The 4th of July is right around the corner! If you need a few games ideas to fill the lull between food and fireworks this year then read on!
I love watching the fireworks on the 4th of July! Usually, there’s a get together at my Mother-in-Law’s lake place with a big picnic, and copious amounts of beer.
Let’s face it though, it’s a long time between dinner and dark. We’ve shared the same family stories a hundred times. The kids are beginning to get restless. So what do you? How about filling that anxious time with some low-cost but highly fun games? There are a lot of fun games that can be played as a group and bonus points they will almost certainly give you new family stories to share (remember that time uncle Harry got so competitive that he . . .).
Try a few of these low-cost 4th of July games and make some new memories on this year!
Balloon Pass
Who doesn’t love balloons! This game involves relaying a balloon down a line of people. Use balloons that are red, white and blue and tell the participants they will be using their hands and their legs to pass the balloon down the line. Create two teams of people, and line them up in straight lines. Give the first person a balloon and tell them to put it between their legs, passing the balloon to the next person in line with their legs only. That person will take the balloon and pass it to the next person by putting it over their head. That third person will put the balloon between their legs and pass to the next person like that.
The game continues until the balloon has passed all the way down the line. If you have a small group, require that the balloon get passed down the line and back again before declaring a winner.
Chalk It Up
Pick a panel of judges (the oldest members of the family are the obvious picks) and have them become the official judges for a chalk contest. Break your guests into two teams (or more, depending on how many people are at the party) and give them each one or two containers of sidewalk chalk. Tell them to create a sidewalk picture that shows something patriotic, and tell them the flag must be included in the picture. Give them a time limit (depending on your group, this time limit might range from 10 minutes to 45 minutes) and then have the judges declare a winner after they have carefully examined all the artwork. You could have art-themed prizes for the winners.
4th of July Parade
One fun 4th of July activity that just screams “4th of July!” is a parade with decorated bikes, scooters. At our lake, they have a boat parade where everyone decks out their vintage watercraft, pontoons, and the like with streamers, balloons, and of course flags. If you are staying close to home this 4th of July, ask to decorate a bike or scooter or other items (think wagons, strollers, etc.) in patriotic garb. You can have people bring them to the party already decorated and have a contest for “best bike”, etc., but also fun is to have a decorating party within the party.
Have all the items on hand to decorate the bikes and scooters and skateboards. You might have streamers, banners, flags, and ribbons. You can load up on these things at the Dollar Tree for very little money. If you don’t live near a Dollar Tree you can always order on their website and have these items delivered (hint – they deliver to their stores for free so sometime I will place my order and pick it up so I know I can get the decorations I want). The children and adults can decorate their bikes and scooters as a party activity.
Guessing Game
These games are always popular for just about any occasion. Fill a large jar with Tootsie Roll Flag Midgees. Have people guess how many candies are in the jar (which of course means you count as you place the candies in the jar). The winner, or the person who comes closest to the number without going over, gets the jar of Midgees.
Yard Yahtzee
This can get quite rowdy and competitive. Yard Yahtzee is an easy game to create with a 4×4 post, a saw, and some paint. Cut 5 “dice” from your 4×4 by measuring a cut line every 4 inches so you will have 4x4x4 dice. Cut along the lines. Then you can either just paint the dots like dice or you can get crafty and paint the whole square white and then paint your number dots. To play you will need a bucket big enough to hold your “dice”. This will act as your shaker cup. Get a free printable blueprint on DIY Montreal HERE.
You can always keep track of the scores on a standard Yahtzee sheet or if you’re feeling ambitious you can pick up some whiteboards and create erasable Yahtzee scoreboards (laminating a score sheet works great too).
Just don’t roll your dice on a hill. I speak from experience on this. Of course, if you don’t want to go through all this work you can buy a set on Amazon for less than $25. With the cost of wood these days this might be the way to go.
Don’t Forget Corn Hole!
We invested in a corn hole game a few years ago and I’m so glad we did! We play as teams of two. A player from each team stand behind one board and their team mate stands behind the other. Then take turns with the bag toss.
We get so competitive with this game. There is no age limit for this game. I think my daughter started playing at three. If you can toss a bag you can play corn hole.
Share This Post and Share Your Favorite 4th of July Games!
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These are just a few of the low-cost 4th of July games you can play to occupy your time without investing a lot of money. I’m sure there are a lot more. Do you have a favorite family game that you want to share with us? If so comment share your Low-Cost 4th of July Games in the comments down below and let me know.
Don’t forget to make a huge pot of Sun Tea on standby and for the kids how about a few Coke Floats!
Have a safe and happy 4th of July Everyone!
Many blessings to you!
~S
