Today is Flag Day here in the U.S.  Obviously, if you’re not American, this will be a bit less relevant for you.  But maybe you can take some useful principles away!

Here are some ideas for activities to teach your children about the flag, its meaning, and proper handling:

Early Childhood Activities

Counting Coconuts has a variety of ideas for flag-themed activities for preschoolers & very early elementary.  Math assignments, for instance, involve adding and subtracting stars.

Handprint Flag

Love to Know has a handprint activity.  Children use their handprints and several colors of paint to create a flag.

Flag Code

As your children get a bit older, please teach them the Flag Code!  (A PDF is available via government’s website.)  The Flag Code spells out what is and isn’t considered proper etiquette for the display and handling of the U.S. flag.  Much of it is what we’d think of as “common sense.”  You might be surprised, however, at how much of this knowledge is being lost as younger generations don’t purposefully pass it down.

(An interesting exercise is searching for violations on Pinterest!  There are whole boards dedicated to highlighting Flag Code violations.  Although you might want to check them first as a few are not very modest.)

How to Fold a Flag

Do your children know how to fold a flag properly?  If you’re a little nervous about jumping straight into working with a real flag, you could start with a paper version, then practice with a towel before moving on to the “real thing.”

Your Turn

How have you taught your children about respect for the flag?