4th of July Crafts- Fun Plates

Independence day is fast approaching and this is a cute craft to do with kids.  It can teach them about recycling, history and decor.  For centuries people have been decorating their houses by hanging plates on the walls.  They were special plates that were often deemed too special for actual use.  Remember wonderful Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter and her wonderful kitten plate collection?  This time we skipped the cats (you can do that craft on your harry potter themed bday instead) and decided to stick with more American theme.

Trying to get organized for the holiday I found that my collection of plastic and paper plates have reached gigantic proportions and needs to be stopped.  I guess I could throw out all the extra plates or make Lacing Cards.

Instead we took some brushes, acrylic paints and started painting.

You can create anything you wish from fireworks

to date specific plates

Making plates that copy the American flag are especially fun for older kids since you can discuss the importance of stars (50, one for each state) in a blue square (representing the union), stripes (13 representing original 13 states of the union).  A little History in Crafting never hurt anyone.

Hopefully by the end of the day the kids will at least know how to spell Independence day and what is the significance of 4th of July and will have cool wall decorations to show for it.