Memorial Day is a great opportunity to teach children not only about respecting sacrifices made by men and women serving in the U.S. military but also about American history. Here are some crafts and activities to engage your child in this Memorial Day:

Memorial Day Activities and Crafts

 1. Patriotic Pinwheel

This simple Memorial Day craft is also versatile in use. Whether going to a Memorial Day parade or service, or decorating at home, this patriotic pinwheel is a fun craft to show your patriotism.

Supplies:

• Two piece of construction paper- use red, white, and blue to represent America!
• Pencil with an eraser
• Utensils to decorate with
• Hole punch
• Push-pin
• Scissors

Directions:

1. Cut pieces of construction paper into equal sized squares
2. Fold paper into a triangle in both directions to create an “X” when unfolded across papers
3. Decorate one side of each paper square
4. Put papers together (decorations facing out), then cut from each corner toward center- about halfway
5. Punch a hole at each corner next to the lines cut
6. Gather each piece with a hole into center
7. Push push-pin through the punched holes through center of wheel
8. Push push-pin and gathered papers into side of pencil eraser

Now, you have a patriotic pinwheel!

2. “America” Acrostic Poem

Acrostic poems are great practice for learning how to describe. To create an ‘America’ acrostic poem here are the steps:

Supplies:

• Piece of paper
• Writing utensils
• Optional: supplies to decorate paper

Directions:

1. On piece of paper, write “AMERICA” from top of the paper to the bottom, letter by letter- make sure to leave some space between letters
2. Have child think of characteristics related to America that starts with each letter- for example, for letter ‘A’ the word “Awesome” could be used. Instead of writing the full word “Awesome”, the child would use the ‘A’ already written and write “wesome”. The move to the next letter!
3. Decorate if desired!

This Memorial Day activity reinforces the idea of descriptive words and synonyms. A child may have a word in mind but need to think of a way to replace that word with a synonym that has the correct first letter.

3. Memorial Day Word Scramble

This Memorial Day activity involves more critical thinking- its like a puzzle! The parent will take 5-10 words or more related to America and Memorial Day like: “Military”, “Eagle”, etc., but scramble the letters and have the child unscramble the letters!

To scramble the letters, you can use a free site like this word scrambler. Then, copy and paste the scrambled words into a document to print for your child!

4. Red, White, and Blue Mason Jar Candle Holder

This craft is a perfect decoration for Memorial Day that your child will have a fun time making with only a few supplies:

Supplies for One Candle Holder:

• Quart size Mason jar
• 5 cups of long grain white rice
• Red and blue food coloring
• 2 Ziploc bags
• 1 tealight candle (or electric tealight)

Directions:

1. Divide 1.5 cups of rice into three parts of ½ cups
2. Pour ½ a cup of rice into a Ziploc bag and another ½ into your other bag
3. Add 3 drops of red food coloring into one bag, and 3 drops of blue food coloring into the other bag
4. Seal Ziploc bags very well, then shake!

*if you want your rice color bolder, add more food coloring

5. Once all rice is coated, pour blue, then white, then red rice into Mason jar
6. Place tealight on top of rice
7. Screw on Mason jar lid

Now, you have a patriotic Memorial Day decoration! When you are ready to use, simply unscrew the cap and light the candle!

Enjoy these Memorial Day activities for elementary students while being creative, working your brain, and remembering those who have served to protect America!

Do you have any Memorial Day traditions?

Author: Sarah B., Teacher and Writer at A Grade Ahead