If your kids love painting but you don’t love the giant mess that usually comes with it, these patriotic sponge painted stars are about to become your new favorite summer craft.
This easy Memorial Day or 4th of July craft for kids uses simple sponge pieces instead of paintbrushes to create bright red, white, and blue star art full of texture and fun patterns. It’s easy enough for toddlers, engaging for preschoolers, and still fun for older kids too.
The best part? Sponge painting gives kids that satisfying “stamp” feeling while keeping the craft process simple and frustration-free.
Whether you’re planning Memorial Day crafts, summer camp activities, or patriotic art for a classroom party, this is one of those low-prep crafts kids happily stay focused on much longer than expected.
Why You’ll Love This Patriotic Craft
- Super easy to set up
- Great for toddlers and preschoolers
- Wonderful sensory art activity
- Uses inexpensive materials
- Encourages creativity
- Creates beautiful textured artwork
- Perfect for Memorial Day or 4th of July
And because sponge painting is forgiving, kids can fully enjoy the process without worrying about making it “perfect.”
Materials
- White cardstock or thick paper
- Red paint
- Blue paint
- Kitchen sponges
- Scissors
- Marker
- Paper plates or paint trays
- Painter’s tape
- Glitter, optional
How to Make Patriotic Sponge Painted Stars
- On a kitchen sponge use your marker to draw the outline of a star. You will need at least two sponge stars. Use scissors to cut out the star from the sponges.
- Pour red, and blue paint onto separate paper plates or trays.
- Lightly press the star sponge into the paint. A little paint goes a long way. Too much paint can make the sponge slippery and cause puddles on the paper.
- Press the sponge gently onto your white cardstock. Repeat with the different color so that you have both red and blue stars.
- Optional: before the paint has dried add some glitter to the stars.
- Once dry, use the patriotic stars as:
- Window decorations
- Summer bulletin board art
- A patriotic banner
- BBQ party decor
- Table centerpieces
- Wall art
You can even tape them together to create a giant patriotic garland.
Play2Learn Toddler & Preschool Programs for Curious Toddlers
There is no limit to your toddler’s energy and curiosity. That energy and curiosity although a joy can be challenging at times. Their interest in just about everything around them is what makes them great learners. One and two year olds can soak up so much just from their senses!
But as a teacher or parent that thirst for learning can be exhausting. That is why I created this toddler and preschooler program. To help you get the most out of this time with your curious toddler without having to come up with creative ways to play and interact with them.
Play2Learn for Toddlers includes 20 Units for toddlers. Each 2-week toddler unit has 20 super easy to set up and engaging activities for toddlers 18 months to 3 years.
Play2Learn Preschool which includes 20 Units for preschoolers. Each 2-week preschoolers unit has 20 unique and easy to set up and engaging activities for preschoolers 3 years to 5 years. That’s over 800 learning activities for your toddler and preschooler at your fingertips! So many ideas you and your child will never be bored again!
These toddler and preschool lesson plans and activities will definitely keep you and your toddler and preschooler busy playing and learning!
Click here for more information: Play2Learn
Book: Exciting Sensory Bins for Curious Kids
Did you know I wrote a book of sensory bins? Click here for more information Exciting Sensory Bin for Curious Kids. Or grab your copy at Amazon.
Boring afternoons are made exciting with awesome animal-based bins, like Salty Shark Bay or Yarn Farm. Pretend play bins like Birthday Cake Sensory Play or Bubble Tea Party encourage creativity and imagination. And your kids will have so much fun they won’t even know they’re getting smarter with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) activities like Sink or Float Soup, Magnetic Letter Hunt or Ice Cream Scoop and Count.
Designed for toddlers 18 months and up.
Book: Super STEAM Activity Book for Kids
Learning all about science, technology, engineering, art, and math sets kids up for scholastic success―and it can be so much fun! Watch kids enjoy building STEAM skills as they color friendly fish, help water find its way to tree roots, solve math problems with mazes, and more.
Find out more and grab your copy here.
Designed for preschoolers 3 years old and up.
Book: Big Book of Riddles for Kids
Riddle me this: What’s an exciting way to practice critical thinking while having a blast? The Big Riddle Book for Kids, of course! From hilarious puns to tough brain teasers, kids can build problem-solving skills with hundreds of riddles tha. t show them how to think outside the box.
- 350 riddles for kids—Have hours of fun with riddles, puns and jokes, and math and logic puzzles that’ll get their wheels turning!
- Level up their skills—Riddles get trickier as kids progress through the book, challenging them as they get better at solving puzzles!
- Double-check their work—Kids can check their answers in the back of the book with a handy answer key.
Help children expand their minds while having fun with this puzzle book for kids!
Designed for kids ages 6 years old and up.
TV Show: Curious Crafting
I’m so excited to share my crafting TV show Curious Crafting which launched in July 2022 on TVOkids and TVOkids YouTube! Season 2 aired in August 2023! My show was also nominated in 2023 for Best Live Action Preschool Series by the Youth Media Alliance Awards of Excellence.
Curious Crafting Season 1 is also now airing in Australia on ABC! Watch it here!
Set in the ultimate crafting space, Curious Crafting is a short form pre-school age series about the joy of making crafts. I lead a rotating cast of adorable little preschoolers (including my own) making magic out of common household objects.
In each episode we transform recycled items into magical crafts like a milk carton school bus, paper bag puppet or cotton pad turtle. The crafters learn and laugh their way through each activity while demonstrating what their young imaginations can create.
Curious Crafting shares the adventure and joy of making art with takeaway lessons for creating crafts at home.
This show designed for toddlers and preschoolers 2.5 years old and up.
