How to Teach Your Preschooler About the American Flag

While you’re out celebrating the beginning of summer this weekend, take a quick moment to share some symbolism with your youngest family members. Between the smoke from the grill and the sound of laughter from gathered friends, your babies and toddlers are likely to notice an American flag hanging from a porch, or printed on a postage stamp, emblazoned on a T-shirt, or flying proudly from a nearby government building.

Symbols are used everywhere in our world. As adults, it’s easy to forget that even though our babies can’t read, they can certainly recognize patterns and understand our words of explanation.

To help familiarize our children with a symbol sure to be increasingly present in their world this summer, we’ve created a short printable book that you can share with your preschoolers about the parts of the United States flag. A two-minute read like this is a fast and easy way to help your child make sense of their environment—a core family leadership principle.

When we make homemade books like this, I like to put them in plastic sleeves in binders for durability. As I find new resources over time associated with the topic, I print them out and add them to the binder.

While this particular book is only about the parts of the American flag, you can absolutely add your own messages of freedom, patriotism, and gratitude for those who have sacrificed their lives. Be sure to include some thoughts about the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day. PBS also has a very helpful rundown of the history of the US flag for your own extended learning.

Enjoy the extra time together this weekend. Don’t forget to honor the fallen heroes of our county.