The red, white and blue stars and stripes of the flag are a quintessential symbol of America. Help your little learner to understand this well-known part of her country with an artistic American flag activity. Create a flag collage, giving her red and white stripes and a blue rectangle to glue onto a cardboard base. Add silver star stickers to complete the craft. Another option is to help her paint her own version of the flag. Pour golf ball-sized pools of red, white and glue paints. Have her dip her fingers in washable tempera and print the stars and stripes onto white paper.
Play to your preschooler's sense of imagination by setting up a dramatic play scenario. The child development pros at PBS Parents note that preschoolers have the developmental skills to explore new worlds, outside of what they immediately know, through pretend play. Provide your preschooler and her peers with dress-up clothes that encourage pretend play as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and other famous Americans. For example, give your preschooler a long white wig, a tri-cornered hat and short pants, encouraging her to play out a scene as the country's first president.
The history behind America isn't the only way that kids can learn about their country. Help your preschooler to learn a lesson on geography with a map-making activity. Give your child a pre-printed map of the U.S., and ask her to color the states in different colors or with different patterns to differentiate each one. Ask her to place a star sticker on the state where she lives, or mark it with a special color. Take the activity one step further and use modeling clay to add mountains, play sand and glue to make beaches and blue markers for rivers and lakes.
If your preschooler's first or native country isn't America, help her to learn about where she is from with a cultural activity. Create a map of her home nation or make a mock flag that features the other country's colors. Compare these to America's map and flag to show her the similarities and differences. Complement the crafts by playing traditional music from the culture or having her listen to some of the spoken language either from yourself or on tape.