4th of July Unique Carnival Picnic & Food Ideas

With the 4^th of July right around the corner who wants to throw just the every normal picnic? Not me for one, we usually go all out when the family can get together and try to be as unique as possible since the entire family doesn't get to get together in such a large group all the time.

One of the things we do that seems to go over well with children and adults alike is fruit on a stick. We use mini cookie cutters to cut the fruit into shapes and then alternate different types of fruit down a shish kabob stick. It never fails you will always seem someone hovering around the fruit place holding a stick.

Another tasty patriotic dish, Strawberry shortcake with blueberries, whenever you can incorporate red white and blue into your food it's sure to be a hit. Last year we made strawberry shortcake with blueberries, but then added in a small American flag as decoration to the shortcakes. Everyone raved over how cute they where and not a single one was left over by the end of the night.

Also what else could be a better time to turn your family picnic into a carnival? No matter the age everyone loves the carnival. Here are some ideas on homemade carnival games everyone can enjoy.

Bean bag toss: all you need are some bean bags and a large box with holes cut out. Decorate the box to make it festive. If you do not have bean bags on hand these can be easily made with some old socks and beans, pour beans into the ends of socks, cut, and sew shut.

Floating duck pond: you will need a small child's wading pool and some floating ducks. On the bottom of the ducks in water proof marker you will want to write numbers on the bottom and correlate prizes with the numbers on the bottom. As the child picks a duck they win the prize that goes a long with the number.

Dino Egg Hunt: this one is very popular with the boys. First you will fill able Easter eggs. If you can find dinosaur's at the dollar store even better, as you will want to fill the Easter eggs with some sort of dinosaur or animal toys. You will need another small wading pool for this activity filled with sand, bury the eggs and let the little ones dig for their dino eggs.

The kids will enjoy all the activities and prizes and you will be keeping them busy. You can always turn any type of carnival game into an educational game by giving little tid-bits of trivia along with the dino game, or math lessons with floating duck pond or bean bag toss. The possibilities are endless.