5 Fun and Free Family July 4th Art and Music Activities

You can enjoy a festive Independence Day with your family and children with these fun and practically free patriotic art and music activities. Using only a few things found around the house and some basic art supplies, you can enjoy family fun which will build memories for a lifetime.

Fourth of July Art Project 1: Fourth of July American Flag Collage
Collect all of your old magazines, paper scraps, colorful tissue wrap, construction paper, and gift wrap. Pull out pages that have patriotic red, white and blue paper. Using scissors or your fingers (for tiny hands), position scraps of red, white, and blue stars and stripes on a blank piece of white paper. Use small white scraps for the stars, long stripes of white and red papers for the stripes, and bits of blue paper for the background. Glue the paper scraps to the white paper. You and your children can have fun gluing the stars and stripes in a wonderful American flag Fourth of July collage. Hang the American flag on the fridge or your child's room or tape it to a stick for flag waving fun.

Fourth of July Art Project 2: Fourth of July Fingerpaint Fireworks
Using Crayola washable and non-toxic paint, have your children fingerpaint fun Fourth of July fireworks on a large sheet of light blue paper. For extra fun, glue glitter or bits of aluminum foil to the fingerpaint fireworks to give them extra shimmer. This is a messy art project. Be sure to have extra paper towels and wipes handy.

Fourth of July Music Project 1: The Imaginary Patriotic Musical Marching Band
Children love to pretend. Dress the children in patriotic costumes and pop on a fun John Phillip Sousa march like "Stars and Stripes" and enjoy a pretend imaginary musical marching band parade through your house or even in your neighborhood. You kids can pretend to play the drums, trumpets, piccolo, or cymbals.

Fourth of July Music Project 2: Making Your Own Fourth of July Drums
Save oatmeal containers, large plastic ice cream tubs, and plastic containers. Paint the outside of the containers with red, white, and blue paint (or use colorful electric tape for decorating). Using wooden spoons, your children can enjoy a fun musical band that they have made themselves. Take them to an outdoor music concert with their musical instruments. Enjoy watching them play along with the band!

Fourth of July Music Project 3: Musical American Dance Twirlers
All you need for this fun music project is party streamers from the local party supermarket, wooden dowels, and tape. Use colorful red, white, and blue party streamers and tape them securely to the wooden art dowel. Put on some fun patriotic music, like Fourth of July marches or patriotic songs like "America the Beautiful" and let your children enjoy dancing with these fun dance twirlers.