let’s go! GRAND summer fun! (week three - 4th of July edition) let’s explore, move, create & eat!
- Our Grand Lives
- Jun 19, 2025
- 8 min read
Updated: Jun 27, 2025
Thursday, June 19, 2025
We’re ready to welcome the official start to summer!
How about you?
We hope that you all are enjoying the simple joys that summer is known for…
BBQs, flip-flops, watermelon and early morning walks!
Road trips, outdoor dining, pontoon rides and farmers markets!
And, for us, seeing summer through the eyes of our Littles
is indeed one of those most precious gifts!
RIGHT???
THANK YOU to our readers who have shared
that they are looking forward to our weekly posts this summer!
We are very excited to share our thoughts and ideas with you all each Thursday!!
We kicked off this series earlier this month
In each post, we do our best to provide 3-4 activities,
to enjoy with your Littles this summer!
If it’s simple, engaging and cost-effective,
it's a GO for us…
Our hope is that the ideas we share
will provide fun for GRANDS like us,
as well as others (parents, caregivers) AND the Littles we love and adore!
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That way, you’ll always know when we publish a new post!
AND, if you know of anyone else who might enjoy our content,
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please share our site with them
THANK YOU!
Today, we’re on to Week Three of our summer series
and this week all of our ideas are focused on the upcoming holiday…
It’s time for Week Three of GRAND Summer Fun!
This week’s featured ideas are…
LET’S EXPLORE! - Exploding Fireworks!
LET’S MOVE! - Firecracker Tag!
LET’S CREATE! - Firework Paintings!
LET’S EAT! - Patriotic Snacks & Sweets!
BUT THERE IS MORE!
In addition to the activities highlighted above,
we have one more idea to share for each category
AND
it comes straight from our Instagram site!
LET’S GO!
This experiment was a “WOW”
in Laura’s kindergarten classroom each year
and it’s become one she returns to regularly with her own Littles!
In fact, we first shared this experiment last year!
BUT because it’s so easy and so impactful, it’s worth sharing again!
It’s a simple version of a fireworks activity,
and will, most likely, get your own Littles oohing and aahing, too!
MATERIALS NEEDED
• milk (whole milk works best)
• liquid food coloring (again, not gel)
• dish soap (put some in a small bowl)
• cotton swabs (Q-tips)
• a clean shallow pan (a clear glass pan/pie plate works well)
DIRECTIONS
1. Pour milk into your dish..
2. Add several drops of food coloring - we've found that two to three colors seems to work best. Then dip the Q-tip in a small bowl of dish soap.
3. Gently touch the top surface of the milk near the edge of the pan) with the soapy end of the Q-tip!
4. Wait and watch! Before you know it, you’ll see lots of exploding fireworks!
Your younger Littles can help pour the milk into the dish as well as add drops of food coloring. Older Littles will be able to carefully add the cotton swab dipped in dish soap. In fact, don't be surprised if you're asked to "Do it again! Do it again!"
This year, Laura will be giving this version from Art, Crafts and Journals a try!
You need milk (preferably whole), paper towels (or thin cosmetic pads), dish soap and a dish or pan as well as washable markers! We’ll be sure to share what we discover!
Laurie posted this fun activity on IG earlier this spring!
It’s a perfect way to celebrate the 4th of July, too!!
Let a little child lead you…. I was with my granddaughters and we were exploring with playdough. I had lots of doodads out to use with it, including popsicle sticks. My Littles were standing up the sticks in mounds of dough, when the 3-year-old said, “Look Grammy – it’s a flag pole!” Since Memorial Day was approaching, I quickly printed out some American flags and attached them to the sticks. Soon we were talking about the flag, counting flags, and talking about colors in the flag (with our 18-month-old), all while strengthening those fine motor muscles. What a great adventure! ❤️ ♡ 💙
You can find the original IG post here!
Here’s a hilarious version of a classic tag game… While your Littles will love it, so will everyone involved! You’ll need some balloons (we used red, white and blue ones, of course) and some string. Blow up enough balloons so that each person playing has one. Cut one piece of string for each balloon that is at least 2 feet long, too.
When you are ready to play, tie one end of the string to a balloon and the other end to each person’s ankle so that everyone has a balloon attached to them. Yell out, “Ready, Set, Go!” and watch as everyone runs around, trying to tag each other by popping the balloons (the firecracker sound)! The last one to have an unpopped balloon wins the game!
Don’t have enough people to play? Try these options!: (1) If you don’t have enough people to play the game, give this challenge a try! Have your Little try to pop the balloon that’s attached to his/her own ankle.OR (2) Instead of tying balloons to ankles, give your Littles the challenge of creating that firecracker pop with another body part - their bottoms, a hand, their tummies or their knees are all possibilities! POP! POP! POP!
BONUS! We got a short IG reel of one of our Littles
playing her version of this tag game here!
