RESIDENTIAL HABILITATION
Happy Birthday America

The summer season is here. Fourth of July is near. Want a fun arts and crafts project to do? The consumers at the Creative Arts Network, located in Snug Harbor, have a great idea. They made waving, hanging flags to show some patriotic spirit! This project is fun to do and is great for a hot day.

History: Independence Day is the birthday of the United States of America. It is celebrated on July 4th each year in the United States. Our flag is one of the most important symbols because it represents our freedom. The colors in the American flag represent different characteristics: blue is for justice, white is for purity and red is for courage.

The consumers at the Creative Arts Network selected a project to celebrate the United States of America’s 231st birthday. The consumers made waving, hanging flags that represent the United States of America.

Waving Hanging Flag
Red construction paper
Blue construction paper
White paper
White paint
Small paint brush
Glue
Safety Scissors
1 foot (12 inches) of any color string
Tape

Hint: Once all the supplies are gathered, a good idea would be to place a disposable tablecloth on your workspace. This makes cleanup that much easier!

Step 1: Place your red construction paper flat down on the table.

Step 2: Using safety scissors, cut a small square from the blue construction paper. If you’d like to make a few squares at one time, you can fold your blue paper in four then cut it into squares.

Step 3: Glue your small blue square on the upper left corner of the red construction paper. When gluing, putting dabs of glue on your paper first, then placing the other piece of paper on top can be less messy.

Step 4: Using safety scissors, cut white strips of paper that will be long enough to take up the length of your red paper. Glue these strips of white paper onto the red construction paper. These are the white stripes for the flag.

Step 5: With your small paintbrush and your white paint, paint as many white dots onto your blue square as you like.

Step 6: Once the flag has dried, cut two inches up the flag in a row, which will make your flag look wavy.

Step 7: Lay your flag flat, near an open window for it to dry a few minutes.

Step 8: Once it is dry, turn it over with the back facing you. Place your string on the top right and left corners of the flag, then tape each side of the string. Now you have your own waving, hanging flag! The consumers enjoyed making their patriotic flags.

And we hope that you do, too! If it’s a nice breezy day, you can work on this at an outside table so that your flag really looks like it’s flapping in the breeze.

Happy Birthday America!