4th of July: Neighborhood Bike Parade

We look forward to our annual 4th of July picnic and Bike Parade every year. It’s a great way to engage our neighbors and have fun with all ages. It seems to look different every year, but the years we’ve had the Bike Parade and water balloons have been our favorite. Read to find out our favorite activities and tips.

First, we start with the parade, then water balloons, move onto food, s’mores, and then a small fireworks display!

Bike Parade

Kids gather on our lawn with their bikes. We usually try to gather some supplies, but many parents provide additional decorations. Most of our decorations are pretty random: flags, streamers, blue painters tape, and we’ve even had white wedding decorations! Anything Red, White, and Blue works.

Water Balloons

I love a good water balloon toss or water balloon baseball. What I don’t like? Filling them all up! I’m excited to see these new devices: Water Balloon Bonanza and Bunch o’Balloons for sale. If you don’t want to take the time to fill up water balloons, sponge balls are awesome too. Grab a bucket, fill it up, and start throwing. Plus, sponge balls are resuseable.

Food

We usually have our normal fare of cookout food, but it’s always fun to end it with some Patriotic Fruit Kabobs (blueberries, raspberries or strawberries, and a marshmallow) and s’mores. In lieu of a portable fire pit, we used this awesome log. My neighbor found it at Wegmans or you can find something similar here.