Tape-Resist American Flag

How we did it:
Materials List
- construction paper - white and blue
- paint sticks
- red paint
- paintbrush
- masking or painter's tape
- star foil stickers
- glue
- scissors
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Gather all your materials. I got our paint sticks at the Home Depot. I always ask for extras when we're there because they come in handy for all sorts of crafts. You could also use a ruler for this project.
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I helped the kids make stripes on their white construction paper with the painter's tape. We didn't worry about making them perfectly straight.
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The kids used sponge brushes to paint their entire piece of white construction paper red. This was a lot of fun for my 2-year-old because he is very into covering his whole paper when he paints right now. I put a large piece of construction paper underneath to help protect the table, but the washable paints wipe right up when you're finished.
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After the papers dried, we carefully pulled the painter's tape off to reveal our white stripes. I found that if I pulled along the bottom edge of the tape instead of trying to pull from the end of the strip, it came off easier and left a smoother line.
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The kids glued a blue construction paper rectangle to the top left corner of their flags. I used a paper cutter to make nice straight edges, but scissors would work just as well for this.
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The kids worked very hard to put their silver star stickers on their flags. I cut out the strips of silver stickers from the rest of the sheet so we wouldn't end up with red and green stars on our American flags. My 2-year-old had a difficult time getting his stars off, but my 3-year-olds were able to take their stars off and put them on all by themselves. Working with stickers is a fun way to build dexterity and fine motor skills for little hands.
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For the finishing touch, we glued our flags to the paint sticks and then used them to march around in an impromptu parade.