Fun Forth of July Foods Kids Can Help Make

Summer is a great time to get your kids to help in the kitchen, where they can learn some life skills as well as math (measuring, dividing recipes) and science (what happens when you bake things?) and more, and hopefully have some fun at the same time.

Making red, white and blue Fourth of July foods is fun for everyone, and here are a few pretty easy recipes you can make with your kids or that older kids can make themselves for the holiday gathering.

First, a classic, the red, white and blue fruit plate. This one from Passion for Savings uses strawberries, yogurt covered pretzels and blueberries. Kids can help assemble the flag, and older kids can cut the strawberries.

The Educator’s Spin on It has a similar idea using berries to make a graham cracker flag. Kids can make this one themselves if you prep the berries for them. So fun for a bunch of kids to do at a holiday cookout or even at school.

If it’s not too hot to bake where you live, you can make firecracker cupcakes with this recipe from Princess Pinky Girl. The cake part is made with cake mix and food coloring to make it red and blue, while the toppings add white and the firecracker bit. These are so cute and kids will have a lot of fun helping with them. And if you’re not much of a baker, you’ll appreciate the fact that they’re made with cake mix.

You’ll need a drink for your Fourth of July party too, right? How about one of these red, white and blue drink recipes collected by The Soccer Mom Blog? So many tasty ideas, and while some of these are made for grownups (please don’t let the kids help with those!) there are plenty of options for kids, too. I love the look of the Italian creme sodas from Butter with a Side of Bread, and I’m sure they are yummy, too!

Last month I shared some tips for teaching the alphabet to kids and why going in alphabetical order isn’t the best way to do it. Honestly a lot of learning at this age has to do with play, so let’s look at some fun alphabet activities that kids can do that will help them learn the alphabet.

Activities that get kids moving and learning at the same time are ideal for preschool, and Forward with Fun has a few great ideas, like this fly swatter letter recognition game (which you could also use for numbers, words, all sorts of things you’re learning) and a beginning sound stomping game.

Another fun alphabet game you can do at home or adapt for wherever you are is this printable alphabet scavenger hunt from Play Party Plan. They’ve got a list of items to find and also a blank printable you can write your own list on, or let kids write down what they find for each letter.

Or do a literal letter scavenger hunt like this one from Happily Ever Mom. This one uses the letters from an alphabet puzzle but you could also use magnet letters or just cut out shapes of letters. It also adds the fun of doing it in the dark and hunting with a flashlight, but you can also do it with the lights on if you want.

This alphabet sensory bottle from Parenting Chaos is made with a set of alphabet beads and would be fun to keep in the classroom or have in the car or for quiet times.

Use what you have to make an alphabet learning activity, like this one made with Duplo blocks from Playtivities. You can stick letters to the sides of blocks (or write them on) and just play with them, use them for letter recognition and talking about sounds, and eventually spelling and reading, too.

Turn letter learning into craft time by making a big letter out of a bunch of little letters with this activity from Meaningful Mama. If you don’t get magazines anymore check with your local Buy Nothing group, or your local library may have some they’re looking to get rid of.

I think most preschoolers love dot markers, so these free alphabet dot marker worksheets from Daydream into Reality would be a great thing to download and print out. This is a great set because it includes uppercase and lowercase letters, and some have letter tracing practice while others include something that starts with that letter that kids can color. Work with one letter at a time or the letters in the child’s name and then provide the whole set as a quiet time activity.

Another great set of alphabet worksheets that isn’t free (and would also be good for older kids) is this set from My Nerdy Teacher. These worksheets include letter tracing and recognition activities, as well as objects to color.

I also love these alphabet roads printables from Messy Little Monster, which kids can use with cars to trace the letters (they could also be playdough mats you use to form the letters in the shape shown, or trace with a dry erase marker).

Have you read?

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