Get ready to celebrate the 4th of July with this festive popsicle stick star wand craft for kids! Do your kids get excited about all the festivities? Then they will love working on this project.

They are an easy patriotic craft to make and carry at a 4th of July parade or use as a decoration at home. These star wands are a cute and safe alternative to sparklers that kids can hold while watching fireworks too.

Looking for more Fourth of July craft ideas for kids? We have plenty of ideas to keep little hands busy throughout the year.

White text on bright blue background says Popsicle Stick Star Wands. Underneath is a photo of three completed star wands made with craft sticks, wooden dowels, paint, and ribbons. They are painted red, white, and blue for 4th of July.

Preschool children will have fun making their own craft stick star wand for celebrating Independence Day.

Painting and gluing to assemble the stars help with developing fine motor skills. This craft also provides a great opportunity to talk about the history and significance of stars in the American Flag.

Table of Contents

More Wand Crafts

Craft Stick Star Wand Supplies

In about 30 minutes, you can transform jumbo popsicle sticks (also referred to as craft sticks and sometimes ice cream sticks) into wands with star shaped toppers. I love that it uses common craft supplies you may already have in your closet.

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If you don’t have everything on hand, you can easily go to your favorite craft store or shop my Amazon craft shelf for the materials you may need.

Jumbo Craft Sticks (5 per star)
Wooden Dowels
Assorted Ribbons in Red, White, and Blue
Silver Glitter Glue
Low Temp Glue Gun or Tacky Craft Glue
Red, White, Blue Craft Paint
Paintbrush
Scissors
Pencil with New Eraser or Cotton Swab

Using a low temperature glue gun will make the wands more durable, but you can use liquid craft glue instead. It will take longer as you will need to wait for the glue to dry in between steps.

You could also try using permanent glue dots. They are less messy and work well for many craft projects; however, I did not test them on this particular project.

How to Make Popsicle Stick Star Wands

You will need five jumbo popsicle sticks and one wooden dowel for each star wand. It’s fun to make several at once with different red, white, and blue color combinations.

Four photos used to create a step-by-step picture tutorial of how to lay out popsicle craft sticks to make a five pointed star.

Start by arranging the craft sticks into five pointed stars. To do this, you will glue two crafts together in an upside down “V” shape, securing them at the point.

The next craft stick will be placed diagonal from the bottom right of the upside down V. Glue it in place. Then add another jumbo popsicle stick laying diagonal from the bottom left side to create an “X’ over the upside down V.

The last craft stick will go horizontally across the top ends of the X. Attach the ends with glue. Repeat this process for however many stars you need. Set aside for the glue to dry as needed.

Bottles of blue, white, and red craft paint and a paint brush sitting behind where three painted stars made with craft sticks are laid out. One star is painted blue, one white, and the other red.

Paint the front and sides of each star red, white, or blue. Set aside to dry. If needed, apply a second coat of paint.

Paint each wooden dowel red, white, or blue. Your wand can be all one base color or mix and match the rods with the stars. After the paint dries, add another coat if necessary.

From left to right: blue painted popsicle stick star with white dots is in front of bottle of white paint. White painted star has red dots and is next to red paint bottle. Star painted red has blue polka dots and is laying in front of blue paint and pencil with paint on the eraser end.

Now it is time to decorate the popsicle stick star toppers. To make sparkly polka dots, dip a new pencil eraser into a different color paint than the star base color and gently stamp dots onto the stars.

Instead of a pencil eraser, you could also use a cotton swab or even let the kids use their fingertips. (Just make sure to wash their hands right after.)

White polka dots look nice on red or blue. Red or blue polka dots contrast nicely on the white stars. You can also accent the red stars with blue dots and vice versa. Get creative!

Small bottle of silver glitter glue laying near popsicle stick stars. There are three arranged in a triangle: painted blue with white polka dots, white with red polka dots, and red with blue dots. Silver glitter glue added to center of dots.

Once the polka dots are dry, add a little bit of silver glitter glue to each dot. The kids could also make stripes and swirly lines. Set aside to dry.

Three star wands laying side by side. Center star is turned over (paint side down) to show where the red painted dowel was glued in place. Wooden dowels already attached to the other two.

Glue the wooden dowel to the back of the star.

Red painted star with blue polka dots attached to white dowel. Thin red, white, and blue ribbons tied on under bottom of star. Pair of scissors and three piles of ribbon lay nearby.

Measure and cut 12 inch lengths of assorted red, white, and blue ribbons. Finish the wand by tying the ribbons around the wooden dowel. Secure them with a knot.

Add a dot of glue if needed to keep the ribbon in place. If you decide to use curling ribbon, then gently curl the ends and you are done!

Popsicle stick star wand painted white with red dots is being held in foreground to show the finished wand craft. Two other completed wands are in the background.

More 4th of July Crafts for Kids

Popsicle Stick Star Wands

Yield: 1

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Active Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Estimated Cost: $10 or less

Make a fun and festive popsicle stick star wand! Perfect patriotic craft for kids.

Materials

5 Jumbo Craft Sticks
1 Wooden Dowel
Red, White, and Blue Ribbons
Silver Glitter Glue
Red, White, and Blue Craft Paint

Tools

Low Temp Glue Gun or Tacky Craft Glue
Paintbrush
Scissors
Pencil with New Eraser or cotton swab

Instructions

You need 5 jumbo popsicle sticks and 1 wooden dowel per star wand.
Arrange and glue craft sticks into star shapes.
First glue two sticks together making an upside down “V” shape.
Lay the next craft stick diagonally from the bottom right of the V. Lay another diagonally from the bottom left so it creates an “X.” Glue them in place where they connect.
The last one lays across the top of the X. Glue in place.
Repeat if making more than one wand until you have the number of stars you nee.
Paint the front and sides of each star red, white, or blue. Set aside to dry.
Paint each wooden dowel red, white, or blue. Set aside to dry.
Apply a second coat of paint as needed.
Use a new pencil eraser or cotton swab to dip paint and create polka dots on the stars.
Once the polka dots are dry, squeeze a dab of silver glitter glue in the middle of each dot. Set aside to dry.
Glue the wooden dowel to the back of the star.
Cut assorted red, white, and blue ribbons into 12 inches. Wrap around the dowel and tie in a knot.

Darcy Zalewski

Darcy is the founder of “Life With Darcy and Brian,” where she combines her love for education, board games, and crafting to create engaging learning experiences for kids. Her creative projects and writing have been featured in outlets like The Toy Insider, CafeMom, Mom.com, Parents.com, Country Living, and The Pioneer Woman.

Jennifer Wise

Monday 8th of July 2024

This is a great idea for littles! So clever and cute. Pinning! :) Visiting from the Love Your Creativity linkup. (I'd love to see you share this post at my linkup as well, if you're interested: https://lifetalesbooks.blogspot.com/p/calling-fellow-bloggers.html It opens here in a few minutes and is open for 10 days.) Happy Monday!