Independence Day is my kidsโ favorite holiday because we usually spend it with our extended family. Sure, they enjoy the fireworks, the food, and swimming in Grandma and Grandpaโs pool, but for them the best part is seeing all of their relatives since we donโt get to visit them often.
I love that my kids value family time so I am posting some of our favorite 4th of July family activities for those of you who enjoy this holiday together time as much as we do.
Classic Events
Because Independence Day is a celebration of the birth of our nation, many traditional 4th of July activities are those that display our patriotism such as:
- Attending a parade
- Going to a baseball game
- Visiting a national landmark or museum
- Watching a fireworks display
If youโd rather stick close to home, here are some alternatives:
Parade
Bike Parade – Have the kids decorate their bicycles and put on a parade down the street.
Uncle Sam Parade โ Have kids make their own Uncle Sam hats using construction paper, stickers, markers and other crafting supplies and then put on a parade through the house.
Declaration of Independence
Everyone in the family gets to write his or her own Declaration of Independence. I got this idea from Jasmine Thomas on Yahoo! Voices who enjoyed reading the household tyrannies her children wanted freedom from.
Freedom Lists
If you donโt want to open the door to a household revolution, skip the declarations and instead have everyone make a list of the freedoms they have (thanks to our Founding Fathers) for which they are grateful. Make it less formal and have everyone name one during dinner.
Support the Troops
To celebrate our enduring freedom, why not do something as a family to support our troops who continue to fight for our country? For a list of suggestions on what you can do go to http://www.military.com/spouse/military-life/military-resources/how-to-support-our-troops.html.
Silver Dollar Game
I got this idea from here but since Iโm a cheapskate thrifty, I plan on using state quarters. Basically, itโs a history trivia game and the first person to raise their hand and answer the question correctly gets a coin. Even though my family enjoys a good contest, this one is pretty unfair to my younger kids so we will probably just take turns and I will tailor the questions to each child and reward them with a coin if they answer correctly. Click here for a list of questions you can use.
Scavenger Hunt
My regular readers know that scavenger hunts are a family favorite at my home. Some days it is the only way I can get a half hour of peace and quiet. For the 4th of July, keep the kids occupied while you get dinner ready by sending them on a patriotic scavenger hunt. Here is a printable 4th of July scavenger hunt list from scavenger-hunt.org.
Guess How Many
This is a fun activity if you are having a party for the 4th of July. Fill jars with candies that are red, white, and blue and have guests guess how many of each there are.
Balloon Toss
Fill up several water balloons (preferably all red, white, and blue). Have each person pair up with someone else. Have each team of two stand one foot apart facing each other. Each team must pass a water balloon to their teammate without breaking it. After each toss, each person must take one step backward so that it gets harder and harder to toss the balloon to one another without it breaking.
Whatever you decide to do for Independence Day, I hope you enjoy it!
Thanks for these tips. I still have not planned anything for the 4th of July yet. I will have to consider some of these options.
Oh this could be a really fun filled day! A lot of activities! Great list!
We always attend our local parade, festival and then have a bunch of friends over to view fireworks – we are lucky to be able to watch them from our backyard!
Thank you for sharing all these wonderful activities! I found you on the Ladies Only Blog Share party. Have a fun weekend!
Ritchil
http://chengand3kids.blogspot.com/
Great summer fun activities! Will definitely have to check some of these out local to me.
Great ideas! Ill be spending a quiet holiday weekend with the fam.
My favorite part of 4th of July holiday is the fireworks.
Love these! Would love you to share your post at our Ladies Only Blog Share Link Party which has a summer theme this week! Visiting from the Aloha Friday blog hop! ๐
I’d love to! Thanks for stopping by.
I love the Declaration of Independence idea. It sounds like a fun way to show them what the Declaration means in a fun way.
I agree. I thought it was clever when I read about it. We’re trying it for the first time this year.
Kids truly valuing family time is definitely a beautiful thing. Independence Day has always been a family day for my family as well, and now my fiance and I host Independence Day parties at our house because we’re the ones with the pool. A scavenger hunt sounds like so much fun. I love that idea!
We used to have my father in laws birthday party on July 4th. His birthday is on the 2nd but since everyone was off on the 4th, that is when we would throw his party. He is 96 this year.
Great ideas! I love them all and wish I would have thought of some of these when my kids were younger.
My sons are adults now and no grandchildren so we just celebrate with good food and a few good movies. I have great memories growing up celebrating this holiday with a parade, good food and fireworks at night.
Such great ideas to spend the day! Thank you ๐ x
Those are all such fun ideas! I love that you have a big get together for it! We usually cook out and watch Independence Day ๐ Love that movie!
Thank you for sharing all the wonderful ideas. I look forward to doing some of these this year with my little family.
These are great learning activities. I like how you are explaining to your kids about the holiday. Many kids just associate the holiday with fireworks. I think a lot of adults do as well, sadly.