4th of July Craft: Star of the Parade Wands

This is a quick and easy craft when your child wants to make his or her own toys. Also, it's good for children to learn sizes and the star shape.

These wands were actually made by two of the 2 year olds in my summer camp class!!

What You'll Need:  

• Red and blue construction paper
• Red, blue, or white ribbon
• Star foamies, star foam stickers, or star stickers
• Dowel, about a foot long and 1/8th inch thick
• Glue
• Scotch tape 

How to Make It:

1. Cut the stars out of the red and blue construction paper. The red star will need to be bigger than the blue. As a judge for the size we used, you should only be able to cut two red stars out of a sheet of construction paper (you will have extra scraps, but they should be pretty big). The blue stars should be able to cut about four out of one sheet of construction paper, but I free-handed the blue stars, so I don't have an accurate size. If your child is old enough, he or she can cut out the stars and judge the sizes on his or her own, after you tell him or her that the blue star needs to be smaller than the red one.
2. Cut a long piece of ribbon, about twice as long as the dowel, and tie the middle of it around the dowel in a double knot at least an inch and a half from the top of the dowel, allowing the ends of the ribbon to hang down. You can adjust the size and trim the loose ends if you feel they're too long.
3. Tape the red star to the dowel by spreading a piece of clear Scotch tape across the dowel, the edges of the piece of tape pressing onto the red star. The red star will be the back of the wand, with the dowel in the middle.
4. Have the child either glue the stars on the blue star, or put the stickers on. They can do one in the center, or spread several all around the star. Since we only had a few kids in class today, we let them put as many as they wanted on.
5. Spread glue liberally on the back of the blue star, and press onto the dowel and red star, sandwiching the dowel between the red and blue stars.
6. Allow the wand to dry and it's done. If you want, you can add glitter, more stickers, or anything else you want. Also, you can add maybe one or two more star layers with white paper and/or aluminum foil. You can recycle the leftover red, blue, and whatever other paper or foil you choose to use by cutting the smallest stars out of them, as well.