A Magical Homeschool

Happy Flag Day!  Here’s an assortment of easy crafts and interesting facts to share with the kids today…

Here’s a cool little Flag Day poster from 1917 to print out. There’s a little math in there for the kids too, figuring out how many years have passed since the first one and since the poster.

Here’s a fun Flag Day craft from The Holiday Spot:

Creating the First Flag

All you need:

• red, white, blue construction paper
• pencil
• eraser
• ruler
• glue
• scissors

Suppose you were given the exact directions given to Betsy Ross for making the first flag:

It was resolved that the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes of alternate red and white; that the Union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.

Within these guidelines, you are free to design the flag as you wish.

Did you know….

• Flag Day was observed for the first time in 1877, the 100th anniversary of the adoption of our country’s red-white-and-blue banner.
• In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson established Flag Day as an annual national celebration.
• Congress officially recognized Flag Day by passing the National Flag Day Bill in 1949, during President Harry Truman’s administration.
• Most historians today believe that Betsy Ross did NOT design our flag. They believe it was Francis Hopkinson, a delegate to the Continental Congress from New Jersey. In 1870, William J. Canby claimed that his grandmother, a seamstress from Philadelphia named Betsy Ross, made the first U.S. flag and she’s gotten the credit ever since!
• The Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister. He designed it to be short and able to be said in 15 seconds and the original did not include the words “under God” (that was added more than 50 years later) or specify it was the flag of the United States of America. He had initially also considered using the words equality and fraternity but decided they were too controversial since many people opposed equal rights for women and African Americans.

Here’s our original Pledge of Allegiance:

I Pledge Allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Here’s our modern Pledge:

I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Here’s info on how you can purchase a flag that was flown over the capitol.

Here’s information from the Minnesota Department of Veteran Affairs about when to display the flag and what holidays require the flag to be flown at half mast until noon or sunset.

And finally, here are some printables like coloring pages and crossword puzzles for Flag Day.