Preschool Corner: 4th of July Style

Since I have done little {if anything} over the past few years to celebrate the 4th of July with the kids, THIS was apparently my week to shove holiday activities to the front and make up for years gone by.

We picked up a book by Sheri Dean called Fourth of July {Our Country's Holidays}, a book from the Weekly Reader Early Learning Library. It was simple enough for Zachary to follow and explained how Independence Day came to be and the different ways Americans celebrate the holiday.

Other activities from this week:

~ We worked on learning the Pledge of Allegiance

~ We made some fun hats and sparklers to wear at the parade on Saturday

~ Used cookie cutters and paint to make star prints

~ Made 'flower fireworks' to hang from our dining room light using markers, coffee filters, pipe cleaners, and some water. These turned out so neat and are basically tye-dyeish. CUTE!

~ Tried to draw Uncle Sam....but Zachary got a little distracted and just drew a boy. :)

If you didn't happen to catch my post with Fourth of July resources, there are some great links for Independence Day activities for your kids. :)

We're still working on our "School's Out Challenge" which is going GREAT with all the kids, but Zachary has worked his way through about 2/3 of the chart so far!! Yeah for incentives!!

Books we used

About the Preschool Corner:

The Preschool Corner is a place for us to share the ideas we are using during our "preschool time" with our kids. You can join in the fun and record what you are doing in your house. Please link your exact blog post to the Mr. Linky below (if you have questions feel free to ask). Be sure to link back to this blog post so that your readers can find some other great ideas too!

The guidelines can be found here if you need them.

Share what you've been doing in your house this week! {Just a note: I'm trying out the MckLinky this week to see how it works...so we're learning together on this one!}.

Fourth of July Resources

Fourth of July sorta snuck up on me. It wasn't until I did this Friend Makin' Monday post that I realized we've done little over the years for the fourth. Since we have no pictures at all to show for any 4th of July activities, I figured this would be a good year to start. I also posted some Fourth of July crafts {a cute hat and 'sparkler'} that we made today over on our family blog, No Ordinary Moments, so stop by and check them out

If I get really ambitious, we might even do a little unit study, but in the meantime {and since one of you asked}, here are some resources for you to use for your own Independence Day study.

Heritage House Press ~ Free Mini Unit {act quick!!} all about the 4th! All you have to do is sign up for their newsletter. The link is on the page.

DLTK Independence Day crafts ~ some coloring pages, printables and great crafts

F is for Flag written by Shannon ~ great mini-unit for preschoolers!

Independence Day unit ~ notes and lesson ideas {grades 2-4}

First School patriotic mini-unit ~ geared toward preschoolers with craft ideas, printables and links to online activities.

Enchanted Learning ~ July 4th activity book

Create your own fireworks ~ link from PBS - need flash to do this one

Lapbook Lessons ~ Free 4th of July lapbook

Family Fun ~ they always have some creative and fun ideas for crafts, food and more!

Perkins Home ~ a little unit all about the 4th!

Crafty Crow ~ there are a TON of 4th crafts, recipes and activities here.

Road to Revolution {PBS} ~ teacher resources, games, and more based on the Liberty series

Tour the house of Betsy Ross {virtual tour}

Listen to some patriotic songs

Have fun looking through the sites ~ and hope some of them help you out!