Tips for planning family gatherings

The holiday season is quickly approaching.  If your like me the organization side of it has all ready gotten CRAZY!  Here are a few tips to relieve some of the stress!!!

 

1. Start early.  Choosing the location, date and time in advance can eliminate a lot of stress.  This can allow individual travel arrangements and preparations to be made.
2. Plan activities.  It's important to keep guests occupied, especially children.  Board games, crafts or even special holiday outings are great ways to build memories and keep guests busy.
3. Create lasting memories.  Cre a memory with your family & friends at your next gathering that you can save.   It could be a hand-print table cloth or photo memory book but its really about quality family time and celebrating the spirit of the season!

Family Time

Good Old Fashioned Summer Fun

One of my favorite summer traditions is to set up a lemonade stand on your street. Recruit neighbor kids and make it fun! Use red cups and wave American flags to encourage customers to stop. My kids usually sell a glass of lemonade for $.25. The money made from a Fourth of July Lemonade stand is donated to a local charity.

Along with making lemonade, my kids love the tradition of making red, white and blue snowcones in July!  You can buy inexpensive snowcone machines and flavoring at Target or online. The machine is easy to use (one button to shave the ice) and it takes two minutes. After the ice is shaved, I take it outside and put it on the picnic table to let the kids make their own snowcones. They love scooping the ice and pouring on the flavoring (red and blue, of course). This is the perfect treat to beat the heat after playing outside! The best thing for parents is that you can hose off this mess!

Fourth of July Family Fun

Looking for some kid-friendly fun for the Fourth of July? See if your town or neighborhood has an Independence Day Parade. Most communities have them and they are great fun!

The parade in Fishers, IN (near where I live) blocks a portion of the street off and families line up on the curb to watch the parade. Local bands play, floats glide, dance teams perform, and various groups cruise by offering handfuls of candy to the kids. If you go, make sure to bring something for your kids stash their candy in! (Like Dad’s baseball cap or a plastic firefighter’s hat.) Take a cooler packed with popsicles and water and enjoy the hot, but great family fun.

Fun Family Tips for the Fourth of July

Tip #1 - Join your local Forth of July Parade

Go to your local township/city for their Fourth of July Parade. Most towns have them and they are a great free and fun family tradition. Most times they feature local businesses, firefighters and high school bands. A great tip is to bring a hat for your kids to catch all the candy they throw to kids on the curb. Red, white and blue beads and removable tattoos are a fun way to get into the spirit and can be picked up inexpensively at a party store.

Tip #2 - Plan your own local Fourth of July Parade

Plan a neighborhood or street parade. Have the kids decorate wagons, bikes and scooters with streamers & balloons. Make flyers to let your neighbors know. Everyone loves a parade and it is so fun when kids of all ages get involved!Let them decorate and really get into the spirit of celebrating for the Fourth of July!!!

Tip #3 - Make Red, White & Blue Snowcones

Make red, white and blue snow cones!!! Have your kids help shave the ice and let them pour the flavoring! A great treat to beat the heat and if done outside all you have to do is hose off the mess!