Bastille Day for Kids

When I was writing about France the other day, it occurred to me that Bastille Day was also coming up (July 14, to be precise), and I wasn’t sure that I had written about it before. On further digging I realized I had, but it’s been a few years, so let’s take a look at some more ideas for celebrating this pivotal day in French history. Of course anything in the post on France would be great to do as well.

First, if you want to start with a kid-friendly explanation of Bastille Day, get the basics from Britannica Kids.

Learn more about the French Revolution and play the Storming the Bastille game from Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool +. It looks a little like Chutes (or Snakes) and Ladders to me, but I think you might start over instead of just going back when you hit a guillotine space. She also has a France unit study that includes a printable lapbook and making pain au’ chocolat.

The Princess and the Frog made a wafer cookie Eiffel Tower (which they originally found on our Edible Crafts site; love a full circle moment!). When I went looking for that I also saw Eiffel towers made of pretzels and gingerbread, so get creative with your building challenges.

Make a fun French flag collage with this tutorial from Sparkle Living Blog (via Real Creative Organized). Search for French clip art or royalty free photos online to add to your artwork. And if you’re looking for more France themed crafts, check out this collection from Artsy Craftsy Mom. My favorite is the little printable city, which came from Handmade Charlotte, but there are lots of cute craft ideas here for Bastille Day or an day.

Grab some Bastille Day coloring pages from Plantz Matter, which also has a little French lesson if you want to learn some basics. Coloring Pages for Kids also has some good options for Bastille Day coloring.

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Bastille Day Activities for Kids

Whenever you go to the beach with kids, you’re sure to come home with some seashells and more than a little sand. Let’s use some of those treasures to make fun crafts.

This handprint craft is made with a sand-infused salt dough and some little shells from the beach. It’s a cute way to remember how little your kids were on that beach trip. Find the instructions at From Under a Palm Tree.

Here’s another take on sand dough that was used to make little ornaments and sculptures. Get the details from Pink Stripey Socks.

Moms and Crafters used air dry clay and seashells to make these cute necklaces. She used the storebought clay but you can also make your own air dry clay if you’d rather.

Crafts on Sea used a shell to make a whale, but I’m sure you could take this idea and make lots of different creatures. I love the idea of sea creatures made with shells like fish or a jellyfish or an octopus using the same method. They also have a seashell decoration made with salt dough that’s really cute and would be fun for kids to paint. Poke a hole before it dries for hanging if you want.

Or take a bunch of little shells and decorate a frame like these from Rhythms of Play. They used a handprint instead of a picture but you could also put in a picture from the beach trip.

This is probably one for the mamas to make because it uses epoxy, but I also wanted to share these cute and easy shell hair pins from Thrifty Mama Ramblings, which kids are sure to want for their mermaid pretend play.

Or how about some sensory play straight from the beach? Use store bought sand if you don’t have a beach nearby to make this beach sand slime from The Mama Notes. Thrown in some shells and kids will love playing with this one.

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