Fourth of July Crafts: Six Simple Activities and Crafts

Sarah Sarah quit her social work job to become a stay-at-home mom when her twin girls were 1, their older sister was 2, and her husband graduated with his doctoral degree and got a full-time job as a professor (aka could not stay home with the kids on his days off of school, and full-time free childcare from wonderful grandparents was not an option!). Now the twins are 4, their big sis is in kindergarten, they’ve added a baby brother to the mix, and Sarah is getting back into part-time Geriatric Care Management. She loves spending time outdoors and trying her best to do crafty, educational activities with the girls, including reading tons of books with them! If you would like to contact Sarah, e-mail her at [email protected].

I get really excited for holidays and special events. Thanks to the world of Pinterest, I have been able to do some pretty fun (and, believe it or not, relatively simple) things to celebrate with my kids. Here are some of our Fourth of July crafts successes:

Fourth of July Crafts

Fireworks Painting Using Pipe Cleaners

I love open-ended art projects much more than step-by-step crafts that require me to be so much more involved. I like to just give my kids the supplies and see what they do. It’s more about the process than the product, as they say. We’ve tried fireworks paintings in two different ways. The first is by twisting a pipe cleaner into a starry fireworks shape and using it as a stamp to make fireworks.

Fireworks Painting Using Bumpy Balls and Forks

The next year, we tried using bumpy balls and forks as fireworks stamps. I found a cheap ball at the grocery store, of all places, and decided to give it a try! My girls loved painting and smearing with both options, although they did not spend as much time as I’d hoped making their masterpieces.

Flag T-Shirts

This one was all the rage on Pinterest a few years ago, and my kids had fun with it. Make a handprint with blue fabric paint, then have the kids practice painting red stripes to create a flag t-shirt! It’s fairly simple and cute to wear for 4th of July celebrations. I ended up pairing my girls’ with cheap red tutus from a consignment sale for a pretty adorable look! We also used them for pj shirts long after July to get more wear out of them.

Red, White, and Blue Fruit Pizza

My kids usually love to help create in the kitchen, and I used this basic recipe for the crust and icing, though we did not use the apple jelly, and we just used strawberries and blueberries, though I saw another recipe using bananas and marshmallows. Yum! I think any sort of red, white, and blue toppings and patterns would look and taste great! Ours didn’t have a particular pattern, but again, it’s about the process not the product, right?

July 4th Sensory Box

I really love sensory play and making themed sensory boxes for my kids. They will literally play with them for hours, and I’ve learned that I relax more about the mess if I take the box outside for them to play with. For this box, I actually had the girls help me to color rice red and blue, and I just bought some festive Independence Day decorations from the craft store. I also included cheap necklaces as a surprise. Add in some cups and mixing spoons and voila – a great way for the kids to pass the afternoon waiting for BBQ and fireworks at their grandparents’ house.I distinctly remember that this was the age my twins were all about getting into all of “grandma’s (breakable) pretties” and I brought the box along on the holiday to help keep them occupied since we were spending the whole day at my parents’ house. It was a definite success for us, and the colored rice can be used again and again with other materials for different themed sensory boxes. We used it for a Dr. Seuss one just this past spring!

Festive Fingernails and Toenails

Another great way to pass the time waiting for fireworks to start!

What are your favorite ways to celebrate the Fourth of July? Any Fourth of July crafts that you would include?

True stories from the front lines of parenting.

Fourth of July Crafts

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