Train Up Tuesday: Celebrate the Flag!

Has today just passed you by? I mean, did you wake up thinking..."just another Tuesday"? Did you know it is "Flag Day"? Does it matter? I have a love/hate relationship with the spring/summer holidays from Memorial Day through Veterans Day (with D-Day, Flag Day, 4th of July) all of it wrapped up in these nice, beautiful seasons. On the one hand, you have a great 5 months to celebrate the greatness of patriotism. On the other, you have a lot of people (including myself) who see it all get jumbled up into "one" idea of celebration. Each of these holidays mark very specific points for our country - honoring the fallen brave servicemen and women, remembering specific attacks, the "adoption" of our flag, our country's "birthday" of freedom, honoring those who have served. It is a beautiful time indeed, but it is so easy to gloss over all of it and not take time to make each of these days special.

In the past, I've not really made a big deal over "flag" day. I'd like to change that. Last year, we visited my Dad's grave on Memorial Day weekend (he was a Marine and actually passed around that time many years ago) and went to our first 4th of July parade . I've not found a lot on "Flag Day" in the way of crafts, but perhaps these links will get you started:

Enchanted Learning has quite a few great printables to help you.

Apples 4 Teacher has SEVERAL links to help you talk about Flag Day and to make things for celebrating.

I think this would be a fun flag to make... "Let freedom ring"


...but I don't know my boys would be able to do much in helping me with it. So, our craft will probably be basic and made from whatever craft bits I have on hand.

Maybe, if your family enjoys exploring "The Flag", you could talk about making your own family flag, filled with symbols that mean something to you, your interests and your values! I'd like to do that at some point with my family. Perhaps revisiting the idea every few years to see if anything changes.

Hope it's more than just another Tuesday for you!
Ashlie