No 4th of July is complete without some sort of get-together. And typically, that get-together is a backyard BBQ. But how to make it kid-friendly? Let’s design a kid-friendly 4th of July BBQ worthy of a core memory!
In the U.S., the 4th of July is the centerpiece of the summer. We typically kick-off summer with Memorial Day and wrap it up with Labor Day, but 4th of July is where the memories are made. I don’t know about you, but I want my kids to develop vivid positive memories of summertime and the 4th of July. To make that happen, we need to keep the kids front and center when planning our 4th of July BBQs. Don’t worry, there is plenty of room for fun for the adults too!
When planning a kid-friendly 4th of July BBQ, keep the three Fs in mind: food, fun, and fireworks. If you manage to hit these three points, you’re guaranteed to have a successful get-together!
Kid-Friendly 4th of July BBQ
Food
If you’re having a 4th of July BBQ, you must have food! The 4th of July is the perfect opportunity to fire up the grill. In fact, I try to plan to cook as much of the 4th of July food on the grill as possible. Using the grill to its maximum potential has 3 key benefits: no one is stuck inside cooking while everyone else is enjoying the party, the house stays cool without an oven and stove in constant use, and your husband can do the heavy lifting while you enjoy a cold beverage.
Hot dogs and hamburgers
You can’t get much more classic than hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill for the 4th of July. Sure, you could get fancy and grill up some other main dish, but hot dogs and hamburgers will be your best bet for a kid-friendly 4th of July BBQ. I don’t know why, but I can typically get my kids to eat both hamburgers and hot dogs. Of course, there are days when they will decide to boycott one or both of these options (and the dog loves these days), but on the whole, hot dogs and hamburgers are some of the most successful entrees I have in my arsenal.
Make sure you have ketchup and mustard for the kids, but you can also get a little fancy with the topping options for the adults in your party. Make some chili in the crock pot for a chili dog station. Fry up some bacon and pop some frozen onion rings in the air fryer for homemade Western burgers. You can really have some delicious food for very little effort!
Corn on the cob
Another great dish that can be thrown on the grill! You can make corn on the cob many ways on the grill. Before I had kids, I loved to shuck it, slather it in butter, salt, pepper, and whatever other seasonings tickled my toes, and wrap it in foil before cooking it on the grill. Man, this is good, but labor intensive! Nowadays, I just soak the whole ear of corn, husk and all, in water for 20 or so minutes and then slap the whole darn thing on the grill. Less flavorful, but so much easier!
Here’s a hot tip for serving corn on the cob straight from West Virginia, especially if you go the easy route discussed above. Have extra bread/buns available for buttering, then use the buttered bread/bun to butter your corn. Can we petition to include this trick in Emily Post’s Etiquette?
Mac and cheese
You’ll have to turn the stove and oven on for this, but your kids will thank you. I like to have mac and cheese available for most get-togethers that involve young children, especially a kid-friendly 4th of July BBQ. If they don’t want to eat the main dish, they will almost certainly eat mac and cheese. That way you know they’ve had some protein and some fat in addition to all the carbs they love, so they won’t wake up starving at 2:00 a.m.
There is no shame in Kraft Easy Mac or Annie’s Mac & Cheese in a box most days of the week but go the extra mile and make it from scratch for a holiday get-together. I keep it simple with Southern Living’s baked macaroni and cheese recipe, but there are many delicious recipes for baked mac and cheese out there. Just don’t succumb to the Devil’s influence and make a stovetop version. A penance of 10 Hail Marys is required.
Baked beans
Another reason to cook inside, baked beans are a sneaky kid favorite. My all-time favorite baked beans recipe comes from none other than my girl Jessica at How Sweet Eats. I really should start a fan club. Even my husband, whose sworn enemy is beans of all varieties, loves these baked beans. Do yourself a favor and make a cheeky cornbread for leftovers. Divine!
