Tape-Resist American Flag

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

For the finishing touch, we glued our flags to the paint sticks and then used them to march around in an impromptu parade.