Easy Cut & Paste American Flag Craft {with template}

There are lots of different ways to do an American flag craft. For this one we’re keeping it simple with a template where you can cut and paste construction paper into a flag. It’s easy enough for preschoolers and great for older kids too as they can do more of the prep work themselves.

This is a great craft for the 4th of July, Flag Day, Memorial Day, or when doing a lesson about the American flag.

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My 3 year old calls the American Flag simple “America” and told her grandma that we were “making America”. I did the prep work, measuring and cutting the pieces, but she was able to assemble it herself with just a little guidance on where the red stripes go.

If I’d had red ribbon I would’ve let her do more of the prep work as well. I definitely recommend ribbon if you’re doing this project with a large group of young children as it will cut down on your prep time.

Supplies

• Flag template (print it after the directions)
• Blue construction paper
• Red construction paper or red ribbon
• Star Stickers
• Glue stick
• Ruler

Directions

1 – Before you sit your preschool age kids down to do this craft you’ll need to do some prep work. Cut blue paper into the size of the square, the measurements of the template aren’t exact here so you’ll need to lay it against the square and use it as a guide.

The stripes should be 1/2″ inch tall. You’ll need four that are about 5 1/2″ long and three that are 10″ long.

I cut our stripes out of red construction paper. I only needed enough for two flags. If you’re doing it for a larger group of kids or want to use the prep as a learning experience I’d go with 1/2″ red ribbon instead.

Then all you need to do is lay it over your ruler and cut into the desired lengths. It will be much faster for creating a large number of stripes.

2 – Glue 7 red stripes onto the template, 4 short and 3 long. Start with the top stripe and end with the bottom stripe. For my daughter I used a red crayon to mark the lines that needed to be red as a guide.

3 – Once all the stripes are on glue the blue square over the square star area on the template.

4 – Cover your blue square with star stickers. We used multi-colored stars because that’s what we had at our home already but you can grab some white stars or any color you like.

As you can see below, my daughter only put 4 stars on hers. If you want to put 50 stars you can print an extra template as a guide. You’ll want to do 9 vertical rows alternating 6,5,6,5 etc. for nine rows total.

5 – If you want you can cut out the flag when you’re done. If you use a simple glue stick it will dry almost instantly and be ready to display.

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Learning Opportunities

Long and Short

This craft uses 2 different lengths of stripes. It’s a great opportunity to practicing choosing which shape is long and which is short. While this may seem like a simple idea to you and me it’s one that children have to develop.

Measuring

This is a great craft for introducing the concept of measuring with a ruler. If you use ribbon you can help your child lay it along a ruler and cut at 5 1/2″ or 10″. Practice counting too as you need 3 of one size and 4 of the other.

I would mark the ruler for them unless they’re already very good at recognizing numbers.

American flag craft template

This simple black and white American flag template prints on an 8.5 x 11″ piece of paper or cardstock. You can also print extras on plain paper and use it as a flag coloring page.

Printables are for personal use only. All printables on Tot School Resources website are the property of totschoolresources.com and may not be sold, used for commercial purposes, or given away for free on your own website.

Check out the Patriotic Crafts & Activities page for more themed fun.

Easy Preschool Flag Craft

Thanks for sharing!