7242

Flag Day Birthday 3yr

Sept. 2003

Pam in Simpsonville, SC  USA

Honorable Mention

My daughter's birthday is Flag Day, June 14.  Since she has taken an interest in flags and patriotism is running high right now and the scheduled party date was on Flag Day, we had a Flag Day Birthday Party for her 3rd birthday, but these ideas can be adapted to any patriotic-themed party.  The invitations were printed on 8.5x11 paper that had a US flag background, and, along with the details of the party (time, place, etc), we asked the guests to wear red, white & blue.  As the children arrived at the party, we had print-outs of blank flags on white paper that we printed off the internet (available at many different sites) along with red, white & blue crayons and markers for the children to color while waiting for all the guests.  In the background, we played the childrens CD God Bless the USA.  Once everyone arrived, the children all gathered in a circle, and we passed out small US flags.  I then read the book F is for Flag by Wendy Cheyette Lewison.  Next, the moms and dads joined in with me as we sang songs about the flag.  These songs were tunes familiar to the children (ex, Mary Had a Little Lamb, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, etc.) with new words about flags.  I printed the songs on the same paper as the invitations for the children to take home.  The song ideas were obtained from sites on the internet, mostly from childfun.com.  Next, we played Pin the Star on the Flag.  I made a US flag on white poster board gluing red & blue poster board where necessary, but leaving the blue background without stars.  I then cut stars from white card stock using a cookie cutter for the pattern for the children to pin to the blue area.  Next, we had a bean bag toss using bean bags that I made from flag-patterned fabric to toss into a white utility bucket with blue & red stars sponge painted on.  Finally, for a craft, the guests made a small US flag using craft sticks and construction paper.  (The basic idea came from enchantedlearning.com which I then modified slightly.)  We did a lot of preparation work before the party for the craft, given the young age of the guests.  This included painting the sticks red & white, assembling the sticks to form a flag, cutting blue squares & using a paper punch to cut out small stars.  I also hot glued a ribbon to the back of the flag for the children to hang up the flag at home.  The children (with parent's help) then attached the blue square to the flag and the stars to the blue square using glue.  For snacks, we had two trays with food laid out in the shape of a flag.  The first used jello red rectangles for the stripes and blue stars (using cookie cutters) for the star area.  Since I was not able to find a clear jello for the white stripes, I used whipped topping instead.  The second tray used strawberries for the red stripes, string cheese for the white stripes, and blueberries for the star area.  The bakery decorated the cake as a flag as well.  Finally, I made a trail mix of crackers, pretzels, raisins, etc and added red, white & blue M&Ms.  Decorations included small and medium-sized flags near our mailbox outside and placed in various areas inside the house.  I also made two strings of 5 stars each, made from red, white & blue craft foam and ribbon.  The instructions for these strings came from familyfun.com.  For party favors, the guests each received a copy of F is for Flag, the flag used during circle time, a bean bag used in the bean bag toss, a small bottle of bubbles with red, white & blue ribbons tied around the top, & a few pieces of candy with patriotic wrapping, along with the flag they made.  Finally, the thank you notes were made on white card stock.  On the front of each note we printed an image of a US flag downloaded from the internet (available on many sites) along with the words Thank you.

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