A Jamaican Art Project

Whew, I almost forgot!

Doctor Bird

I bet you thought I forgot to do an art project for Jamaica.  Or did you not even notice?  Either way, here it is.  We did it a few days ago and I almost forgot to include it.  It's a flag project- nothing too fancy or mind-blowing I'm afraid.  I had planned on doing one on the Doctor Bird, a Jamaican Hummingbird with 2 really long tail feathers, but now it's already Saturday night and I'm not sure we'll have time tomorrow.  Oops.

The Jamaican Flag has been flying in Jamaica since the country gained its independence from the British Federation of the West Indies on August 6, 1962.  The design was decided by the people of the country in a contest.  The flag consists of a golden saltire (crossed lines), green triangles on top and bottom, and black triangles on sides.  The colors are symbolic of Jamaica itself.   Gold for the shining sun.  Green for the vegetation and agricultural richness of the land.  Black symbolizes the strength of the people of Jamaica and the hardships that they have endured.   It's a simple design and one that was pretty easy for the kids to reproduce.

Jamaican Flag
For the project you will need:

• green, gold, and black paper
• glue
• scissors

 

1.  Cut two long strips of gold paper.  Glue them to the black paper in an "x"- that is called a saltire.

2.  Cut some green triangles.  I did an eyeball measurement and just tucked it under the saltire a little.

3.  Trim any weird edges to make it a nice rectangle.

Wave your Jamaican flag proudly!!!!