CAUTION: Keep your eyes on your Littles and the balloons at all times AND especially when they pop! Uninflated balloons and pieces of broken ones are particularly dangerous because of the way they can stretch and mold to a child’s throat, making it impossible to breathe. When you are done playing the above game, turn the clean up into a quick contest by having everyone clean up the area as fast as they can!
Laurie first introduced this idea to her Littles to celebrate Flag Day
and it’s become a family favorite ever since!
NOTE: We found small flags at our local dollar store so be sure to check it out!
Stick flags all over your yard and time your Littles to see how long it takes them to collect all the flags by bringing each one to a bucket!! Do it again and see if they can beat their time!
You can find this original IG post here!
Have you ever made shaving cream marbled paper?
If the answer is “no,” get ready for some extra special fun!
Don’t you think these painting look just like fireworks
exploding in the air?
You’ll need a shallow baking dish like a pie plate or an 8 x 8 baking dish. You’ll also need some heavy paper (we used white cardstock), liquid food coloring, a stir stick (we used a bamboo skewer) and a scraper of some sort (we used a separate piece of cardstock for this).
Cut the paper so it fits easily into the baking dish you are using. Spray a layer of shaving cream to cover the bottom of your baking dish. Now it’s time to add color! Your Little can choose 2 colors, adding several drops of each on top of the shaving cream. Next, your Little will use the stir stick (skewer) to swirl the paint around for a marbled look. You may want to demonstrate how to do this and encourage your Little to make swirls all the way to the edge of the pan, too. At this point, your Little can choose one more paint/food coloring color and, again, add several drops. Swirl once again!
When your Little is happy with the marbling effect he/she has created, it’s time to press the heavy paper onto the marbled shaving cream. Encourage your Little to gently press from edge to edge! Carefully lift the paper up and off of the shaving cream!
Then use a scraper (or another piece of cardstock) to scrape off the excess shaving cream. The combinations are endless and your Littles will want to make more and more!
BEAUTIFUL!
Every Memorial Day and 4th of July
needs a paper flag made by Littles, don’t you think?
DIRECTIONS
Glue red strips of paper and a blue square of paper onto a rectangle of white paper. Then use stickers or fingerprints made with white paint to make stars on the blue paper!
Bring your American flag to your 4th of July celebration!
Our original IG post can be found here!
Prior to Memorial Day earlier this spring,
we shared a post devoted to this topic!
In our post, we offered our ideas for 10 of our favorite holiday treats…
Including these!
One other favorite dessert (that we DID NOT include in the post)
BUT that has all the red, white and blue feels,
is this Flag Cupcake Cake made by Laurie’s own DIL a few years ago!
Isn't it stunning?
Simply frost cupcakes (with red, white and blue frosting respectively)
and arrange them as a flag on a large tray.!
Her daughter-in-law then added white chocolate chips to the blue frosted cupcakes
to represent the stars!
This treat was included in our Memorial Day post (linked above)
but we also featured it as a recent IG post, too,
after Laurie and her Littles made their own!
Easy for little Littles to make and oh so delicious!
DIRECTIONS
Unwrap frozen ice cream sandwiches and cut them into smaller slices. Rotate each ice cream sandwich as you press the slightly melted edges of each into red, white and blue sprinkles. Refreeze until you are ready to enjoy!
Yum!
This IG post can be found here!
We hope this week’s post has given you some fresh ideas,
ones you can try anytime with your Littles
but especially as the 4th of July holiday approaches
or during your family celebrations!
We always welcome your comments
AND
we especially love it when you share your thoughts, suggestions and ideas with us!
Please feel free to comment at the end of this post or email us directly at
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We’ll be back next Thursday with our fourth edition of our summer series!
Be sure to come back to see what we've got up our sleeve then!
In the meantime,
we hope you all have the best "official" start
to the summer season!
SPECIAL THANKS TO THESE SITES FOR FEATURING OUR POST!
Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot & Here from Women Living Well Over 50 & Boondock Ramblings
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Looks like a grand time was had by all!! Thank you for sharing all of these ideas! Have a wonderful 4th!
Hi Laura and Laurie - once again you've shared some great craft ideas. The little ones would have a ball with them. I hope you enjoy your 4th of July celebrations and stay cool. Thanks for sharing at Min's #WWWhimsy linkup.
Debbie #TeamWWWhimsy
Visiting from WWWhimsy and I too was an enthusiastic grandmother/teacher/art and crafter when the grandkids were young. Mine are almost all adults. Time flies. Denyse
WOW!! Always so much great ideas along with recipes and crafts!! I am looking forward to when my twin granddaughters get older and can come to Mimi's house to play!! Thanks so much for your visits and your kind words... I hope you are staying cool in this heat!!
Hugs,
Deb
Debbie-Dabble Blog
Such a fun time of year with the littles- your crafts are so cute!