Paper Chain American Flag

What You Need:

• Construction paper (red, white, blue), cut into 5" x 1" strips
• Scissors
• Mini stapler
• Marker

What You Do:

1. Have your child create a loop with one strip of red paper and staple it in place. Link another red loop through the first loop and staple it in place. Now, he knows how to make linked loops!
2. Encourage him to create the following: Red: 2 rows of 10 loops,  Red: 2 rows of 7 loops, White: 1 row of 10 loops, White: 2 rows of 7 loops, Blue: 4 rows of 4 loops.
3. Help him lay out the loops so the four blue rows are at the top left. Place them so the first loop lays on its side with the thinnest edges up.
4. Under the blue loops, lay out one row of red loops, then below that row is one row of white loops, followed by a final row of red loops.
5. Now, he can finish looping the short red and white loops to the blue loops. Since the colors alternate and the top color on a flag is red, ask him to figure out the striped pattern of the remaining loops.
6. Help him connect the shorter loops to the short blue loops.
7. Staple the flat edges of the loops to their neighboring loops to finish assembling the flag.
8. Encourage him to write the names of the people in his family or family friends who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces. You may have to look back at your family tree to remember all of them. Have him write their names on the front facing loops.
9. Hang the flag on a door so that friends, family, and neighbors can see the finished flag on Veterans Day.