|
4th
of July
Fun Ideas
The 4th of July is a great time
to show our patriotic spirit while celebrating with family and friends.
So what does that mean? There are plenty of things that you can do
to make your barbecue festive.
Fun things to do with your kids
for the 4th of July are
listed below:
|
|
Patriotic
Punch
Simply fill an ice cube tray
with a red fruit flavored beverage and let the cubes freeze solid.
Drop three or four of the colored cubes into a clear glass. Add
your favorite CLEAR colored seltzer water or soda. As the cubes
melt you will see colored bubbles swirl through the seltzer. Be
sure to add red or blue straws to the glass for effect. |
|
Create a 4th of July Tee Shirt
Materials Needed
-
cotton or
cotton-blend T-shirt
-
red and blue
fabric paints
-
paint brush
-
stiff paper or
light cardboard for star templates
-
heavy aluminum
foil or shirt size cardboard
-
pencil
-
scissors
-
masking tape - 2
inch wide
Prewash and iron the
T-shirt. Fold the T-shirt in half lengthwise to find the center; mark
with tape. Place foil or cardboard inside the shirt to stiffen the
fabric and protect the back from paint leaking. Smooth the front of the
shirt flat.
Cut off a strip of
masking tape a little wider then the width of the shirt. Place it across
the front of the shirt so the bottom of the tape meets the bottom of
both sleeves. Place another strip of tape down the center front of the
shirt between the previous tape and the bottom of the shirt. Measure
2-inches on each side of the center tape and mark lightly with a pencil.
Place two more strips of tape with the edges along your marks so all
strips of tape are 2-inches away from each other. Continue placing
strips of tape in this manner across the shirt. These will be your
guidelines for painting the stripes.
Cut a star out of a
piece of light cardboard. Use this star template to trace a star in the
center of the shirt above the stripes. Trace two more stars on each side
and slightly above the center star. Paint the stars with blue fabric
paint. Paint the stripes between the strips of tape red. Let dry for
several hours. Remove the tape and the foil or cardboard from inside the
shirt.
|
|
Red, White and Blue
Popsicles
Ingredients Needed
1 Bottle each of Red,
Blue and White juice.
Red string licorice
for fuse
3 oz. paper cups
Popsicle Sticks
baking sheet
Juice Suggestions:
Red juice (red
raspberry, cherry, cranberry)
Blue juice (blue Kool Aid, Gatorade, blue raspberry)
White juice (lemonade, coconut juice drink)
Line up several 3 oz.
paper cups on a baking sheet. Pour 2 tablespoons of red juice into each
cup. Freeze 2-3 hours until firm-slushy.
Remove from freezer
and poke a popsicle stick into the center of each cup of juice. Add 2
tablespoons of white juice and freeze 2-3 hours.
Remove from freezer.
Top off with blue juice and freeze 1-2 hours until slushy.
Remove from freezer
and insert a 2 or 3-inch string of licorice into each popsicle. Freeze
until hard. Peel off paper cups to serve. |
|
Flag Cake
Ingredients:
|
2 pints of strawberries
1 box of white or yellow cake mix
1 1/3 C of blueberries
1 tub of whipped topping |
Mix up and bake cake mix according to
directions. Let cool.
Slice 1 cup of strawberries, set aside.
Halve remaining strawberries, set aside.
Keep the cake in the pan and top with the
1 cup of sliced strawberries and 1 cup of blueberries. Spread all
of the whipped topping over the strawberies and blueberries.
Then arrange the remaining strawberry halves and blueberries
to create a flag design. Use the blueberries for stars and line up
the strawberry halves to make stripes.Refrigerate until ready to serve.
 |
|
Fun Games
Water Bottle Relay
Race: Give each team a
bucket of water, Dixie cups and a large, empty soda bottle. One
"lucky" person sits on a lawn chair, opposite end from the water bucket,
holding the soda bottle between their legs. The rest of the group
proceeds to fill their Dixie cups with water, run to the other
end and pour the water into the bottle. The first team to
completely fill the bottle wins.
Water Balloon Toss:
Fill balloons with water.
Have everyone form two lines facing each other about three feet apart.
Each pair is given a water balloon. On GO they carefully
throw their balloon to their partner. If the catch is successful they
take a large step backwards so they gap between them gets greater and
they throw the balloon again. The winner is the last group left
with an unbroken water balloon.
Play Hose Limbo:
Follow the rules for Limbo
only use your hose instead of a stick.
Water Balloon Baseball:
Get a collection of water
balloons and tennis balls that are the same color. The pitcher
selects either a balloon or ball and pitches to the batter. The
batter decides whether to swing or not. If it is a balloon he/she
may get very wet!! Be sure to switch positions to make it fun for
all..
Squirt the Ball:
Using soaker-type squirt guns
and beach balls have your kids fight or squirt to the finish line.
The first to blast their beach ball over their
opponents finish line wins.
Sneaker Relay:
Everyone must be wearing slip on footwear or shoes without ties.
Divide the group into 2 or 3 equal teams and have them line up.
Set a box or bin across from each team at the far end of a level area.
On cue, the first person in each line races to his team's box, removes
his shoes and deposits them into the box. He then runs back and
tags the next person. The games continues until everyone has
deposited their shoes and is back at the starting line. The first
person must then run and retrieve their shoes from the team bucket, put
them on, run back and tag the next person and the play continues. The
winning team will be the one to first complete both parts of the relay.
|
|
Face Paint
Have fun with the kids and show their
patriotic side at this year's Fourth of July celebration.
Use red, white and blue face paint to make bold designs on their face.
They will love sporting the stars and stripes look this year. You can
either purchase water base face paint or try making your own.
Face Paint Recipe
1 tsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. water
1/2 tsp. cold cream
2 drops food coloring
In a small mixing bowl, combine all ingredients, mix well.
|
|
Party Planning
Tips
Create a patriotic theme by
asking everyone to wear red, white and blue.
Purchase tablecloths, plates, cups and napkins in red, white and blue.
Remember to mix and match.
Play
patriotic music, such as "Yankee Doodle Dandy," "America the Beautiful"
etc...
Serve
"all-American" foods such as hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, deviled
eggs, corn on the cob, watermelon or fruit salad, lemonade, cake, and
desserts made in patriotic colors.
Play
games with teams comprised of adults and kids. Give small party favors
(such as mini-American flags) to the team members who win.
Have
your barbecue early in the afternoon so that you can go as a group to
enjoy the fireworks.
|
|
Fabulous Watermelons
Carving a
watermelon and filling it with fruit salad is a wonderful display on
your food table. To learn how to carve a watermelon into a heart
basket click here:
Watermelon Carving
 |
|
Watermelon
"look-a-like" Dessert
Refrigerate a ripe
honeydew melon for a few hours. Cut the cold melon in half and
scoop out the seeds. Pack the center of each half with raspberry
sherbert. Slice each of the filled halves into 4 wedges.
Press chocolate chip "watermelon seeds" into the sherbert portion of
each slice and serve immediately.
|
