What to Teach Your Kids About Flag Day

Knowing what to teach your kids about flag day probably doesn't seem like rocket science to most parents. When June 14 comes around each year you can make sure your flag is displayed on your backyard pole or draped over your garage entrance or any other prominent location, maybe recall a tired story of Betsy Ross or sing a stanza of "You're a Grand Old Flag", and move on. But you might also want consider the wonderful enrichment opportunities presented each year by the designation of a single day to celebrate our American Flag. Here are some suggestions that you can sculpt to fit the specific ages of your children.

You will want to begin by providing your children with a little basic history about Flag Day. Depending upon the ages and interests of your children this can be as meticulous a presentation as you might wish to provide. There are plenty of on line sources that will give you more than enough information to fill the minds of your kids with the historical evolution of what we today call Flag day. The shortened version would simply indicate that since the late 19th century there have been a variety of local and state attempts to honor the American flag. The national government became interested in formalizing a special national flag day but it was not until a post World War II Act of the U. S. Congress was officially signed by Harry S. Truman that the celebration of Flag Day on June 14 each year became law. With older children, parents can discuss why they think Flag Day was approved in 1949.
Hint: America was just celebrating its victory in World War II and experiencing a high level of patriotism.

Flag Day is also a great time to teach kids about the symbolic importance of the flag. Again how far you take this discussion depends on the age and interests of your family. On June 12,13, and 14 ask your kids to list all the places where they see the flag displayed. Then talk to them about why they think owners or managers of places where the flag was displayed had decided to put up a flag. Kids are very observant and this topic makes for a wonderful discussion. Maybe that neighbor with a flag hanging over his front door, has sent sons and daughters into a foreign war on behalf of the United States or is a veteran himself. Maybe the Post Office manager has been told he must display his flag regularly because his office operates for the U. S. government and serves all of the people in our country.

The good thing is there are no right or wrong answers in this conversation. The goal is to make your kids more observant about where U. S. flags are displayed and to think about the reason why those in charge of buildings have decided they want to display the flag in the first place. The end result is that your kids will consider that the flag is not just a well laid out piece of decorative patriotic cloth but rather it means something and it stands for something to each and every American.

As your kids get involved in searching out the different locations where flags are hung on Flag Day you might take time to talk with them about some of the fundamental rules governing the display of the American flag. There are a variety of on line sites where you might discover the entire litany of rules of appropriate display of the flag. You may be surprised at how interested kids can be in the simple rules governing things like flying a flag at half staff or how American flags should be displayed in a parade. You can use Flag Day to check out the ways in which different people are following ( or not following) the rules for displaying the American flag.

What better day is there than Flag Day to say the Pledge of Allegiance. Maybe you can say it while you put your own flag in place or maybe there will be a chance to say the pledge when you are at some type of public function during the day. But saying the pledge is only part of the learning experience for kids. What is more important is for you to take the pledge apart word by word with your kids to more fully explain what it all means. This shouldn't be a speech from you to them but rather it should be a time when your kids offer their own explanations of what they think the words of the pledge mean. You may be surprised, delighted, or horrified at the meanings that your kids have been clinging to over the years. Take the time on Flag Day with your kids to think about all the words of the Pledge of Allegiance so that the next time you and your kids say the pledge you will really know and appreciate the words you are saying. It's a lesson your kids will be glad to share with their teachers and friends.

Finally you don't have to be super patriot to use a few moments on Flag Day to help instill in your children a healthy respect for our American Flag. Our American Flag Day however also presents a wonderful opportunity to open a discussion of other national flags around the world. Get out a world atlas or check out computer sites to discover the flags of countries your children know about like Canada, Mexico, Italy, England, China or Russia. Depending on their age you might have them draw a picture of a U. S. flag and a flag from another country or countries which catch their attention. Talk to your kids about respecting the partiotic symbols of all people .

Yes you can simply walk through Flag Day with a quick nod, but if you have kids or work with kids, Flag Day can provide all kinds of interesting teaching opportunities you won't want to ignore.

Sources:
www.usa-flag-site.org/etiquette-display