by Lindsay Fahey

Created on: June 30, 2008

Fourth of July is the best holiday for families. The whole year is spent worrying about how much we'll spend on Christmas presents and remembering birthdays. The fourth is simply a holiday all about America. The perfect way to enjoy the fourth is to have a giant picnic with lots of friends and family. There are many things children can do to have a fun and safe fourth of July holiday. Have the children sit down with some red, white, and blue construction paper and a small wooden stick bought at a craft star. Have them make paper flags they can carry around themselves. Then the adults can fill them in on Besty Ross and the history behind the flag and number of stars. The children would get a wonderful craft and a history lesson for the big day. If the parents are feeling more daring, you could buy the children plain white tee shirts and some stencils and craft paint, and have a ball making their own fourth of July tee shirts. You could even use stencils and spray paint! It will be messy, but fun! Make sure to put the year on the tee so the child can have a fourth of July souvenir forever! Another idea is to buy red, white, and blue beads from a craft store and some string. Children can make a fourth of July necklace to wear on the big day. Another idea is to buy red, white, and blue construction paper, and cut each into 2 inch by one inch rectangular strips. Then the children can link them together and secure with tape or staples. The handmade, link streamers will bring a festive aspect to your picnic, and the children great satisfaction in helping. If food is your forte, a forth of July desert may be in order. You could buy red, white and blue sorbet for a cool treat the children can make. You could also buy vanilla ice cream, different toppers like fudge and caramel, and have red, white, and blue sprinkles. For holidays there are often star or flag shapes as well. Another idea is to buy sugar cookies, frosting, and sprinkles. Make the sugar cookies in the shapes of flags, stars, and hats. Then have the children take some frosting and use food coloring to make it red, blue, or leave it white, then top with sprinkles. Stearing away from food, picnic activities can be fun for children and adults. I call this human ring toss. A simple favorite can be done with hoola hoops, patriotic colors if available. Buy a few of them in bulk if you can. A child, or adult stands about 20 to 25 feet away from his partner. The thrower tries to throw the hoola hoop so it gets around his partners body. Do this with three hoola hoops at a time, or three throws a turn. Then the other team goes, and the game goes to ten. A hoola hoops around a person gets 2 points, touching gets one point. Another idea is to fill red, white, and blue balloons with confetti or sparkles and blow them up. Place them in the air and have the children not let the balloons touch the ground, and give out candy as prizes. When a balloon touches the ground, the child is out, and so forth. It will also look really cool when the balloons pop! If parents buy red, white, and blue plain tee shirts before hand, children could play tag or flag football in patriotic colors. A good game of leap frog never goes out of style and everyone can play, no tools neccessary! Whatever your game, just make sure to have a fun and safe fourth of July with your children that's both educational and fun!

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