Fun Crafts You Can Take to a Parade

Parades are often used to mark special occasions such as Christmas, Mardi Gras, Armed Forces Day, or Independence Day. These processions are filled with floats, bands, horses, cool cars, and if the kids are lucky, candy.

Since parades are often held during the warmest seasons of the year, everyone wants to stave off the heat. Making a "Fun Fan" to take to the parade with you will help you to stay cool. To make a fan you need a wooden paint stirrer, two pieces of 8x8 cardstock, glue and assorted decorations like stickers, markers, paint pens, and glitter.

Simply take the glue and use it to attach the cardstock to each side of the paint stirrer. Be sure to glue the pieces of cardstock to each other as well. Then let the kids loose with the decorations and in no time at all you will have "Fun Fans" for everyone in the family to take to the parade.

The kids will want to make some noise of their own at the parade; so let them make some festive shakers to shake to the beat. For this project all that is needed are some paper plates, (colored ones like red and blue are fun to use), crepe paper streamers, rice, or beans, glue, and small bells (optional).

Place your shaker material, either beans, rice, or both, as well as the small bells if you would like to add those, onto a paper plate. Using the other paper plate glue pieces of streamers to the very edge of the plate. Then glue the two plates together and let the glue dry. The outsides of the plates can be decorated as well. Now the kids can make their own music at the parade.

Since so many parades are centered around patriotic events, a flag to wave is often essential. Don't just take any flag though; create your own flag to carry with you. Torn paper is a great way to make a flag. To work on this craft a piece of white cardstock is needed, as well as red, white, and blue construction paper, a straw or small dowel rod, and glue.

Take the blue construction paper and draw a square for the field of stars. Do the same thing with the red, drawing stripes for the flag, and on the white make 50 small circles that will be the stars. Then tear the paper around the lines you have drawn instead of cutting it. Glue the blue paper in the upper left hand corner of the cardstock, and then glue the stripes on leaving space in between the red stripes where the cardstock will serve as the white stripes. Now the white circles can be laid out as stars on the blue paper. Once everything is glued down the flag can be attached to a straw, or a small dowel rod. It's optional, but red, white, and blue curling ribbon attached to the top of the straw or stick makes a festive addition.

Make any or all of these fun crafts to bring to a parade and add to the fun you are going to have.