Books to Celebrate the USA and Learn More About It

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in order to provide honest reviews. All opinions are my own.

Independence Day is quickly approaching! It is a special year for the BIG celebration of 250 years!! We have been sharing nonfiction books for different ages to help celebrate the big anniversary. Today we are sharing another group of books to help celebrate and learn more about the country and states. Several were released last week! The first book is 250 Facts About America by J. D. Forester and illustrated by Risa Rodil. This book is recommended for ages 8 to 12.  

Picture Books Perfect for Flag Day, Independence Day & More!

 

Disclosure:  I was sent copies of these books in order to provide honest reviews. All opinions are my own.

June 14th is Flag Day in the United States. It is a day to remember the adoption of the red, white, and blue flag on June 14, 1777 by the Second Continental Congress. I liked to celebrate Flag Day with Hazel by reading books about the flag and doing flag crafts. Today we are going to share two picture books themed around the flag. One relates the flag to our country with colors and words. The book is Blue Sky White Stars by Sarvinder Naberhaus and illustrated by Kadir Nelson. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8.

Two Picture Books That Teach U.S. History & More!

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in order to provide honest reviews. All opinions are my own.

With the United States celebrating its 250th anniversary on July 4th this year, I was sent a roundup of books about the United States. As I read them, I realized I didn't want to do just one huge roundup. The books are for different ages and teach about specific Americans, country history, states as well as about why we celebrate 4th of July. They are for different ages and a variety of types of books - from board books to middle grade books and even a graphic novel. Today we are sharing two books by the same team that give information about people. places and more. The first book is America's Dreaming by Ben McKinnon and illustrated by Thai My Phuong. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8.

Board Books to Teach Our Youngest About the USA

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in order to provide honest reviews. All opinions are my own.

It is hard to believe that the United States is celebrating its 250th birthday this year! With this weekend being Memorial Day weekend and the patriotic decor coming out we thought it was a great time to share some of the many books around for learning about the United States and celebrations. Today we are sharing three board books so the youngest ones can learn a bit about our great nation. Our first book involves a favorite children's book character from Eric Carle, the Very Hungry Caterpillar!! It is a tabbed board book called Across the USA with The Very Hungry Caterpillar by the World of Eric Carle. It is recommended for ages 1 to 3.

Black Hands: Builders of Our Nation -- Picture Book Review

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

On the Fourth of July, the United States will celebrate its 250th birthday. We've already reviewed a fun picture book perfect for little ones getting ready for the festivities and have many more piled up and waiting for a roundup. However today we are going to share a book that isn't just for this big birthday but is a piece of history many people do not think about, forget or do not want to think about. And to me this is a book that should be included in everyone's celebration as it is important to remember the people who helped build our great country but often do not get the credit for their work. There are many groups that can be included but today's book focuses on Black people. The book is Black Hands: Builders of Our Nation by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8.

Happy Birthday to US! Book Review & Giveaway

 

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to provide an honest review. All opinions are my own. I am working with The Children's Book Review and Sherry Ellis to bring you this post.

This year is a special year for the United States. It marks the 250th birthday of our country! The day this post is published is Patriots' Day in Massachusetts. That means this long weekend there will be re-enactments of the battles in Lexington and Concord. And as any Bostonian knows, the Boston Marathon will be run. Yesterday was the official 251st anniversary of the "shot heard around the world." Today we are sharing a fun and patriotic book about a boy whose birthday is July 4th. The book is Happy Birthday to US! by Sherry Ellis and illustrated by Nina Hvozdzeva. Throughout the post there will be links to some fun patriotic crafts and activities and at the end there is a giveaway!!

Weird But True! USA -- Fun trivia to awe your friends and family on the 4th of July

Disclosure: We were sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are our own. 

Which had more viewers the walk on the moon in 1969 or the 2018 Super Bowl?  What state has the most people who walk or bike to work? What state's trees helped the colonists during the Revolutionary War? What is the only state name that is one syllable? What building (in the USA) contains rocks from the Great Pyramid of Khufu in Giza, Abraham Lincoln's tomb, the Alamo, and the Colosseum in Rome? Which state produces the majority of the toothpicks used in the USA? Can you answer these questions? You can if you read the book we are sharing tonight. It is National Geographic Kids Weird but True! USA. 

10 Interesting Facts about Fireworks & Independence Day & Craft Round-Up

1. It is believed the first fireworks were created in China as early as 200 BC. The first was a natural one where they would roast bamboo which would explode with a bang. It was believed to scare off evil spirits.

Patriotic Crafty Weekends Link Party & Features

We are going to watch the fireworks tonight, so we are going to share some patriotic crafts of the past. We did this round-up last year. 

