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Patriotic Birthday Celebration
Planning a Fun Birthday Around the 4th of July
What do you do when your child's
birthday falls on or near a holiday? How do you
celebrate the holiday without the child feeling left
out? Actually, most holidays combine very well with
birthdays, particularly the smaller holidays. The
4th of July in particular is one of the best times
to have a birthday.
What was once a tradition of going
to see fireworks can become a summer event. For us,
it's our biggest family gathering of the year. We
have 7 summer birthdays to celebrate, including two
of my sons, my husband and my father, ranging from
the ages of 2 to 50. Surprisingly, the cost isn't
too bad. We all bring a dish of something, and chip
in for the fireworks. Most of the adults get gag
gifts, and we make or buy presents for the kids.
Here are some ideas that we use to
combine this holiday and so many birthdays:
Flag Cake
Usually there are a couple of birthday cakes
floating around at our celebration, but the "flag
cake" is usually the favorite, and it's so easy.
Make your favorite cake mix or cake recipe in a
large, rectangular pan, let cool, then "ice" it with
Cool Whip.
Decorate with blueberries and strawberries to make a
flag design on top, and refrigerate until ready to
serve. (Kraft recipe at the bottom of page)
Friends
If your child is older, he or she may want to invite
friends to the celebration. We have kept our
celebrations to mostly family, but do invite friends
and their families over for the cookout and
fireworks. Why not invite a few of your children's
friends for the festivities and a backyard campout
or sleepover afterwards?
Party Favors
Making party favors can be fun!
Have the kids make little flags by drawing the paper
flags, cutting them out and attaching to Popsicle
sticks, toothpicks, or twigs. Kids can design their
own T-shirts too, with fabric paint. We like to do
these ahead, and wear them for the celebration. You
can buy really nice 4th of July appliqué panels at
your sewing store. Just fuse onto the shirt with an
iron, and then use fabric paint or your sewing
machine to edge the appliqués. You can also design
iron-ons with your computer, print them and stick
them on a shirt. Check out programs like "Hanes
T-shirt Factory". More party favor ideas: kids can
decorate their own party hats with sparkles and
paint in patriotic colors, or make some fire-free
"sparklers" by painting spools in red, white and
blue, then inserting silver pipe cleaners into the
top, You can also add beads to the end of the pipe
cleaners for a more "explosive" look.
Fireworks
I have never met a kid whom did not like fireworks
on his birthday. What a great way to share a
birthday-with your country! At our celebration,
everyone pitches in to pay for fireworks and we put
on our own show. If you can't do that, try to find a
nice, smaller fireworks show to attend that is not
too overcrowded. A nearby park does fireworks here
on July 3rd, which we can see from our house. We get
a double dose of fireworks, which is great fun for
the kids.
Cookout/Picnic
Have a potluck dinner and cookout. We try to keep
all of the activities outside if possible. Have
others bring side dishes and some of the cookout
items, just worry about the birthday cake and
burgers. A watermelon or pie-eating contest can be
fun too, make sure to take lots of silly pictures of
the relatives.
Outdoor Games and Activities
We
love to have a "Family Olympics" at our celebration.
We have our annual badminton "Championships", where
the winner gets to take home a "traveling trophy"
that is uglier than original sin and must be
displayed proudly in their home for all to see. We
also play volleyball, go fishing and love to
stargaze after the fireworks are over. As the kids
get older, we are adding things that are easier for
them to do. This year we are thinking about adding
Frisbee golf, an outdoor checkers championship, and
maybe "twister". The kids are never bored and enjoy
having the adults get in on the fun.
Hopefully, a combination of
relatives, friends, fireworks, games and presents
will be something your child looks forward to on the
4th of July. Their siblings may wish their birthdays
were in July! With a little planning, it can be a
fun, eventful day that your family and friends look
forward to all year.
Flag Cake
2 pints strawberries
1 pkg. (10.75 oz.) frozen SARA LEE Pound Cake,
thawed, cut into 10 slices
1-1/3 cups blueberries
1 tub (12 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed
SLICE 1 cup of the strawberries;
set aside. Halve remaining strawberries; set aside.
LINE bottom of 12x8-inch baking
dish with cake slices. Top with 1 cup sliced
strawberries, 1 cup of the blueberries and all of
the whipped topping.
PLACE strawberry halves and
remaining 1/3 cup blueberries on whipped topping to
create a flag design.
REFRIGERATE until ready to serve.
Kim
Tilley of www.frugal-moms.com
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