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Valentine’s Day Optical Illusion for Kids

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Have you ever made or seen a device where there’s a drawing on each side of a piece of paper attached to a stick, and when you spin the stick the pictures appear as if they are one?

The fancy name for such a thing is a thaumatrope, and it’s actually really easy to make.

Team Cartwright has a post explaining why this works and how to make them. You can use their printables or make your own designs to construct your own optical illusion.

Check out the post at Team Cartwright to get all the details and the printables.

[Photo: Team Cartwright.]

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America 250 Fourth of July Activities for Kids

A lot of kids aren’t in school for the Fourth of July, but whether you’re in a classroom or at home, you’ll probably want to mark July 4, 2026, in a special way because it is America’s 250th birthday. And there are lots of ways to learn and celebrate, as we’ll see below. 

The Homeschool Bee has a big bundle of resources for the big day, including timelines, information about the founding fathers, silly word fill ins, pages showing the evolution of the American flag and information on constitutional amendments. In all it is 35 pages and it’s great for a variety of ages. You can find it on Teachers Pay Teachers. 

Another printable activity set, this one aimed at grades 2-5, is available on TpT from George Kipriot Classroom Resources. This one includes a word search, crossword puzzle, maze, word scramble, coloring pages and more, plus a timeline and reading about the Declaration of Independence.

It wouldn’t be a birthday party without party hats, and there are a few different versions of print, color and cut party hats with a patriotic theme at Teachers Pay Teachers. The Internet Research Project has a set with an Uncle Sam kind of hat, a crown with the Statue of Liberty on it and one that says America 250. 

There’s also a Happy Birthday America hat from Sweet Sensations, which features the years, fireworks and the Statue of Liberty and declaration of Independence. 

You can find a lot of Fourth of July coloring pages with a 250th birthday theme. For example Britts Digital Paper Co on Etsy has some cute pages, including a patriotic goose reading a book for some reason (I also like their printable firework craft). eParenting also has an America 250 coloring page that includes the shape of the country and an American flag. 

And if you want to try some more general Fourth of July projects, check out this collection of patriotic STEM activities from Homeschool Giveaways. Make your own “fireworks,” sensory activities, make a fizzy flag, build a graham cracker White House and more. 

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