Independence Day art lesson plan for kids

4th of July Craft ideas
Happy Independence Day!

Objective
To create a craft to celebrate Independence Day. Uncle Sam imagery has been used to symbolize the United States government through artwork, cartoons and literature for many years. In honor of him, we will show you how to create a unique Uncle Sam portrait using mixed media.

Materials

Tempera Paint

Tissue paper     

Construction paper
(Blue, White)

Markers

Procedure 

We will start by creating a circle with skin colored tempera paint.

Tip: An easy way to create skinned colored paint is to mix white paint with a dot of red and a dot of yellow.

While the tempera paint dries begin drawing the hat out of construction paper.

Cut out the pieces using scissors.

Glue the hat towards the top of the skin colored circle.

Create the face with black paint or a sharpie marker. I outlined the face so that I can have an idea of where to paste the tissue paper.

Now the fun begins
Paste tissue paper around Uncle Sam’s face to create his very memorable beard.

We will complete the piece by adding cut out stars to the hat and painting white strips on the hat.  Add a bow tie made out of construction paper to tie up the whole composition.

Get creative and use your imagination!

Art lesson plan created by:
Stephanie Coplan
Account Manager at Square 1 Art
View her artist portfolio