Paper Bag Activities for Kids

Here’s another one of those fun made up holidays: July 12 is Paper Bag Day for reasons unknown. But if your household is like mine, you probably have everything you need to celebrate this holiday every day. I think I bought a bag of paper lunch bags when my daughter was in preschool and we still have some (she’s about to turn 14!).

The first thing you probably think of to do with paper bags is to make puppets (we actually had a craft kit once that was all paper bag crafts, but you can design your own too). Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Handprint bird paper bag puppets: Our Kid Things
Paper bag people: Kids Activities Blog
Printable Grogu (Baby Yoda) puppet: Simple Everyday Mom
Paper bag bear puppets: Messy Little Monster
Paper bag turkeys: Made with Happy
It’s not quite a puppet, but the jellyfish from No Time for Flashcards is another fun option in a similar vein

Another thing I liked to do was to make little books out of paper bags. There are instructions at Kitchen Table Classroom for how to do it. You can cover the “pages” with scrapbook paper or construction paper and kids can draw, journal, collage or whatever they want, and the ends of the bags are still open so they can slide little things into them, too.

Paper bag kites are another fun and easy craft to make with kids, because they’re fun to decorate with paint, stickers, drawings or whatever the kid wants to do. Check out the instructions at Somewhat Simple.

Make a whole little town of paper bag houses and buildings with this cute idea from In the Bag Kids Crafts.

And if you’re looking for an activity that goes a little beyond crafts, this guess the scent activity is low prep and lots of fun. Check it out at Raising Lifelong Learners.

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Fourth of July Printable Games and Worksheets

The celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is important throughout Mexico and other parts of the world. Her feast day is Dec. 12, and the celebrations honoring her appearance to Juan Diego in 1531 begin a few days before that.

Whether you celebrate yourself or just want to share about the celebration at home or in your classroom, Las Mañanitas: The Beautiful Celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a good place to start. The book, by Ernesto Joel Vega Rosales and Jeanette Gonzalez Seneviratne, with illustrations by Dana Sanmar, tells the story of a family’s celebration of the feast day in both English and Spanish.

They prepare with a novena, which is nine days of prayers and preparations. The children, Lucia and Pablo, are given special outfits made by their grandmother that look like what Juan Diego might have worn when he saw Our Lady. The book describes the prayers that are made each day, such as a prayer for respect for life, for families and for the indigenous people of the Americas, to name a few.

As told in the book, Juan Diego was a native Mexican born near modern day Mexico City. His given name was Cuaauhtlatoatzin, which means “He who speaks like an eagle.” When he converted to Christianity his name was changed to Juan Diego, and as he walked to church he passed a hill called Tepeyac. One day he heard the birds singing especially beautifully and a voice called him to go to the top of the hill.

There he saw Our Lady of Guadalupe, who asked him to tell the bishop she wanted a chapel built in her name at the foot of the hill. The bishop asked for a sign that Juan Diego really saw her, and later she had him collect flowers that she blessed and take them to the bishop. When Juan Diego dropped the flowers, an image of Our Lady could be seen on his cloak, which is still on display in her basilica to this day.

The feast day is celebrated as mañanitas, which includes singing, indigenous music and dancing, and children presenting flowers to Our Lady. Juan Diego is remembered today as being humble, brave and faithful, and was the first indigenous American made a saint.

The book is colorful and tells the story in a clear way, and it’s fun to have it both in English and Spanish if you teach Spanish or speak Spanish at home or in the classroom. It’s a great way to learn the basics of the celebration and the story of Juan Diego and why he is still remembered today.

About the book: 40 pages, paperback, published 2024 by Loyola Press. Suggested retail price $14.99.

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