5 Fun July 4th Activities & Recipes to Do With Grandkids

SHAVING CREAM FIREWORKS

• Toothpicks or skewers
• Printer paper
• Shaving cream
• Red and blue liquid tempera paints
• Baking tray with low sides
• Stiff paper or cardboard
• Construction paper
• Glitter or sparkle glue

Instructions

1. Spray shaving cream all over a small metal baking tray.
2. Hand your grandchild a piece of cardboard or a stiff flyer from your mailbox and encourage them to spread the shaving cream so that it covers the whole tray with no empty spaces. “The children cannot do this incorrectly so let them go at it any way they want,” Kertzner says. “They may want to feel the fluffy cream with their hands and if you are outside, it is easily washed off with the hose.”
3. Have the child squirt dabs of blue and red tempera paints randomly on top of the shaving cream. It does not matter where they want their dots.
4. Hand the child either a toothpick or a pointed (on one end only) wooden skewer and have them “pull” the paint from the center of the dot. “You might have to demonstrate this once and then let them have a go at it,” Kertzner explains.
5. When all the “fireworks” are done, lay the paper on the shaving cream and pat very gently to make a print. 
6. Let it set for about 10 minutes before gently peeling the paper from the shaving cream and placing it flat on a table to dry.
7. Take a piece of construction paper and cut out a frame. If your grandchild is able to use scissors, you can create an outline on the construction paper for them to follow. 
8. After their painting is dry, have them glue the frame on their painting and decorate it with glitter or sparkle glue.

A fun way to cool off

If you have a couple of water cannons lying around (or a desire to add new toys to the toy box), Kertzner has another great activity to beat the heat while encouraging a bit of friendly competition. In case you’re unfamiliar, water cannons are toys designed to squirt a stream of water. You load them by pulling back the handle while dipping the end into a pool of water and shoot them by pushing the handle back to its starting place. One of the best things about water cannons is they are generally pretty cheap — check out this $5.50 option from Walmart.

“Kids LOVE a challenge!” Kertzner says. “Grandparents can instruct the children on how to set this up and have them see that through. This will give the kids a chance to take responsibility and create a game for the whole family to play.”

Courtesy Seri Ketzner

WATER CANNON CUP RACE

• One red Solo plastic cup
• One blue Solo plastic cup
• Blue string
• Red string
• Two toy water cannons

Instructions

1. Make a hole in the bottom of the red and blue solo cups. 
2. Thread the opposite-color string through the hole. The cup should slide easily on the string.
3. Attach one ends of each strings to a fence, post or a tree and the other end to a fence, post or tree opposite the first. Make sure that the strings are taut or it will be difficult for the cups to move along them. The two strings should be parallel to each other, but there needs to be enough space to accommodate your grandchildren.
4. Hand each player a water cannon along with a container of water to fill their tanks. Have the participants fill the water cannons and wait at the starting line by their cups.
5. The goal is to squirt water into the cups and propel them along the string to the end of the line. The first cup to reach the end is the winner. If you are paired with a younger child, they may need another adult to help them fill their tank.

A berry nice cobbler

Danielle Kartes, the creator of a food/lifestyle company called Rustic Joyful Food, is a firm believer in helping children have fun in the kitchen. So, her suggestion for grandparents looking to cook with their grandchildren on the Fourth of July comes in the form of something simple and sweet.

“Fourth of July is a big food holiday in general: chips, dips, burgers, hot dogs, various barbecued meats, etc.,” she says. “You need to balance that out with desserts that are bright and sweet, and a berry cobbler is a wonderful treat for a summer day.”

The recipe, which can be found in Kartes’ books My Very First Cookbook and Grandma and Me in the Kitchen, gives grandparents a fun opportunity to give their grandchildren “agency in the kitchen” so they “really engage with the process of cooking.”

“I made this with my youngest son, who was five at the time,” Kartes says of her recipe. “The best part of the whole experience was seeing how proud he was in taking on the responsibility of making something tasty and looking forward to sharing it with his family.”

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VERY BERRY SHORT CRUST COBBLER

For the filling

• 2 cups diced strawberries
• 2 cups blueberries 
• 1 cup raspberries
• 3-4 teaspoons cornstarch
• Pinch of kosher salt
• 1-2 cups sugar, depending on how sweet your fruit is (plus 2 tablespoons)
• 1 tablespoon butter

For the crust

• 1 cup softened butter
• 1½ cups flour
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Turn the oven on and preheat to 350°F.
2. Dump all of the fruit-filling ingredients into a large mixing bowl — except for the butter and the 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar — and gently stir without mashing up the fruit.
3. Grab a glass 9-by-13 baking dish and butter it up before sprinkling the 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar into the bottom of the dish.
4. Shake, shake, shake that dish and swirl that sugar around nice and gentle. Then, pour your fruit into the sugary, buttery dish.
5. Place all crust ingredients in a clean mixing bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until it’s nice and crumbly. (You want this dough to be fall-apart crumbly but also be able to stay together if you pinch it.)
6. Sprinkle the crumbles all over the fruit.
7. Bake uncovered for 35 to 45 minutes, or until it’s bubbling and delicious.
8. Allow your cobbler to cool for at least 10 to 15 minutes before digging in!

“And don’t forget the ice cream!” Kartes says.

A great game for the whole family

For grandparents looking for another fun way to get competitive on the holiday, Kertzner recommends a themed game of bottle ring toss.

“This is another fun activity for the Fourth of July because it’s easy to set up and it’s fun for the whole family,” Kertzner says. “Turn it into a game where the grandparents play the grandkids and see who wins!”

Courtesy Abigail Seaberg

BOTTLE RING TOSS

• 15 glass or plastic bottles
• Red, white and blue paint
• 4 pool rings from the dollar store
• Small crate

Instructions

1. Buy rings at your local dollar store (you can find these in the pool section) and wrap them with twine or leave them as is.
2. Gather 15 bottles you were planning to recycle and paint 5 red, 5 white and 5 blue. 
3. Stand the bottles up in the crate and designate a different number of points for each color. For example, white bottles, 10 points; blue bottles, 20 points; and red bottles, 30 points.
4. Set a marker for the kids to stand at and toss the rings onto the bottles. “Grandparents can stand at the bottles and help pass the rings back to the kids after they toss!” Kertzner says.

Whoever has earned the most points after all of your rings have been tossed wins!