Independence Day - celebrate the 4th of July
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The 4th of July is a great time to celebrate and enjoy time with family and friends. Following is a list of ideas of fun patriotic things to do on Independence Day.
- Have a party! Invite your neighbors, friends, family, co-workers, teammates, school mates, or people from Church.
- Attend a local concert
- Attend firework displays
- Bake an Independence Day cake or jello – decorate like a flag
- Barbecue – everyone bring their own meat to grill, and a side item to share
- Be a good citizen – help someone, be kind, say thank you
- Bicycle parade – the kids decorate their bikes and ride in a parade through the neighborhood (don’t forget those helmets!). You can also decorate strollers, skateboards, wagons, wheelchairs, walkers and scooters.
- Call your parents and grandparents and say hello
- Check out patriotic books, or American history books, from your local library, and read as a family.
- Church parties - if your Church is having a breakfast or party that day, attend & bring your friends
- Cook (and eat) all of your favorite picnic foods
- Create memories
- Create patriotic word finds, word scrambles and crosswords (or find online)
- Decorate cookies with red, white & blue frosting, sprinkles, candy
- Decorate your car with red/white/blue, put speakers on top, and drive around the neighborhood playing patriotic songs
- Decorate your home, yard, neighborhood, food, school, and/or family in red, white & blue
- Discuss as a family how we can honor our country
- Display your flag (properly)
- Do something to make our country a better place
- Draw a patriotic mural on your sidewalk with red, white & blue sidewalk chalk
- Dress up as your favorite character in history
- Drive carefully – even better, stay close home to celebrate - walk!
- Eat only red, white & blue food
- Enjoy a day off of work
- Exercise - go for a walk, hike, bike ride, swimming, run
- Family day! Spend the entire day as a family
- Family outing
- Fill clear bags with red, white & blue assorted candy – tie with ribbons – deliver to your neighbors
- Find 4th of July coloring pages online for kids to color
- Find 4th of July craft ideas online, and let the kids stay busy creating
- Find a Revolutionary War re-enactment enactment, or put on your own
- Find a service project that your family can do
- Flags - put out a small flag on every neighbor's lawn
- Get matching patriotic shirts for your family
- Go camping
- Go fishing, bowling, roller skating, to the movies, video arcade, ice skating - do something!
- Go for a hike
- Go on vacation to Washington DC or Boston
- Go outside of your house, and talk to your neighbors
- Go see history - visit historical sites in your community
- Go to a lake & rent paddleboats
- Go to the pool and swim
- Go to the zoo or amusement park - holidays are often slower at places like this
- Have a discussion about why our government is a blessing, and why we need to honor our government and country
- Have a fundraiser to a local charity (sell lemonade, sell concessions, garage sale with proceeds going to charity)
- Have a garage sale
- Have a history lesson for your family or friends about the meaning of the 4th of July
- Have a party with picnic games – relays, races, water balloon toss, tug-of-war, pin the tail, ...
- Have a picnic
- Have children draw a picture of what is special to them about America
- Host a hot-dog or apple-pie eating contest
- Invite friends over
- Learn to sing the National Anthem
- Light a sparkler
- Make cookies for members of the military
- Make patriotic cupcakes – decorate with red, white & blue frosting and sprinkles
- Make tie-dyed shirts in red, white & blue
- Plan a fireworks party – go as a group to watch the fireworks, bring blankets & food to share
- Play games as a family
- Play sports with friends or family - baseball, softball, volleyball, golf
- Play trivia games with American history facts
- Play with your children
- Print out patriotic images from online, and make coloring pages for kids – give them red, white & blue crayons to use
- Read a history book
- Read anything
- Read The Declaration of Independence and discuss it
- Red, white & blue crafts for kids
- Relax
- Rent some Fourth of July themed movies
- Romantic get-away with your spouse or significant other
- Run through the sprinklers
- Say a prayer
- Serve red & blue fruit (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, watermelon) with white cool whipped topping
- Sing patriotic songs
- Sit in the yard & visit with friends & family
- Sleep in
- Stay up late
- Tailgate - have a tailgating party with your friends at the local fireworks display or before a concert
- Take pictures of each person, and put in frames – decorate with patriotic stickers
- Take the kids to the playground
- Talk about what Independence Day means
- Talk to people were not born in America - about how they came to America, and what it means to them
- Talk to your kids, parents, spouse, friends - just talk!
- Tell a Veteran thank you – or even better, write them a note, or bring them a cookie
- Turn off your cell phone and laptop – focus on your family & friends
- Utah - visit the Stadium of Fire and Freedom Festival in Provo at BYU
- Visit a cemetery and put down flags or pinwheels at all of the headstones
- Visit a museum – especially one with an United States history display
- Visit a National park, monument or site in your area (http://www.nps.gov/) . Get a National Park Passport stamping book for your family – use the ink & stamp at the park & stamp your book with the date & place; bring the book on future trips.
- Visit a nursing home & sing patriotic songs to residents, bring patriotic cookies, visit with them - ask them about their earliest memories about America
- Visit events in your local community
- Visit family
- Visit festivals, fairs, concerts, carnivals, parades, celebrations or fireworks in your community
- Visit historical sites in your community
- Visit Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota
- Water based activities for kids – water balloons, bubbles, water guns, wading pools
- Write letters to people you know serving in the military right now
- Write thank you letters to your government leaders
- Write an e-mail to sheila@myplanninglists.com with your best ideas on how to celebrate the 4th!
- Check out the hundreds of crafts and recipes at http://familyfun.go.com/4thofjuly/
