How to make sandcastle flags (for the non-crafty family)

If we are honest I am a little late getting this post up on my blog but seeing as we are having an Indian summer right now, I'll go for it.

Here is an easy crafty activity that I do with the kids each summer. I am not at all a crafting guru and this is super simple and hardly costs a penny, so any regular mum like me can have a go!

Every child I have met so far seems to love playing with sand and of course a trip to the beach is even more fun.  I recall wonderful times as a child going to the seaside with my family and I have very fond memories of making sandcastles with my Dad.  He is a bit of a sandcastle hero really and even now 30 years later he is still enjoying making them but with my kids now.

Whilst Dad mostly did the hard work digging moats and crafting the multi layer castles I always enjoyed the final decoration and would collect shells and stones and also place small flags on the sandcastles.  We used to buy a little pack of these flags and I recall they used to be pretty expensive.  When JJ was first old enough I knew I wanted him to have the fun of flags too but I did not want to spend out on them, so each year we sit down and make some flags. Here's how.....

1. Make sure you have all your materials and equipment to hand - paper, pens, sellotape, scissors and coffee stirrer sticks (just ask your local coffee shop if you can have some, that is what we did!)
2. Take some ordinary A4 paper and cut it into 3 smaller pieces as shown, now it is the perfect flag size.
3. Decorate your flags however you fancy.
4. Use the sellotape to attach the flag to the stick and now you have a perfect little sandcastle flag.

The other thing we did was take some recent artwork that the girls had done and cut that up into flag sized pieces, then we attached to the sticks as before and again all ready!

Miss E thoroughly enjoyed making her sandcastle with Granddad and they were proud to place the flags on the top! I think Granddad was a tad disappointed though that Miss E was not interested in making a masterpiece and just wanted to get to the flag part!

So there you go, super easy, cheap and fun too.  What more can you ask for?

Do you think you might have a try?

I'm going to link this post up with Fiona over at Coombe Mill for her Country Kids linky.  Do check out the Coombe Mill blog if you have not already, it is a lovely read.