Fourth of July Crafty Weekends Link Party

We are getting ready to watch the fireworks for Independence Day at my parents tonight. I spent the day playing mini golf with Hazel and my nephew and then the three of us headed to the John F. Kennedy Museum in Hyannis to check it out (it is the centennial celebration there). I am in full vacation mode and did not do crafts this week, so I thought I would share a few of my favorite patriotic crafts from the past.

Summertime Family Fun

Disclosure: I was sent these items to review free of charge from Oriental Trading. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them.

Can you believe summer began yesterday? We are getting ready for some fun family gatherings this summer. Hazel and I head to my parents for the Fourth of July since the fireworks are visible from my parents' deck and there is a fun parade in their town. My parents have the best view of the fireworks on their street so they invite their neighbors to come watch from their deck. There is always a group of adults and kids showing up to watch, so this year I thought it would be fun to have some activities for the kids while we are waiting for the fireworks to begin. My mother also hosts a family reunion for her siblings (she is one of five), their children and grandchildren. I always am her event planner/assistant hostess. Since I am one of thirteen in cousins and most of them have at least one child now, I figured it would be good to have some games and activities to entertain the kids and families at the beach and the dinner she hosts. So for these two big family activities we turned to Oriental Trading for some great summer and patriotic things to entertain the guests. After all they are a great place to turn for all summer and party needs.

Happy Independence Day!!

Today we are celebrating our country's Independence Day! Before I go into my post, I would like to send a huge thank you to all the soldiers (past and present) who have fought to protect our country and their families. We send our thanks and prayers to you!

For the Fourth of July, we have not done much this year. Hazel and I looked at the wonderful packet about fireworks from My Shae Noel. We decided to make some firework paintings, which I saw over at Tippytoe Crafts the other day. Hazel loved making these and continued to paint with the Q-tips some more. Instead of adding glitter we used some glitter paint.

We also made some pipe cleaner fireworks/sparklers that I have been seeing all over the web lately. Hazel also wanted some pancakes so we made red, white and blue pancakes (strawberry, blueberry, almond pancakes). I cut the recipe in half since I couldn't eat any and when we made them Steve wasn't home, so this recipe made five pancakes.

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground flax seed meal
1 egg
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk (could use regular milk)
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/4-1/2 cup blueberries (we used fresh because we had them, but usually I use frozen)
1/4 cup strawberries (fresh from the farmer's market, but could be sliced frozen)
1-2 tablespoons almonds

Mix the dry ingredients in a small bowl. Beat the egg in a medium bowl and then add the liquid ingredients. Mix dry ingredients into liquid ones and add berries and nuts. Cook.

Hazel said she loved them! 

In the past we have done much more and usually host a barbeque for some friends, but decided to have a quiet one this year. Here are some of our crafts and food from the past.

Flower Wreath; Patriotic Candles; Rockets

Patriotic Wreath; Flower Arrangement; Red, White and Blue Sugar Cookies, Shell Sailboats

Salad Spinner Spin Art Banner; Red, White and Blue Fruit Salad (banana, blueberry, watermelon, strawberries), Duct tape Firework Crown (with other Fourth of July Crafts for Toddler/Preschooler)

Handprint Fireworks; Marble Painting; Utensil Holders; State Frame

Finally some of the great patriotic crafts and activities from the last few Sharing Saturdays!

1) From We Made That: Fourth of July Layered Drink
2) From Making Memories with Your Kids: Layered Drink
3) From School Time Snippets: 4th of July Noise Maker
4) From Montessori Now: Patriotic Practical Life and Math Activity
5) From Gift of Curiosity: Fireworks in a Jar
6) From Buggy and Buddy: Statue of Liberty Crown and Torch
7) From Little Bins for Little Hands: 4th of July Sensory Bin
8) From Gift of Curiosity: 4th of July Montessori Activities
9) From Buggy and Buddy: Patriotic Spirit Wands
10) From Gift of Curiosity: Sticky Paper American Flag
11) From Boy Mama Teacher Mama: Homemade Flags
12) From There's Just One Mommy: American Flag Craft
13) From Toddlers Through Preschoolers: Fourth of July Tray
14) From Little Bins for Little Hands: 4th of July Baking Soda Science Sensory Play
15) From Learning and Growing the Piwi Way: Fourth of July Pack
16) From Mums Make Lists: 4th of July Fun Round Up

I wish you and your family a happy, fun-filled and safe Fourth of July!

Happy Independence Day!!

For the Fourth of July we often just have a few friends over for a small barbeque. We find many people have plans with family, etc., but with Hazel's age we find most of the local events are just too late for her schedule. This way we plan our barbeque around our schedule and invite our friends with young kids. I always have Hazel help me make decorations and then we have crafts and activities for the kids. I will share pictures of how everything came out later this week, but for now I thought I would share a round up of Patriotic Crafts, Foods, Activities that have been shared on Sharing Saturday the past few weeks.

