At Home : Holidays / Special Occasions : Alternatives to Fireworks : Home & Garden Television

Entertaining expert Dana Christine shares ideas for homemade party favors that children can make to use on the Fourth of July. Best of all, none of the projects involve explosives!

Figure A

Figure B

Figure C

Figure D

Figure E

Figure F

The Fourth of July is all about noise, and children love to make noise. Make colorful homemade noisemakers with dried beans, colored crepe paper, pie tins and a stapler (figure A). Simply lay the strips of red and blue crepe paper in a pie tin and pour in about a half-cup of dried beans (figure B). Top with another pie tin and staple around the edges (figure C).
For a little more noise, blow up a bunch of brightly colored balloons and scatter them on the floor in a relatively small area (so they don't get too scattered). Have party guests stomp on them to make plenty of noise.
Turn old snack canisters into patriotic bongos. Decorate them with colorful paper, then let children use a wooden spoon to bang on their homemade drums (figure D).
Commercial confetti is fairly expensive, considering that it's just a bunch of shredded bits of paper. Save money and have fun at the same time by having the children tear up colored construction paper to make their own batch of festive confetti (figure E).
Buy streamers at party supply stores (figure F). They're fun to throw and easy to clean up, too.
Attend community parades and walks, or organize a neighborhood parade.
Stage bicycle-decorating contests and hand out prizes for the most original, most colorful or most patriotic bikes.

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Figure H

Figure I

Make traditional British "poppers" with empty paper towel and toilet-paper rolls (figure G).

Cut an empty cardboard roll nearly in half, leaving it attached at one slim point (figure H).

Place a few trinkets or pieces of candy in the roll. Take two trash bag ties, form them into loops and use a hot-glue gun to attach the ties to each end of the roll (figure I). Glue the ties at the point where the tube is still attached. Roll the tube in colored tissue paper. To pop open, grasp the trash bag ties and pull.

Attend professionally staged laser-light shows or firework displays.

Pick up rolls of bubble wrap at a packing store. Roll it out on the floor and let the children stomp on the bubbles.

Figure J

Figure K

Make an All-American prize box (figure J). Fill an empty shirt or gift box with candy, confetti and small favors.

Cut scraps of red, white and blue tissue paper into one-inch squares. Wrap each square around the tip of a pencil, dip into white glue (figure K) and stick them on the box, covering all sides.

Guests
Dana Christine
Entertaining Expert
Grand Rapids, MN
Phone: 612-819-6611
E-mail: Danaholzinger@yahoo.com
Also in this Episode

TIPical Mary Ellen : Episode TIP-565
•	Fun Foods for the Fourth
•	Alternatives to Fireworks
•	Homemade Ice Cream Treats
•	Fourth of July Beverage

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