The Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays but with little ones running around it can also be a dangerous one. Therefore, in the spirit of Independence Day, here are some kid-friendly recipes and activities that I’ve enjoyed with my kids during this time of year.
The first activity is one my kids like to call Straw Rockets. Have your kids color on some printer paper, with red and blue markers, and wrap that paper around a straw making sure to fold the top down so it is airtight. Now you’ve got an easy to make, fun, and safe rocket. Your kids can blow in the straw and shoot the paper across the room, into the sky, and inevitably at each other (never at faces). They will have fun for hours trying to see who can shoot it the farthest, highest, or with the most accuracy. We like to use a hula hoop as a target for them to shoot it through. Here is a link to more information about the Straw Rockets.
Bracelets are another good activity for your kids to have fun and improve their patterning and fine motor skills. My girls tend to have more fun with this activity but my son will eventually get involved and make a bracelet too. We usually use some stretchy string and red, white, and blue beads but depending on how old your kids are, they might be able to make bracelets by tying knots or braiding the string together. My daughters feel super stylish and proud wearing bracelets of their own making.
Another activity my kids are obsessed with is temporary tattoos and stickers. During the 4th of July I like to buy some Independence Day themed tattoos and stickers that they love to put everywhere. They decorate cards and paper with the stickers to send them to their friends and family, wishing them a Happy 4th of July. And they always save the super cool stickers for their clothing during this time of year. There is always at least one America themed tattoo on at all times. Here is a link to a cheap tattoo and sticker pack on amazon but you can also find them at places like Party City and Target too.
With my kids’ love of fruits, I usually make some sort of red, white, and blue fruit dish for them to devour the entire 4th of July week. I’ve done many different dishes from fruit salad one year to a fruit platter the next and even fruit kabobs. With fruits like strawberries and raspberries for the red color, blueberries and blackberries for the blue color, and bananas, angel food cake, whipped cream, or a cream cheese dip for the white color, the possibilities are endless. For the fruit salad I just combined many fruits together and topped it with either whipped cream or a cream cheese fruit dip. For the fruit platter I put blueberries in the left corner signifying the blue part of the American flag and alternated stripes of strawberries and raspberries with stripes of bananas and angel food cake. And finally for the fruit kabobs I strung each skewer stick with 3 blueberries on the top then alternating strawberries and angel food cake chunks all the way down the rest of the stick. My usual 4th of July fruit dishes are a big hit throughout the entire week. Here are some links to pictures of similar fruit dishes to what I have created in the past: fruit salad; fruit tray; fruit kabob.
Happy 4th of July!
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Jessica Lee Photography is a Boulder & Denver Photographer who specializes in maternity, newborn, baby, and family photography in Boulder & Denver Colorado and surrounding areas including Erie, Broomfield, Lafayette, Longmont, Superior, Louisville, Frederick, and Firestone.
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