All across the United States on the Fourth of July, families pause for a day to celebrate their precious freedoms: among them, the freedom to barbecue all afternoon, dress in silly hats and parade through neighborhoods singing off-key.
With a little planning and a lot of red, white and blue, any family can organize a fabulous festival to honor the founding of our country. To help you get started, we've rounded up some creative ideas, from cul-de-sac parades to patriotic potluck suppers. So circle the lawn chairs, slip on an Uncle Sam hat and get ready for your neighborhood's best-ever Fourth of July blast.
A BASH FOR THE BLOCK
Pulling off a Fourth of July block party or parade takes planning. Sonja Prince of Fort Worth, Texas, sets the stage the night before the Fourth. She arranges tables in her yard and all of the neighborhood children come over to make flags for the parade. Everyone brings red, white and blue craft supplies while she provides the poster board and sticks. While making the flags, everyone munches on cookies and lemonade. Everyone is talking and creating, and the flag-making turns out to be as much fun as their parade.
To help plan your party, we've rounded up seven more star-spangled planning tips from families around the country:
• Limit the celebration to two to three hours to keep the activity level high.
• Schedule your event for late afternoon, so families can have plenty of time to move on to evening fireworks celebrations.
• Hand-deliver invitations with your kids so you can introduce yourself to neighbors you don't know very well. The personal touch will increase participation.
• If you're including a parade, hold an informal float-making and bicycle-decorating session in your driveway an hour before the big event. Kids and parents can bring their own tape, streamers, and signs, and you can share ideas and lend a hand to help create some fabulous floats.
• Tailor your celebration to the age groups represented in your neighborhood. If you have lots of preschoolers, set out plastic wading pools, bubbles and other water-based activities.
• Consider a potluck supper to break up the responsibility of the meal. Assign dishes to each family, asking them to bring enough for their family, plus a family of four. Everyone brings their own drinks and a red, white and blue dessert to share.
NEIGHBORHOOD PARADE
Michelle Christie's neighborhood in Wayne, N.J., holds a parade that includes a prize for everyone. They have different categories, including group walkers, floats and bicycles. A panel of judges awards ribbons, plus a ticket for a free soda for first, second and third place, and honorable mention in each category. Anyone can enter, and everyone goes home a winner.
To keep your lawn-chair spectators happy, consider enlisting some of the following:
• Families carrying homemade banners pinned across a broomstick
• Pets with red, white and blue ribbons in their leashes or collars
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