My son just started preschool last fall and it was the first time he head the Pledge of Allegiance. I remember asking him what he had learned one day after school and he responded by repeated the Pledge in full. Although he learned the words of the Pledge of Allegiance all year, I am pretty sure that he didn’t understand what all the words in it meant.
Just the words pledge and allegiance would have been new to him. It was out of a desire to help him bring meaning to the words he was saying that I searched for a book that would help him understand the Pledge and what it means. The book I found in a box of old books I had used in my classroom library was called The Pledge of Allegiance put out by Scholastic Books.
The Pledge of Allegiance contains beautiful photographs that help illustrate the different sections of the Pledge. Many of the photographs feature pictures of children. The pages contain the words of the Pledge in word chunks that will be familiar to anyone that has said the pledge.
Definitions of the terms pledge allegiance, Republic for which it stands, along with liberty and justice for all can be found in the back of the book in language children will understand.
What did we do with this book?
American Flag Craft
We created a mobile of the American flag using cardboard from an old box, paint (red, white, and blue), construction paper stars, fishing line, and a red plastic hanger.
We painted and put stars on both side of the cardboard stripes so that the mobile will still look like a flag as it spins and twists.
Our flag mobile has a folk art feel to it due to shape of our stars and the painting technique we used. We used a mom and four year old working together style of painting that is very popular at our house right now. I guess you could call our mobile a tribute Old Glory to one of the American flag’s nicknames.
I think this mobile would be perfect for celebrating the 4th of July, Memorial Day, or Flag Day. You may find many other reasons to create and display this fun craft.
How to you celebrate the flag? Do you have favorite American flag craft? Leave a comment below or stop by my Facebook page and share your answers with me.
