Parades are a lot of fun...especially 4th of July parades! Follow along with this simple activity and your preschool students will leave at the end of the day with their very own Independence Day noisemaker as well as a better understanding of why and how we celebrate the Fourth of July.
Talk with your students about why we celebrate the 4th of July. Some may know...some may not. If it appears as if the majority of your students do not know why we celebrate the 4th of July, you may want to read The Story of America's Birthday, by Patricia Pingry. This story is appropriate for use with preschoolers because it uses simple text to explain the significance of the holiday.
Next, ask your students to share some of the things they do to celebrate the 4th of July. Answers may include things like watching fireworks, attending picnics with family or friends and participating in special parades.
Expand on the parade concept by asking the children if they have ever been to a parade, or maybe even marched in a parade. Then explain that they are going to have some fun making 4th of July noisemakers that can be used at the next parade they attend...and if they follow directions carefully, there may even be an opportunity to have some parade fun right in their very own classroom!
- 1 Empty water bottle (labels removed and caps on) per child
- Red and blue paint
- Paintbrushes
- 2 Shoe boxes lined with waxed paper
- Dried Lima beans*
- Red, white and blue curling ribbon (enough rolls for small groups to share)
- Red, white and blue electrical tape (enough rolls for small groups to share)
- Scissors
- 1 Wood dowel per child (optional) - width should be equal to round opening of water bottle for a snug fit and length should be 1-2 feet
*red, white and blue beads from your local craft store may be used instead
1. The first step is for your students to paint some of the Lima beans red and some of the Lima beans blue. (Be sure they leave some Lima beans just white!) Put handfuls of beans in each of the two shoe boxes lined with waxed paper. (The waxed paper should keep the painted beans from sticking when they have dried.) Let students use the red paint and paintbrush to paint one group of beans in a shoe box red. Help students flip them over so that both sides of the beans are painted. Then repeat the same steps with the blue paint and paintbrush to paint the other group of beans in a shoe box blue. Let the beans dry.
** You may wish to do the above bean painting the day before, so that the beans have adequate time to dry**
2. Give each student their own water bottle. Have students sit in small groups so that materials may be shared. Give the small groups of students rolls of red, white and blue electrical tape. These will be used to make stripes around the middle of the water bottle. One stripe of each color should suffice. (You may want to demonstrate first how to tape the end down at one spot on the bottle and then slowly guide the rest of the tape around the bottle to make a stripe. Provide assistance as needed.)
3. Have students cut red, white and blue curling ribbon to a variety of lengths (between 6" and 18".)
4. Help students tie the curling ribbon strings around the mouth of the water bottle. Be sure to have at least 2 ribbons in each color.
5. Let the students fill the water bottle 1/3 of the way full of Lima beans in red, white and blue.
6. If you will not be using the dowels, simply instruct the children to screw the cap back on the water bottle. Now their noisemaker is ready to go!
7. If you will be using the dowel, help students insert their dowel into the opening of the bottle - at the mouth. It should be a snug fit.
8. Once again using the red, white or blue electrical tape students will wrap around the mouth of the water bottle to cover where the ribbons have been tied and to secure the dowel in its place.
9. The electrical tape may also be wrapped around the dowel to decorate by repeating the same red, white and blue pattern created on the bottle itself.
10. This preschool 4th of July craft is finished, and the shaker is ready for the next parade!
Now have some fun with your new noisemakers. Put on some patriotic music and march around the room together!