1) Dramatic Fireworks Display from Mama's Little Muse

2) Patriotic Books and Bento Lunch by Keitha's Chaos

3) Red, White and Blue Snacks from Mama of Many Blessings

4) Fourth of July Tie Dye T-Shirt from School Time Snippets

5) Patriotic Candy Bark from The Iowa Farmer's Wife

6) Stars, Stripes, and Coffee Filters from Art Mama Says

7) Fourth of July Pudding Pops from We Made That

8) Fourth of July Shaker from We Made That

9) Independence Day Flag Manicure from Tessacotton

10) Patriotic Ice Cube Painting from Mama's Little Muse

11) Roarin' Rockets by Tippytoe Crafts

12) Patriotic Dresses and More on Frontier Dreams

13) Firecracker Pops from Pam's Party Planning and Practical Tips

14) Interchangeable Wreath from The Crafty Scientist

15) Patriotic Mason Jar from The NY Melrose Family

16) Patriotic Wreath made by me

Center) Our centerpiece complete with toilet paper roll rockets Hazel and I made.

We made many toilet paper roll and paper towel roll rockets to decorate for the party including ones with all the kids names on it. We discovered that the sparkly scrapbook paper does not glue or tape well!

We also made some shell sailboats. I got this idea from Family Fun. I used sticky foam and put scrapbook paper onto it for the sails and used toothpicks for the sticks and included a flag on each one since I had a bunch of flag toothpicks. Hazel loved doing this. She wanted to make ten boats but I had cut out enough for twelve so we went for it. She wants to play with them now.

In honor of our holiday, I pause from my celebration to say a prayer for all those who have fought for our freedom and all those still fighting and their wonderful families that sacrifice so much. I hope you will join me in the prayer!

Dear God, thank you for being with our brave men and women who have fought for our country and have provided us our freedom. And please be with all the men and women still fighting and protecting us. Also please be with their families as they sacrifice their time with their loved ones and protect them all. Thank you for letting me be a part of an amazing country and please help me to make it even better by following your ways. Amen.

Patriotic Wreaths and Candles

As you know we have been working on decorations for our Fourth of July Barbeque. I need to extend an apology to all my readers who are not Americans--I know this may be getting boring for you. I'm hoping you can take some of these ideas and use them for your own parties with changes. This week we took some empty jars and Mod Podged some tissue paper on them. 

Hazel did one with squares of red, white and blue tissue paper (I added some sparkly ribbons to the top and bottom), and I helped her with one to look like fireworks. My idea was to have many colors on the underneath layer, but she only wanted to use pink. We did not have a navy or black piece of large tissue paper so I cut a firework design out of purple and Mod Podged it over hers. Then I added some glitter glue after it all dried.

I made a navy one with a white star. I covered the jar in white and then combined the purple and turquoise to make a navyish color and cut out stars and Mod Podged them over. I outlined the star with glitter glue. Then I covered a jar with white and added stripes of red sparkly ribbon. This was actually my second attempt. My first attempt of the red and white striped (with a bit of blue starred scrapbook paper) did not turn out as planned. Then I thought of the ribbons.

My first attempt

Then I spent Friday afternoon working on a couple of wreaths. You may remember the spring wreath I made for us and the red, white and blue one I made for friends. I'm going to make some red, white and blue pinwheels tonight to change ours over. 

In addition to that, I made one starting with a straw wreath. I hot glued red, white and blue silk flowers to it. (I bought all of the flowers on sale/clearance or at The Dollar Tree). Then I added some ribbon going across the center and hung some sparkly stars in the center. This is on our front door now.

For the next wreath, I started with a flat wreath made of cardboard or that other type of board. I can't think of the name of it right now. I wrapped some patriotic ribbon around it. I bought two rolls of the ribbon on sale at Michaels this week. Each roll had three yards and I needed the second roll. Then I wrapped some metallic star garland around it. It filled it in nicely. Since we have four doors I can decorate (three off the patio and our front door) I may make another one as well. I still have another straw wreath to work with. I'm thinking of just wrapping the "Let Freedom Ring" ribbon around it and tying a bow.

This is where I share...

Salad Spinner Firework Art

This morning we had the best time making firework paintings. I found on Pinterest Mom's Crafty Space: Salad Spinner "Fireworks" Tutorial. I figured I had an old salad spinner that leaked and Hazel loves using it, so why not. We added water to her red and blue paints including her red sparkle paint. We also added our own touch with some glitter at the end.

 I gave her old medicine syringes to add drops of color. She had two different shades of blue and red and we did them on paper plates. She dropped the colors on the plate in the spinner. One red was almost empty so we just added water to the bottle and used the squeezer. It got a little more liquidy than the others.

Then she spun it. She loves this.

Then she loved pushing the stop button and checking how it looked.

