Fourth of July Crafts: Make a Baton!

This Independence Day, get your craft on with some simple Fourth of July crafts—like this patriotic baton!

Submitted by
Kayla Chong

Help your kid make a baton to twirl at your local Fourth of July parade! All you need is red, white and blue ribbon and an empty wrapping paper roll to create a seriously fun Fourth of July craft.

A thin, empty wrapping paper roll
Red, white and blue ribbon
Patriotic decorations: stickers, colorful rhinestones, whatever!
Red, white and blue construction paper
Tape
Scissors
White glue

Trim an empty wrapping paper roll down to a baton length your kid can manage (without inadvertently whacking passersby in the head!).
Slather some white glue on the tube and have your kid cover the cardboard with a collage of construction paper and patriotic decorations.
Cut a bunch of red, white and blue ribbons in varying lengths.
Have your kid tape the ribbons just inside of the ends of the cardboard roll. She can either bunch them up to make tufts of ribbons or she can overlap them slightly to make a continuous circle of ribbon around the ends of the tubes. The more ribbons, the more flair the finished baton will have!
Head out to your local parade and invite Junior to give her snazzy Fourth of July craft a whirl!