Fourth Of July Activities For Kids
By Effie Orfanides
The Fourth of July is an exciting holiday for kids because of the parades and fireworks. It's a fun time for them to enjoy playing backyard games at a family BBQ or going for a swim during a family trip to the beach. Regardless of how you and your family spend Independence Day, there are a number of different activities that you can set up for your kids to do in honor of America's birthday.
Here are five activities that are perfect for the kids on this July 4th.
Arts & Crafts
Have an arts & crafts table set up for the kids to do a couple of fun art projects. Have the young ones create decorative coloring pages (these can be educational, too!), work alongside them to make a 4th of July wreath or some adorable pom pom eagles. Another option is to use string, crepe paper, ribbon, and more to create a custom piece of hangable art. Make sure you stick to a red, white, and blue theme. Check out Pinterest for tons of other creative ideas.
Family Relay Race
Set up a relay race with different family-friendly obstacles in your backyard. For example, place a hula-hoop on the ground next to a bag of red and blue water balloons. When it's your team's turn, one person runs up, grabs a balloon, and then sits on it to pop it inside the hula-hoop before racing back to tag the next member on the team. You can also include jump rope and potato sack races to round out your course.
Fireworks
Taking children to watch fireworks is a tradition for many families. Kids absolutely love watching the night sky light up with different colors. However, did you know that you could make watching fireworks into a fun game? Give your kids a crayon and a piece of paper, then have them keep a tally of every red, white, and blue firework that they see. The child closest to mom or dad's answer wins a patriotic prize (like a flag cookie). You can also have them guess how many different fireworks will be set off during the show.
Baking Special Cupcakes or Cookies
So many kids really love helping out in the kitchen. For the 4th, why not grab a fun recipe for cookies or cupcakes? Let the kids help with the baking and then set them up at the table to decorate the cookies or the cupcakes. Be sure to go heavy on blue and red M&M's, sprinkles, and red, white, and blue icing!
Hold A Bike Parade
Gather up your kids and their friends to hold a bike parade. You can provide red, white, and blue crepe paper, streamers, ribbons, and other craft items to let the kids decorate their bikes before having them ride in the "parade." Pick a safe parade route and invite neighbors to sit out and watch. The kids will love showing off their cool decorated bikes to everyone in the neighborhood. You can also offer a prize for the most creative bike decor.