3 Ways to Celebrate the 4th with Your Kids

It’s that time again: Independence Day! Are you already in a car heading to the beach? Have invitations been sent out, inviting friends and family to a 4th of July barbecue? Whether you are watching fireworks or cheering on a red, white, and blue parade, we have some great ways to keep little ones learning while you celebrate! Get ready for three ways to celebrate the fourth!

1. Build-It Party Sandwich

(Serves 10-20.) Let’s start off with a snack! You can’t properly celebrate without eating something yummy. Cooking together is a great way for budding chefs to work on following directions as they unleash their creativity in the kitchen! If you’re hosting an Independence Day party, these tasty Build-It Party Sandwiches will be a big hit!

Ingredients

• ¼ cup margarine
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 3 ounces cream cheese
• 5 thin slices of natural white bread
• 10 thin slices of whole gran bread
• 20 thin tomato slices
• 20 thin cucumber slices

Utensils

• Medium mixing bowl and spoon
• Small round biscuit cutter or cookie cutter
• Knife and cutting board
• Spreading knife
• Toothpicks
• Wax paper
• Teaspoon

What to Do

1. Mix together the margarine, salt, lemon juice and cream cheese in a bowl. Set aside.
2. With the small round cookie cutter, cut four circles from each white bread slice (20 total), and four circles from each whole-wheat slice (40 total).
3. Using the same cutter, cut on a circle from each tomato and cucumber slice. Use the scraps of vegetables for other salad recipes. Use the bread scraps to feed the birds, make croutons or make bread stuffing.
4. Spread ½ teaspoon cream cheese mixture on both sides of each white bread circle and set aside on wax paper. Spread cheese mixture on one side of each wheat circle.
5. To assemble the small, stacked sandwich, follow this pattern: wheat bread, tomato, white bread, cucumber, wheat bread.
6. Poke each stack with a toothpick to secure, and serve as 4th of July Part sandwiches!

For even more tasty recipes, check out Snacktivities.

2. Our Parade of Flags

Now it’s time for an activity to keep little ones engaged! Don’t have a parade happening near you? Create your own by encouraging children to make flags to proudly put on display! Parading around with siblings and showing off their special creations will help build children’s self-esteem, an important part of social and emotional health.

Materials

• Crayons
• Creative art materials (pipe cleaners, pom-poms, glitter, etc.)
• Empty paper towel roll, or craft sticks
• Glue
• Markers
• Paper
• Scissors

What to Do

1. Let each child work independently to make and decorate a 4th of July flag that represents what Independence Day means to them with things they like to draw and favorite colors.
2. When finished with the flags, attach them to empty paper towel rolls.
3. When all the flags have been assembled, give each child the opportunity to talk about their flag and why it was created in such a unique way.
4. Finally, let children line up to join a parade of your own making, whether it’s down the beach or following an even larger parade! It’s important to make sure children have the opportunity to put their hard work on display.

For even more activities to promote resilience and independence in children, check out Socially Strong, Emotionally Secure.

3. A Song for Independence Day!

Gather children around to sing a song about what they’re seeing in the night time sky! Make sure you ask children what they think the fireworks will be like before they watch them. Once the fireworks display is over, here are a few ways to keep children learning:

Have group time as a family:

After Independence Day, have a follow up discussion. Ask children if the fireworks show was anything like what they thought it would be. Ask them to describe what they saw and heard at the fireworks display. Compare their comments after seeing the show with their comments before. Focus on using works like boom, crack, rocket, sparkle and zoom for children to learn new describing words.

Sing a fireworks song together:

Sparkle, Sparkle In The Sky (Tune: “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”) 

Sparkle, sparkle in the sky 

See the fireworks way up high. 

Red and blue, yellow and green, 

The brightest colors you have ever seen. 

Sparkle, sparkle in the sky 

See the fireworks way up high.

Read related books!

• Independence Day by Robin Nelson 
• Independence Day by Nancy I. Sanders

We hope you have a lovely Independence Day and get to spend some quality time with your family, hopefully, learning new things along the way! Happy 4th of July!!

Author(s)MaryAnn F. Kohl, Jean Potter, Karen Cairone, Nefertiti Bruce