4th of July Ideas

If you are looking for 4th of July ideas, check out these posts:

Craft/Activities:

• Easy 4th of July Foods and Craft (Star stamp made out of noodles)
• Pinwheel Fun
• Windsock
• Balloon Time Fun, Pinata Style
• Easy Kids Party Popper
• Make Your Own Chalk  (Use red, white, blue paints.)
• Ball Toss 
• 4th of July Word Find

Food:

• Breakfast:
• Star Pancakes & Patriotic Strawberries
• Lunch/Dinner:
•  Make a shooting star sandwich or a salami roll-up flag
• Side Dishes:
• Watermelon Basket
• Broccoli Salad
• Easy Coleslaw
• Veggie and/or Fruit Trays: Use red and white bell peppers, blueberries, red and white raspberries, starfruit, cherry tomatoes, red grapes, cherries, blackberries. You could even make fruit kabobs! (For some ideas, check out my Veggie Trays, Veggie Trays, Part II, and Put A Stick In It: Fruit Kabobs posts.)

• Dessert: 
• Jello:
  • Layered Jello (Use Red, White, and Blue jello) 
  • Make a tray of Jello Jigglers and cut out star shapes
   
•  Pie & Jars (Use Star cut-outs for the top of the pies)
• Swirl Cookies: I made red and white for Christmas, but if you broke the batter into thirds and colored 1/3 blue/red/white, it would make a great 4th of July cookie! 
• Hidden Surprise Pound Cake (Use a Star cut out instead of the Shamrock)
• Peanut Butter Cherrios Balls 
• Dessert Pizza  (Super easy to make! Use white chocolate and/or red & blue candy melts to make more patriotic.)
• Frozen Bananas (Dip in white chocolate with red and blue sprinkles!)
• Rainbow Cupcakes (Divide batter into 3 bowls, color 1 white, 1 red, 1 blue.)
• Fortune Cookies (Make a mix of red, white, and blue.)
• Stained Glass Cookies (Use red, white, blue candies.)
• Ice Cream Sandwiches 
• Caramels  (While it's harder to change the color of the caramels, you can easily dress them for the 4th of July by wrapping them and tying them closed with red/white/blue ribbons.)
•  Candied Popcorn(Separate popcorn into 3 batches. Color each batch with red, blue, or white candy melts. Let dry and then mix together!)

• Drinks:
•  Beverage Day (Make Red,White, and Blue star ice cubes)

The above are my tried and true things that we have done in the past. There are so may ideas out there for 4th of July parties that would be fun to try! For example:

• Watermelon "cake". Cut and tier watermelon slices like a tiered cake. Decorate with other red/white/blue fruits!
• Chocolate dipped strawberries. Dip in white chocolate with red/blue drizzles, or in milk/dark chocolate with red/white/blue drizzles. My boys like sprinkles on theirs too!
• Layered Red/White/Blue Drinks