Teaching Children Patriotism

My daughter has always referred to children as "little people." And she is correct; children are just that -- little people. One day, these little people will be the ones in charge and our job as parents is to help them do what the Army has taken for a slogan - be all they can be. 

In the aftermath of the infamous September 11 attack, a new wave of patriotism has swept across the United States. As parents, there are a number of things we can do to inculcate a spirit of patriotic pride and love of our country in our "little people." If we teach them to love and appreciate their country now, they will be ready to lead it in the right direction when they are "big people." 

Joanna helped Austin make this flag to send to G’ma. I’ll display it with pride. As you can tell by the picture, he was pretty proud of helping his mom make it for me. She passed on the directions for those of you with "little people" to make one of your own. 

Joanna loves arts and crafts and she and her friend Lorraine both use the talents they learned as youngsters to make extra money to stretch the family budget. 

One day when Joanna was home on leave, she was in the kitchen doing something and I was in the other room when she called out, "Mom, I sure am glad you raised me like you did!" 

Now, those are words to warm the cockles of a mother’s heart! Also, they were so startling that I rushed into the kitchen to find out what prompted her to say that. Joanna explained, "When we were young, you always made everything. We didn’t realize there just wasn’t a lot of spare money, and we resented it sometimes. We wanted to be like the other kids whose moms just went to the store and bought things instead of having you make everything. Well, when I got older, I realized what a wonderful feeling it was to be able to do things yourself. There is something special about the things you make with your own hands." 

The more we involve our children in those things we hold of value, the better they will learn them. 

We need to teach our little people about freedom. This is a great topic for a family discussion. Sam was inspecting a boat one day when he met a Chinese sailor who asked if Sam had any children. Sam showed him the photo of his family and the Chinese sailor said, "I really envy you your beautiful family." Then the sailor showed Sam a photo of his son. Sam later asked me why I supposed the young sailor had said he envied him. He didn’t realize that the Chinese sailor was forbidden to have more than one child. Compared to the rest of the world, we have unheard of, and very precious, freedoms. 

We need to teach our little people about responsibility. The other side of freedom is responsibility. I remember as a child going with my grandmother to vote. She was quite old and had great difficulty walking. When I asked her why she went if she felt so bad, she looked at me as if I was too dumb to see the obvious and said it was her responsibility. I took my children at a young age to see the process of voting. Some precinct judges will even let a child mark a sample ballot. Let’s encourage our children in all the responsibilities that make good citizens. 

How about letting your little people make a flag banner? Then join in a family sing along of all the old favorite patriotic songs. George Cohan’s rousing "Grand Old Flag" is a great one for little voices and big ones, too. The words are below. 

Happy 2002 to you all! 

- Ann

Joanna and Austin’s Flag Banner

You will need: 

- Blue acrylic paint
- Red acrylic paint
- White acrylic paint
- Paintbrush
- White or cream-colored material, about 36 inches long x 21 or 22 inches wide
- A wooden dowel, 3 feet (36 inches) in length
- Glue or a sewing machine
- Newspaper or scrap paper
- Dish or plastic-coated paper plate
- A child’s hands

I sewed mine so G’ma can hang it outside. Glue would work if you have no sewing talent or machine. Hem the unfinished sides. Turn one end over and sew a line about an inch from the top fold to make a tube for the dowel to go through. 

Paint a blue square in the top left corner for the field for the stars. Make sure you put a sheet of newspaper under the whole project so the paint won‘t bleed through and make a mess on your work surface. Let the blue dry. Then put red paint in a dish or plastic coated paper plate; spread it across the plate with your brush. Put the child’s hand into the paint palm down, telling him or her to keep their fingers together. Print with the child’s hand and keep repeating for the red stripes on the flag. 

Wash hands with soap and water. 

Austin’s hand was too large to make stars so we used the tips of his thumb and first two fingers to make the circle of stars. With a smaller hand you could put a whole hand print and fill the blue with small star hand prints. 

Let dry. The dowel goes thru the top and the string can be tied and glued to the dowel for a hanger. 

This is a good way to help little people know we are all Americans and need to show our pride. 

Sing, go vote, make a flag banner and be proud to be an American! 

"Grand Ole Flag"
by George M. Cohan

"You're a grand old flag, 
You're a high flying flag 
And forever in peace may you wave. 
You're the emblem of 
The land I love. 
The home of the free and the brave. 
Ev'ry heart beats true 
'neath the Red, White and Blue, 
Where there's never a boast or brag. 
Should auld acquaintance be forgot, 
Keep your eye on the grand old flag."