4th of July Story Time Ideas for Young Readers

I can hardly believe #thebigone will finish first grade later this week! Summer weather is finally here, and there’s only a few weeks left until the 4th of July! Today I’m sharing some great ideas for 4th of July themed story time. It’s the perfect opportunity to get in the festive holiday spirit while keeping kids engaged and learning during summer vacation. I’ve included ideas for multiple age ranges, so be sure to read on and choose one for your family!

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Curious George Parade Day 

Since childhood, I’ve been a big fan of Curious George. I’m glad my kids enjoy the mischievous monkeys antics as well. I bought several of these holiday themed Curious George board books when #thebigone was tiny. We enjoy pulling them out year after year. The pages are sturdy and bright, so they’re perfect for toddler hands. In Curious George Parade Day (H.A. Rey, Monica Perez, Cynthia Platt), George enjoys all sorts of patriotic summer fun. Picnics, parades, and fireworks make up his busy day, with American flags included throughout the illustrations. The quick, rhyming verses are perfect for little ones with a short attention span. 

Firework Process Painting

• Paper or canvas to paint on.
• Acrylic craft paint.
  • We used red and blue, plus a few metallics to add a little sparkle. Choose your family’s favorite colors!
• Festive holiday decor. We used a few types of add-ons for floral arrangements. Get creative and see what sort of fireworks painting tools inspire your family!

1. Dip your ‘firework’ into the paint.
2. Use your ‘firework’ to add color to your paper of canvas.
3. Repeat with different ‘fireworks’ and paint colors, until your masterpiece is complete.
   1. This creates interesting, abstract art. The open ended aspect makes it great for very young artists, as well as kids who are extremely critical of their creations. No right or wrong means everyone makes something beautiful.

Firework Slime

I used a pretty basic slime recipe, based on the ones found on the Elmer’s website. I’m not a slime expert, so you may have other recipes that work better for you. We used some fun add ins to make our batches of slime look a bit more like the 4th of July, while adding some interesting textures.

• Shaped sequins, glitter, confetti .
• Glittery pom poms.

Exploding Firework Slime

In addition to the basic batch above, we experimented a little with creating some EXPLODING firework slime! This was super fun, but I’m going to warn you- it’s much messier than regular slime! Prepare yourself for ‘oohs’, ‘aaahs’, giggles, excitement… and then VERY sticky fingers that need a lot of scrubbing! This is a one-time-use slime- not one you can save to reuse. Personally, I would only try it with older kids, since the add-in could make taste testing very tempting.

Our secret ingredient? Pop rocks! We just mixed a few generous pinches in with a batch of slime, and it was SO fun to hear the popping while we played. It’s possible that adding minimal pop rocks would result in less stickiness- that’s something you could experiment with. Maybe add a very minimal amount, and slowly build up the pop rocks. (Let me know the outcome if you try this!)

4th of July Counting Game

Head over to Playdough to Plato to grab your free copy of this fun and simple counting game I created! It’s perfect for kids working on counting to 50, or very simple addition skills. While you’re there, check out the other fun and festive ideas they have for the 4th of July!

Does your family do anything special to celebrate the 4th of July? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!