Making World Flags with your Child

My son is really interested in flags, ever since our trip to Jamaica.  He loves to draw and make the Jamaican flag so when he started drawing it the other day, I asked him if he wanted to learn about flags from OTHER countries.  Even the two-person Jamaican Bobsled team are going to be in Sochi, Russia (my son is VERY happy that he can make their flag!).

Using this great flag site we got to see all the world flags in one spot and try to duplicate them with foam, construction paper, and all anything else we could find in the craft bin! 

Materials:

foam sheets and shapes

felt

fabric

construction paper

glue

scissors

Directions:

Create flags from different countries- ask your child to pick the ones they like or ones that are significant to your family.  (in photo- clockwise from the top; Jamaica, Scotland, Hong Kong and Greece).  Cut your shapes and flag features from different materials and glue them in place. 

Looking at world flags is a really fun teachable moment;

1.  Colour Recognition:  can you name the colours in the flags?

2.  Shape Recognition:  can you name the shapes in the flags?

3.  Similarities and Differences:  which flags have the same colours or shapes?  what is different about these two flags.

4.  Matching:  you can give your child the pieces to glue on and ask them to match the flag in the photo.  Let's build this flag- what shape goes in the middle?  where do we put the lines?

5.  Counting:  how many lines in this flag?  how many stars?

You can even add a wooden dowling or straw to make a waving flag.  Display them while you watch the Olympics on tv.