How to Make a Tissue American Flag

Display a real American flag as a model for children to reference when creating their craft.

The 4th of July, September 11th and Memorial Day are holidays to celebrate the good of our country and our glorious flag. Decorate with a simple project that you and your kids can enjoy. Creating an American flag using tissue paper and white craft glue can be fun for kids of all ages. Whether in the classroom or at home on a summer day, this craft is an effective way for children to learn how our flag is shaped.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• 1 8 1/2 by 11-inch piece of white construction paper or white cardstock
• White craft glue
• Red, blue, and white tissue paper, also known as craft tissue, two full sheets of each color for each flag
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Paper plate

1. Create the image of an American flag on the cardstock. Draw the shapes of the flag with a pencil, creating thirteen even stripes widthwise along the paper to represent the original colonies. Draw a large square in the upper left hand corner for the field of blue and the white stars. Or, find and print out an outline of the flag from the Internet onto the cardstock.

2. Cut the tissue paper into 2 by 2-inch squares with scissors. This step should be completed by adults or older children who are careful with scissors. If this project is for a large number of children, cut all of the squares the day before since this takes a little bit of time.

3. Pour a quarter-sized puddle of white craft glue onto a regular-sized paper plate.

4. Take one square of red tissue and put the pencil's eraser into the middle of the tissue. Cup the tissue around the pencil's eraser. Holding the pencil and the tissue paper, dip the cupped eraser into the white craft glue, then stick it onto the flag image where a stripe of red will begin. Remove the pencil and the tissue paper will remain on the cardstock, standing upright. Repeat the process placing the next square of tissue right next to the first one. The closer together the cupped tissue squares are, the neater the flag appears.

5. Repeat step 4 to fill up the entire stripe, then move to another stripe of the flag. The red and white tissue should alternate, with red stripes on the top and the bottom.

6. When the stripes are finished, move to the large square. While it is unlikely that all 50 stars, representing the 50 states, will fit in that section, help children create a pattern of white squares in the blue field to mimic how a real flag would look. Fill in the rest of the large square with the blue tissue squares.

Tips & Warnings

• The time it takes to complete the project depends on how large your flag is. Estimate roughly two hours from start to finish for this project, plus drying time.

References

• Teacher Vision: Blank American Flag Printable