4 educational ways to celebrate July 4

Independence Day is coming up on July 4 for those in the United States. I've got four activities you can do with your student that are both fun and educational.

Parade sticks

We did this activity last year and my student loved it. You make colorful, visually stimmy sticks out of wrapping paper or paper towel tubes and lead a July 4 educational parade around the house.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE HOW-TO VIDEO

Paint fireworks

Rachel, a mom who works with her son in my Nonverbal Autism Homeschool program, sent me a link to this wonderful July 4 themed art project. Doesn't it look fun? I think we'll try this one later today!

CLICK HERE FOR FIREWORKS PAINTING INSTRUCTIONS

Watch a kid's movie about the Revolutionary War

Felicity: An American Girl Adventure is about a spirited girl living in Colonial Virginia. The movie tackles such issues as what to do when your beliefs don't conform to societal norms and families who disagree politically. It's appropriate for elementary school aged kids. It can be streamed for $2.99 on YouTube, AppleTV, Amazon Prime and more.

Johnny Tremain tells the story of a teenager who lived in Boston during the Revolutionary War and witnessed the Boston Tea Party, Paul Revere's ride and other historical events. It's great for middle school and high school students. You can rent it on YouTube or Amazon Prime, or you can watch it for free on YouTube by clicking here. This movie is adapted from a novel, which you could read outloud over the course of a few weeks to older students. The book dives more deeply into the moral dilemmas of the era.

The Patriot is rated R for violence and a sex scene, so it's for older high school and young adult students only. However, it does an excellent job of showing the horrors of war and how colonists disagreed about fighting the British. It's currently streaming for free on Tubi and can be rented for $3.99 on AmazonPrime, YouTube, AppleTV and other services.

Practice Spelling2Communicate

S2C is a great tool to not only develop expressive communication skills, but also learn academic subjects.  CLICK HERE to download a spelling lesson I wrote that teaches Independence Day basics. If your student isn't a speller yet, you could still read this story out loud to them. They don't have to sit still and look at the page or attend to the lesson like a neurotypical kid. (Spellers don't read along, they only listen.) Even if they are walking around the room or playing, there is still learning happening. Our kids are masters at multitasking and eavesdropping. 😜