Fruit salad
No kid-friendly 4th of July BBQ is complete without a big ol’ fruit salad. Any mix of fruits will do, honestly, but why not make it a little festive and choose red, white, and blue fruits? I’m thinking strawberries and watermelon for the red, white peaches for the white, and blueberries for the blue. My mother-in-law is almost always in charge of the fruit salad at our family get-togethers and she does a great job. Want to make a festive fruit salad this year, Nonna?
Flag cake
I know I already suggested you make a flag cake for Memorial Day, but it was such a hit with my kids last month, that I’m going to suggest you make another one for your kid-friendly 4th of July BBQ. They are easy, delicious, and incredibly festive. My 4-year-old son made our Memorial Day version, so I plan on conscripting him for this task again for the 4th of July.
Fun
Although food is likely the star of the show, you need to think about fun for the kids too to make your 4th of July BBQ truly kid-friendly. I’m largely lifting the ideas for kid-friendly 4th of July BBQ fun from my Best Outdoor Toys post, but read on for a few new ideas specific to the 4th of July holiday.
Wet fun
Because the 4th of July is typically reliably warm in much of the country, might I suggest basing many of your fun offerings around water? Kids of all ages love to play in and with water. And water play can be easily adapted to the ages of the children that will be attending your 4th of July BBQ. On my husband’s side of the family, we have only relatively little kids. My son at 4 and a half is the oldest, and my daughter at 2 is the youngest. Some water activities we like to offer include:
Slip and slide
Kiddie pool
Water table
Splash pad
Spray bottles
Now, if my sister’s family lived closer, we would need to cater to a slightly older audience, my 7- and 9-year-old nephews. To get them involved in water play, I would recommend:
Slip and slide
Squirt guns
Refillable water balloons
A hose and spray nozzle
Make sure you have plenty of towels available and advise your guests to bring swimsuits and dry clothes!
Dry fun
It is also nice to offer a fun activity or two that doesn’t involve getting soaked to the bone.
Bubbles
Bubbles are always nice to have on hand. You can have individual bubble containers for each kid, a giant vat of bubbles with multiple dipsticks, bubble guns, or a bubble machine. Pick your bubble poison!
Sidewalk chalk
Name me a kid who doesn’t like to scribble with sidewalk chalk. I’ll wait. Get a giant pack with plenty for all of your kid guests to use, rope off a piece of the driveway or patio for their art, and turn them loose!
Yard games
If you have a group of mixed-age kids attending your 4th of July BBQ, yard games are super fun. There are so many yard games to choose from, all of which can provide hours of entertainment for you kid and adult guests of all ages. Some yard games to consider are:
Croquet
Badminton
Volleyball
Cornhole
Giant Jenga
Bocce
Lawn bowling
Horseshoes
Ladder golf
Frisbee
Fireworks
What’s the 4th of July without fireworks? Luckily, there are options to include fireworks in your kid-friendly 4th of July celebration for all ages and levels of effort.
I wouldn’t suggest giving the smallest of children (like mine) explosive devices. This doesn’t mean that “fireworks” are out of the question, though. Head on over to my beloved Dollar Tree and pick up a couple of packs of glow sticks for the kids. Crack them and let them go to town waving them around. If they go to bed before darkness falls, pile them into the basement with their glow sticks and turn off the lights. They’ll have a blast!
If your kid guests are old enough to be trusted with safely handling fire, sparklers are always fun. I used to love to write my name in the air with sparklers on the 4th of July when I was a slightly older kid. I’d stay away from the options that are purely noisemakers. You want your neighbors to like you, after all.
If you’re like my husband’s family, you can go all-out with a professional caliber fireworks display right in the backyard. It will impress your family and friends and almost scare off any hopeful suitors of your adult children, especially if a mishap occurs. Just make sure that whoever is charged with manning the fireworks display can run fast.
Finally, you can pack up your party and head to your local fireworks display. Just make sure to pack your patience!
How are you spending the 4th of July this year? If you’re having a kid-friendly 4th of July BBQ, I hope the kids and adults alike have a blast!