Popsicles, watermelon, ice cream, and the 4th of July- summer is upon us and this week we’re diving in to all the summer themed activities! If you’d like to focus in more on the 4th of July this week, you can check out my blog from last year “4th of July Boredom Busters” for lots of red, white and blue themed activities that help celebrate America’s birthday and the beauty of her diversity! Happy 4th everyone!
–Tie dye 4th of July hats: I picked up a tie dye kit with my Walmart order along with a few white visors (you can also get hats on Amazon, but they’re a bit more pricey). Then we used the red and blues to dye the hats for the 4th of July!
–Pineapple noodle craft: These came out soooo cute! First you dye some bowtie noodles green and some wheel noodles yellow (you could also use elbows, wheels are a bit hard to find but they are cuter!) To dye them just place 1/4 cup of vinegar with 10 drops of food coloring in a Tupperware and swish around to mix. Then place about 1 cup of noodles in and give it a good shake (your little can help with this!) Then spread them out on a sheet pan or old paper grocery bag to dry. To do the craft, cut out (or draw and have your little cut out if they’re older) the top and bottom pieces of a pineapple and glue them together. Have your little use wet glue to stick the bowties to the top of the pineapple and the wheels to the bottom! This makes for great fine motor practice too! I got this from ABCDeeLearning on Pinterest.
–Watermelon seed name art: Cut out (or draw and have your little cut out if they’re older) a half circle shape in green and a smaller one in pink. Have your little glue them together- pink on top of green. Then, cut out watermelon seeds from black paper and write your little’s name on the seeds with a silver sharpie- one letter per seed. Ask them to find and glue down each letter in their name in turn. For older littles, have them glue the seeds down and practice writing their name- one letter per seed.
–Beach ball color match: I printed a beach ball picture then wrote color words in each section with the matching marker. Then I had my littles dot each section to match the color word.
–Popsicle paper tear craft: I cut out a popsicle shape then had my littles choose a few colors of construction paper. Then I had them tear the paper into little pieces (this was a bit tricky for my toddler so I helped him) and they glued them down to make colorful popsicle mosaics! I glued a stick to the bottom when they were finished. I got this from A Dab of Glue Will Do.
–Firework painting: This is such a fun activity and if you just let your littles go to town, it comes out so pretty! First you cut strips at the bottom of 3 toilet paper tubes- I did short on one, medium on one and long on the last one. Flatten out the strips so they look like a star burst/sun rays. Then dip each one in a plate of red, white or blue paint (you should have one tube per color). Have your littles use the tubes as stamps to paint a grand finale for the 4th of July!
–Water balloons: We did this last year too, but water balloons are such a hit with my littles that I have a feeling it’s going to be an every summer type thing! You can get self filling ones for about $8 at Walmart called Bunch O’Balloons- you hook them up to your hose and they fill and self tie like 20 of them all at once! It’s BRILLIANT! They’re also biodegradable!
–Supply/shopping list:
- wheel and bow tie noodles
- vinegar
- green and yellow food coloring
- white hat or visor
- tie dye kit
- puffy pens or puffy paint
- silver sharpie
- Bunch O’ Balloons
- popsicle stick
- Red, white and blue craft supplies
- toilet paper tube
littlelovesandlearning.com 
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