4th of July Parade & Flag Cake

When I was kid before the age of ten years old, I lived in Elkhart, Indiana. It was a very typical midwestern town. It was a safe, calm and great place to be a kid. We lived in a neighborhood with a ton of school age kids. We were able to run and bike around in the streets. (I feel like that is pretty uncommon now-a-days.) I feel very lucky that I was able to be to be part of a community like this.

We would shoot off fireworks, have cookouts, light sparklers, and would have 4th of July parades.
Parade? I'm not talking about the big downtown parades with giant floats. I mean a parade of neighborhood kids with their ridiculously decorated bikes! We used all kinds of patriotic decorations and then we'd roll down the streets with our parents by our sides.

Now that I'm older its easy to see that all the loud and dangerous fireworks, adult beverages, hot grills, and staying up past dark to see the fireworks, made Independence Day not especially kid friendly. Well except the hamburgers and hot dogs. So its great that our parents found a way to include us in the celebration.

Just don't do it around naptime. You might have some tears.

I love this idea because you can even get the littlest babies involved. Just dress them up and put them in the wagon.

In this post, just for the holiday, I am giving you a bonus idea!

Another fun 4th idea is a flag cake!

Just make any kind of sheet cake you want: red velvet, yellow, chocolate, or even funfetti! Use white frosting, strawberry halves, and blueberries. Easy-peasy and patriotic.

Just be sure to be safe, have fun and be patriotic!