10 Fun Activities and Ideas for Your 4th of July Celebration

It’s time for red, white, and blue, and maybe some BBQ, too! Have a creative and patriotic 4th of July celebration with some of our fun Independence Day activities and ideas.

10 Fun Activities and Ideas for Your 4th of July Celebration

1. Burger Cookoff
What better day to fire up the grill than July 4th? Take your backyard BBQ up a notch and invite your friends and family to participate in a burger cookoff. Have each participant bring their own meat, buns, and toppings, and see whose creation makes sparks fly! Have each person bring enough to serve 4-6 burgers, that way everyone can eat after the contest. Use small card tables to give each chef their own prep space. Set an allotted time for preparation, cooking, and assembly. It could also help to have a neighbor bring their grill over for some extra space. Establish 3 judges—mix it up and have a child as a judge, too! The top chef burger maker gets the grand prize—a gift certificate to a local burger joint!

2. Red, White, and Blue Costume Contest
There’s nothing like comfy summer attire—shorts, tees, flip flops, it’s the best! But it doesn’t mean the costume party has to wait until Halloween. Invite your friends over for a party and hold a red, white, and blue costume contest. The only rule? Deck yourself out in patriotic colors. Anything goes! Wrap yourself in streamers or dress up as Uncle Sam! Not celebrating in your backyard? Bring the celebration with you! Wear your outfits to your favorite bar or fireworks show. Pick a few judges and determine the winner based on patriotism, uniqueness, “fun” factor, and overall best! Gift the winner a s’mores kit to enjoy all summer long.

3. DIY American Flag Cornhole
What’s a summer without a little cornhole? This celebration will be in the (bean)bag with your very own custom cornhole game. With some basic hardware store supplies like plywood, 2x4s, and a saw, you can have your own platforms built in no time. We like this fully DIY project. Or, lots of vendors online sell the pre-built platforms, and you can customize them yourself! Once you have your set, we recommend making one side stars, and the other stripes! For the stripes side start with a white base. Once it’s dried, create stripes with painter’s tape and paint every other one red. For stars, paint the base blue and when it’s dried, use a star stencil to paint those on in white. Have a cornhole tournament with your friends and family all 4th of July long!

4. Frozen Red, White, and Blue Drinks
The Unicorn Frappuccino’s got nothing on this red, white, and blue slushie! Cool off in the summer heat with this icy drink—for the whole family! All you need is some ice, a blender, and some red, white, and blue sports drinks of your choice. Create a batch of each color with the sports drink and ice. In each glass, layer the red, white, and blue slushies. Cheers!

5. USA Photo Booth
If you don’t show your USA pride on Instagram, are you really patriotic at all? Take a social media-worthy shot with your friends in a USA photo booth! Find a corner of your backyard or house where you can vertically hang an American flag as the backdrop. Create props for each photo-taker—use construction paper to cut out Lady Liberty crowns, Uncle Sam hats, and fun glasses with stars and stripes. Need a little creative inspiration? Find templates online to print out props that you can cut and glue onto sticks. And don’t forget the hashtag! Create a phrase for your event like #redTheWhitesandblue or #familyfourth2017. Have everyone share their favorite photos from the day online!

6. DIY American Flag Mason Jars
Mason jars are the perfect glass for summer events, or even a great take home gift to use as a vase or candle holder. Grab a case of mason jars to decorate for your whole celebration. If you’re artsy, get red, white, and blue paints. Paint half of the jars white, and half of the jars blue. Once the base paint has dried, use painters tape on the white jars and paint every other stripe red. On the blue jars, use a small star stencil to paint on white stars. Not a painter? No problem! Instead of paint, get small American flags (usually the type you see at parades on sticks) and some modge podge. Remove the flags from the sticks, modge podge the back, and apply them to the jars. For a classic rustic look, wrap some twine around the mouth of the jar. As your guests arrive, have everyone choose their jar to use as their drink glass for the night, and to take home with them after the party!

7. Write a Soldier or Veteran a Thank You Card
Freedom isn’t free! Take some time this Fourth of July to thank those who have served and continue to serve our country. Before you kick off your celebrations, sit down with your family or friends and write thank you letters to current soldiers or veterans. There are tons of great organizations out there, but some places to start are AnySoldier.com and OperationGratitude.com. Just a simple thanks can mean a lot to someone, and is the perfect way to begin your family party or cookout.

8. Hot Dog Eating Contest
Take a break from working on that summer bod and work on your hot dog bod. Take some time at your Independence day BBQ to engage in a little friendly competition. Include the hot dog eating contest in your invite, or, get your neighbors involved and post signs around the neighborhood in the weeks leading up to the event. Once you know how many participants you have, decide on your rules. Will they be eating for time, or amount? Either pick a timeframe, like 5 minutes, and see who eats the most hot dogs. Or, set a number of hot dogs, like 20, and see who finishes them first (with a max time limit to keep things moving). Have adults and kids who want to play? Hold a kid’s contest too! Just be sure to watch for choking hazards.

9. Popsicle Refreshers
If you don’t want the prep work of frozen drinks, popsicle refreshers could be perfect for your 4th of July party. Just grab some packs of your favorite popsicles—maybe some red, white, and blue, or rocket pops? Use lemon lime soda, flavored seltzer, or a complementary juice as the base of the drink and put one popsicle in each. As they melt, you’ll get a flavor boost! (Or you can just eat the popsicle, we won’t tell!) These drinks are super simple to make and offer something for everyone!

10. Water Balloon Fun
What better way to cool off on a hot July’s day? Fill a bunch of small red, white, and blue balloons with water and tie them shut. Place them in a handful of buckets and divide in to two teams, facing one another. The goal is to hit the opposing team members with the water balloons (think dodgeball, only with water balloons!). Once you have been hit with a balloon, you must leave the game. Play until every member of one of the teams has been hit – the remaining team wins! Remember, water balloons can sting when they hit, so don’t aim at anyone’s face. If you’re looking for something a little less intense, try a game of water balloon toss or water balloon baseball. Everyone will have a blast while staying busy and cool!