Personal Pennant

What you need:

• poster board 
• construction paper 
• markers and/or felt tip pens 
• scissors 
• glue 
• magazines 
• photos (optional)

What to do:

1. Explain to your child that the U.S. flag features symbols that tell our country's story — one star for each of the 50 states and 13 stripes to represent the 13 original colonies.
2. Ask your child to think about what would symbolize her. This could include hobbies, favorite things, cultural celebrations, sports, or people who are important to her. 
3. Challenge your child to decide how to represent those things. She can use drawings, construction paper, pictures from magazines, photos, and anything else that comes to mind.
4. Next, she can sketch out her flag on a piece of paper, deciding which elements should go where.
5. Finally, it's time to put her flag together on a piece of poster board. As an extension, you could work together to make a flag to represent your family, neighborhood, or town.

Learning Benefits:

• reinforces a sense of identity 
• introduces the concept of symbols 
• encourages creativity