How is your summer going thus far? Ours is off to a great start. I can hardly believe that we leave on our road trip on only 1 week. ::Sigh:: I’m not quite ready. To distract myself from not being quite ready, I think we need some activities for kids and parents to do together. Don’t you think that will help? I do!
Today, my friend Jessa from Sparkle Living Blog is here show you how to make these adorable Bastille Day placemats. I think when we make these, we will do this same idea, but change them to American flags and make them a 4th of July craft. Cuteness!
This is only one idea in my series of Real Summer of Fun activities. The activities are designed to be simple and inexpensive things we can do with our kids to make this a summer of real fun for everyone.
Greetings from California! This is Jessa from Sparkle Living Blog and I’m here to share with you a project for the kiddos. This is our first summer after having both girls in school full-time and let me tell you, it has been hard to keep the girls occupied. So we’ve been doing a lot of art. I introduced them to mixed media collages. Mixed media is great for any age, because you can’t mess it up. You can use any kind of supply and the art turns out colorful and fun!
These placemats are great because they are also an educational tool. Bastille Day is July 14 and is France’s national holiday. It’s great for kids to learn about other cultures and they are so curious too!
Supplies:
- paper (11″ x 18″)
- paint (red, white, and blue for the French flag)
- brushes
- glue sticks
- magazines for cutting out letters
- scissors
- Heidi Swapp Color Shine in Gold Lamé
(affiliate link) - French clip art
(affiliate link)
Start out by drawing lines on the paper so the kids know which areas to paint the blue, red, and white of the French flag. Set aside and let it dry.
If the kids are old enough to use scissors safely, let them cut out the French clip art and color or paint it if they want.
I had the girls look up some of their favorite words in French and then printed them out to glue on to their placemat. Additionally, have the kids cut out letters in a magazine or newspaper spelling out La France. When the paint is dry, have them glue everything on.
Once the clip art is glued on take the artwork outside and spray on the Heidi Swapp Color Shine paint. This is not necessary of course, but it adds texture and a vintage look to their art.
Tip: What I didn’t do, but should have done is let the art sit under a couple of books to flatten it well before having it laminated.
Once the placemat is dry and flat, take it to a copy store or office supply store to have it laminated.
That’s it! This project is fun, educational and will keep the kids busy for an afternoon. Have a great summer!
Check out Sparkle Living Blog for more great craft tutorials, recipes and ideas. You can also find Sparkle Living Blog on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook.
Here are a few of Jessa’s recent posts:
Chocolate Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches
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