June is almost over, which means the 4th of July is right around the corner. Here are some easy ideas for celebrating the holiday.
Take an embroidery hoop and tie or tape on red, white, and blue ribbons or streamers. If you don’t have a hoop, you can cut out a circle from a cardboard box or even a paper plate. Once you’ve taped or tied your streamers on, the children can run and spin with the toy. The ribbons fly out and make fun designs in the air. I will say that ribbons last longer than streamers, but are more expensive. The streamers tend to fade over a few days, and they get ripped, but they only cost a dollar or so. You can also make these hoops from any ribbon you might have on hand. It may not be color coordinated for Independence Day, but it will still be fun. You can even draw on the streamers or ribbons with magic markers. Consider writing “Happy 4th” messages or drawing stars or fireworks.
Take out those sidewalk chalks and make a huge American flag on the sidewalk. To save you time, the American flag has 13 equal horizontal stripes of red and white. The top and bottom strip are both red. The stripes represent the 13 original colonies. In the right hand corner is a blue rectangle with 50 small white stars that represent the 50 states. At the top is a row of six stars, the next row has five offset stars, and so on for nine rows.
If you have a large driveway or patio, you can also challenge individuals or teams to draw a map of the United States. See how many states people can get right. If you need help with your geography consider the 50 States Game. Drawing the states is hard. For an easier version, outline the states beforehand, or skip the map altogether and just have people try and list the states.
Also See:
Wet Sidewalk Chalk
Last Minute Fourth of July Ideas