Make a prairie schooner out of a child's wagon for a 4th of July parade.
Many towns have parades on Independence Day, and some even have two: a regular parade and a children's parade. Whether your kids will be marching in the big parade or the little one, a miniature "parade float" made from a child's wagon will make them stand out from the crowd. Transform the wagon completely, or just decorate it with patriotic red, white and blue; either way, this is an entertaining project for kids and adults alike.
Fly the Colors
Drape the sides of the wagon with red, white and blue bunting or crepe paper streamers. Fasten red, white and blue rosettes or silk flowers to the wagon's wheel hubs. Wrap the handle with red, white and blue ribbon or crepe paper and tie helium filled, star-shaped mylar balloons to the hand grip. Use duct tape to fasten tinsel "fountains" with a patriotic motif in each of the corners of the wagon. Fill the wagon with stuffed animals dressed in red, white and blue.
Uncle Sam
Attach a red and white striped crepe-paper fringe around the outer edge of the wagon; it should be long enough to hang 1 inch from the ground. Wrap the wagon's handle with red and white crepe paper to match the fringe. Make 3 poster-board signs that say, "Uncle Sam Wants YOU" and hang one sign on the back of the wagon and one on each side. Decorate the signs with red, white and blue borders and rosettes. Seat a child in the wagon who is dressed in the traditional Uncle Sam outfit: fake white goatee and fluffy white hair, bright blue tailcoat, white top hat and shirt and red bow tie. Add a blue band with white stars to the hat.
Statue of Liberty
Wrap the outside of the wagon with gray construction paper that has been painted with darker-gray bricks and columns to resemble the Statue of Liberty's pedestal. Attach a small American flag on a thin dowel so that it stands up from the back of the wagon. Write Emma Lazarus' poem "The New Colossus" (Resource #1) on a posterboard sign and hang it on the side of the wagon. Seat a child in the wagon who is dressed like the Statue of Liberty: Green face paint, green shirt and toga and a green spiked crown, holding a green torch aloft in one hand and a green book in the other.
Covered Wagon
Wrap the sides of the wagon with sheets of cardboard or butcher paper that have been decorated to look like wooden boards. Fasten a box or board securely across the top of the wagon at the end nearest the handle; it should be wide enough for a child to sit on if she dangles her legs over the front of the wagon. Bend 3 5 foot lengths of ½ inch diameter PVC pipe into half circles and fasten them with duct tape to the inside walls of the wagon; space them out evenly behind the seat and tie a white sheet over these hoops. Dress the child as a pioneer; the wagon puller should dress as a horse.
