On a visit to Lake Tahoe, my kids had a great time collecting feathers. The local ducks seemed to drop them in abundance. I was trying to come up with some creative ideas for celebrating July 4th, and I thought it would be fun to use the feathers as quill pens (in remembrance of the way our Founding Fathers used to write). I picked up some ink at Michael’s, and gave it a shot. I was surprised it worked so well!

My daughter had a great time making dots (and a few letters!).

My son wrote “I am glad for America.” Older kids could copy parts of the Declaration of Independence. May your traditions be meaningful this 4th of July!