Then we added glitter. Another favorite activity for Hazel.

We made large plates and small plates. I took all the small plates and added letters/words to say "Happy 4th of July!" Punched a hole in them and made a banner for the mantle. The large plates I am thinking of putting "Freedom" on and hanging them on our outside stairs for our barbeque.

After spin art we tried marble painting. We tried it on plates, but didn't totally like it. You can see the small plate above with "of" on it. We tried it on white paper.

Then we did some handprint fireworks. Hazel did not quite get the idea of them, but we had fun. We added glitter to make it a little more realistic.

We have some more ideas for painting fireworks, but they will have to wait for another day.

This is where I share...

Fourth of July Decorations

Source

Traditionally Steve and I have invited a few friends over for the Fourth of July. We do not usually bother with fireworks or dealing with the crowds. (Although many of our neighbors put on their own shows which are sometimes even better than the professional ones.) Now that we have Hazel we tend to invite friends with young children. Hazel and I start preparations for the barbeque by making decorations. (To see a few of our ideas from last year click here.) Last year Hazel was very afraid of the wind after our Father's Day painting incident. We actually had to move the party inside because she threw a fit about our decorations being outside and being afraid they would blow away in the wind. This year I'm thinking about more heavy decorations.

I bought a navy frame at Michaels on clearance and found some red and white striped scrapbook paper there as well. I cut the scrapbook paper to be part of the United States flag and mod podged it on. Then we put stickers on the navy part that was still showing and we added a USA sticker to the stripes. Then we framed this great printable I got from Lolly Jane. It is in the image of the United States flag but has the names of  the states in alphabetical order for the stripes. She has free printables in different color combinations. When I saw it I knew I wanted to do a project like this. We will use it as a decoration and then Hazel wants it in her bedroom.

Then we also made some holders for our plasticware. We used some frozen juice containers. (They were Welch's brand and made of plastic.) First I covered each one with white paper since the purple from the grape juice label (which was not removable) was so dark. I just Mod Podged the paper on.

Then I cut scrapbook paper to fit around each one. I did one in the red and white strip and one in navy with white stars. After coating them with Mod Podge I left them to dry over night. We added sparkly ribbons today and stickers to one. I like how they came out.

We have some more decorations in the works. Stay tuned. Do you have plans for the Fourth?

Oh, and a great activity for the kids for the Fourth. Squidoo has free patriotic clip art images including an American flag to color in. Stay tuned for more ideas for things for the kids as well. I have many in my mind and pinned.

This is where I share...

Fourth of July Crafts and more!

Ok, I finally got around to taking more pictures of the crafts we used at our party. First the crowns which I posted a picture of yesterday. I got the idea from Disney's Family Fun Magazine. Instructions on them are found here. I have to say of all the parenting/family magazines I get (and I get many of them) this is my favorite because it has easy crafts to do with kids and they have a special section for subscribers with younger children.

Now for some of the other crafts we did. First is the placemats which we didn't actually use, but the kids made their own. I got this idea from a craft Hazel did at the local library for flag day.

 I had cut all the paper for the kids so all they had to do was glue the red stripes on and they had plain blue construction paper with star stickers, so they could give a little variety to their own flags. Then we covered them with clear contact paper to make them placemat worthy.

Next are paper windsocks. I originally had a group of these hanging from our clothes line over the patio. Of course Hazel was sure they were going to blow away and insisted on us bringing them in. The kids enjoyed making these though. The easier ones are pictured here. I used blue star scrapbook paper (the leftover parts from the placemats) and red and white crepe paper. This idea was adapted from the Little Hands Book on America. For the 12 inch strip we used 6 pieces of crepe paper, but could have used 7 if we didn't want them alternating. Each of the kids made their own to take home.

 This is the harder version. Hazel and I only made one this way. I printed white stars (using Word's shape drawer) on paper and cut them out. We glued them on to blue construction paper and then glued the crepe paper on to the bottom and then made it a tube and added the yarn to hang it with.

 I also had printed out free coloring pages with Fourth of July themes from on line and melted down red, white, and blue (and silver) crayons in a star muffin pan for each child. These are some of them on the flag Hazel made at the library. I found instructions on recycling broken crayons on-line and in books--melt small pieces of crayon in sprayed muffin pans at 275. Keep a close eye on them as they can melt quickly but around 10 minutes (less if they are not filled well). I also made Hazel some rainbow round crayons with all the broken crayons we had (and some from the packages I bought to get enough red, white and blue). She loves them. She plays with some at the library as well. At the library, she has been known to build towers with them since they have so many more. The librarian melted down the crayons by color so each one is a different color versus my rainbow idea.

Well that is all the promised Patriotic crafts I have for you. Now off to sew some more. Hopefully I will finish the outfit and get Hazel to wear it so I can take a picture of it.

Good night!
Carrie