Great Ideas for Celebrating July 4th
One of the best ways to celebrate the fourth of July is to start the day out by hosting a parade. Many cities and neighborhoods sponsor these around July 4th. If you can’t find one to join in on, here are some ideas:
Set a date and spread the word. Let your neighbors and friends know when the parade will be. Most of the time, you will want to have the parade early in the day so that it is cooler and so that it doesn’t interfere with firework activities.
You might want to consider having a theme. Maybe your theme could be simple, such as “Red, White, and Blue” or a children’s or family parade. Instruct those that are participating to get creative. Have them decorate bikes, wagons or scooters to use in the parade. Strollers are also allowed. If you want to have a parade, but do not feel like getting fancy, have everyone bring decorating items to one place. Everyone can join in on the fun before the parade. Have streamers, bells, balloons, whistles, hats and flags to decorate the mode of transportation. When everyone is ready, follow a route through the neighborhood to one central location. Make sure you have your camera and video cameras ready to roll.
After the parade is over, you might want to plan to have everyone gather for a celebration. For food, the usual barbeque or hot dogs will be in order. You can ask that everyone bring a dish for a hometown potluck. Just about anything red, white and blue will be festive. You can make Jello squares, cakes and cookies, in those colors, too.
Generally, your party will have to wait for a couple of hours for the fireworks show to begin. Plan to have a few games and crafts for the kids to keep everyone occupied. Some suggestions for games and activities that all the kids will love include:
Balloon Toss: It gets hot in July. Think about letting the kids play a water balloon toss. Make it festive by using only red, white and blue balloons.
Patriotic T-shirts: Have everyone bring a plain white t-shirt and give the kids red and blue paint to create their own designs. You can also give them star shaped stencils. Another neat product for crafting shirts is the aerosol fabric paint. You can purchase this at almost any craft supply store and it makes making tie-dye and painting shirts easy and clean!
Liberty Bell: String a cowbell or a small dinner bell on a string or rope between two trees or chairs. Have each player throw a small ball at the bell six times in a row. The winner is the person that rings the bell the most times out of six.
Patriotic Charades: Think of as many patriotic events that you can come up with and write each one down on an index card. Some suggestions may include the Boston Tea Party, Paul Revere, the making of the first American flag or writing the Star Spangled Banner. Have each person choose a card and act out the event.
The Fourth of July is a great time to get together with family and friends to celebrate. As it nears the evening, load up with kids with some folding chairs and head out to watch a spectacular fireworks display. Don’t forget to take a few drinks, snacks and insect repellant.
