation of this from Crafty Morning. Here they use clothespins with pompoms on the end as the paintbrush. I like that it’s a different way to work on those fine motor skills and coordination.
Paper American Flag
An example of this is from Housing a Forest. This is a great activity to introduce and practice using scissors since the cuts don’t have to be even close to perfect. Just have the right general shapes and you have an American flag of your preschooler’s own creation. All you need is construction paper, scissors, and glue.
Supply List
- Construction paper – red, white & blue
- Scissors
- Glue
- Rice – red, white & blue
- Patriotic items
- Cardboard tube
- Paper
- Paint
- Pompoms
- Tape
Suggested Books
- My America, the Beautiful: a little patriot’s celebration by Katharine Lee Bates
- Red, White, and Boom! By Lee Wardlaw
- Fourth of July Mice! By Bethany Roberts
Songs
Fireworks Go Snap, Snap, Snap
(Tune: Mary had a Little Lamb)
Fireworks go snap, snap, snap
Crack, crack, crack
Zap, zap, zap
Fireworks make me clap, clap, clap
On Independence Day!
Author Unknown
This Land is Your Land
This land is your land, and this land is my land
From the California to the New York Island,
From the Redwood Forest, to the Gulf stream waters,
This land was made for you and me.
Woody Guthrie
Fireworks in the Sky
(Tune: Row, Row, Row Your Boat)
Boom, crack, whistle, pop!
Fireworks in the sky.
See them lighting up the night,
On the Fourth of July
Author Unknown
Snack Ideas
Fruit Pizza
Start with a sugar cookie base, add a cream cheese frosting or a white fruit dip as the sauce and top with sliced strawberries and blueberries. Use your imagination, or your preschoolers an design a flag or any other red, white, and blue design.
Red, White, & Blue Skewers
Make patriotic skewers using cut up watermelon, whole blueberries, and mini marshmallows.
Red, White & Blue Jell-O jigglers
Why not make up some Jell-O jigglers and let your preschooler play with his food. These are fun both to make and to eat!
https://parade.com/21440/orilange/red-white-and-blue-finger-jell-o-recipe/
Tot School
Pompom sensory in a bag
This is a perfect activity for during pompom flag painting. Place a bunch of pompoms and other various objects if desired into a gallon sized bag. Make sure the bag is sealed well and hand it over to your tot. If they are anything like my Superman they will be fascinated with feeling and moving around the objects in the bag.
Rice sensory in a bag
Why not give your tot their very own sensory bin while your preschooler is playing with theirs. Place some of the colored rice into a plastic sandwich bag and make sure it is sealed well. Superman had so much fun moving the rice around in the bag. He enjoyed even ore throwing it on the floor and listening to the thud it made.
This was a fun-filled week at our house.
Between doctor’s appointments, our preschool adventures, the 4th of July festivities with family, and 2 Birthdays we have all been left exhausted. This next week is looking to be just as busy with my cousin’s wedding fast approaching.
The week looks to be hot and sunny, between the busyness and the weather I think we’ll all need to get outside and relax with water. Thus, we will be exploring and learning about and through water. I hope you join us.
