4th of July is a fun and festive time of year. These activities are fun to do leading up to the big day. Or even the day of, especially if the weather isn’t cooperating or plans get cancelled. You can also check out my blog with festive treats, snacks and meals here.
Whatever the reason or timing may be, these activities will sure to be a hit among your kid(s) and yourself!
Activities:
Flag Craft –
This flag craft does take a little prep and purchasing, but is easy and fun to put together. Plus, it looks great hanging as a decoration for the holiday too.
What you will need:
- Paper plates
- Red & white tissue paper
- blue paint
- Paint brush
- White star stickers
- Glue or tape
To prep:
Cut a paper plate in half and then cut your red and white strips of tissue paper. Length is completely up to you and they don’t have to be perfectly even.
Doing the craft:
I had the kids start by placing glue on the bottom part of the back of the paper plate. Then they placed the stripes of tissue paper on the glue. The ages of the kids I did this with were three and four year olds. I did have to help guide them with switching between red and white tissue paper stripes.
Then I had the kids flip the plate over to start painting the other side blue. We did all of this in the morning that way we had time to allow the paint to dry. In the afternoon, we placed white start stickers over the blue plate. For older kids – you could have them draw white stars with white paint or a white marker.
Red, White and Blue Finger Painting –
This one is super easy and can be super cheap as well. I did purchase small canvas for this craft so it was more of a keepsake, but you could also do this on card stock or construction paper.
What you will need:
- Small canvas
- Red and blue paint
- Star stencil or print off a star from Powerpoint
To prep:
In PowerPoint, I inserted a star shape – made it as big as I thought would fit the size canvas I bought. Then I printed and cut it out. I used painters tape to gently tape it to the canvas.
Doing the craft:
I had the kids start by finger painting along the outline of the star so that the star shape would for sure show up once I removed the cut out. Then the kids could finger paint however they wanted with the blue and red paint.
Red, White & Blue Science Experiment –
I love doing science experiment’s with baking soda and vinegar! They are super easy and super fun!
What you will need:
- 6 count muffin tin
- Casserole dish
- Baking soda
- White vinegar
- Blue and red food coloring
- Liquid measuring cup – I find this to be easiest for pouring the vinegar because mine has a handle for the kids to hold and a spout for easy pouring, but you could use any kind of cup
Doing the experiement:
- Place the 6 count muffin tin inside the casserole dish
- Scoop a couple spoonfuls of baking soda into each muffin spot – you can either do this yourself or have the child(ren) do it
- Place a few drops of red food coloring into the two muffin spots on the left hand side
- Leave the next two muffin cups in the middle alone – NO FOOD COLORING
- Place a few drops of blue food coloring into the last two muffin spots on the right hand side
- Fill a liquid measuring cup about 1/2-3/4 of the way full with vinegar (especially if having the child(ren) pour it)
- Pour vinegar as quickly as you can over each muffin section so that you can see all three colors bubble up at the same time. You can continue to pour vinegar over each muffin section as the bubbles fade to make it bubble up again. We usually do it until the food coloring starts to fade.
4th of July Wreath –
This wreath craft is cute especially to hang somewhere for decoration, but it did require more prep. If doing this with older kids, the prep wouldn’t be required as much. I did this with two and three year olds.
What you will need:
- Paper plates
- Red and blue markers, paint or crayons
- Hole punch
- Ribbon
- Red & blue stars – I inserted the star shape in PowerPoint then printed on card stock and cut. You could also do stickers or if the kid is old enough, draw it themselves
- Glue or tape for the stars
To prep:
Cut out the center of the paper plate. Hole punch on one side of the plate towards the edge for the ribbon. Tie some ribbon through the hole punch for the wreath to hang on something. If you are printing the stars from the PowerPoint, cut those.
Doing the craft:
The kids can color the paper plate however they would like (or paint). Afterwards, they can glue on the stars wherever they would like on the plate.
Scavenger Hunt –
You could do as much or as little of this as possible. You could even add to it if you think of ideas. I wrote this up and then we headed outside with it. Doing this scavenger hunt outside made it easier so I didn’t have to make sure I had the items all around the house.
However, weather permitting or preference – you could do this inside. If you don’t have any of the items you could print something off to tape and hide around the room.
Honestly, even if you don’t find everything whether inside or outside it is still fun just to try to find these items.
Let me know if you end up trying any of these activities! Need food or snack ideas for the 4th too? Check out my blog here.