How to have a Great 4th of July with Your Family. Make plans today to not let this July 4th be just another day. Create a memorable celebration for your family.

1. Plan a 4th of July party. Invite another family over or a bigger crowd. We found some fun crafts and simple desert recipes online.

Find a patriotic movie to watch together.

2. Share your feelings of gratitude for living in the USA, like many families do at Thanksgiving. Go around the table and ask each person to share two reasons why they’re grateful for America.

3. Find a story from history to share with the children, or if they’re older, give each one an assignment and ask them to share a picture and some facts about their hero for your Independence Day celebration.

4. Use what you have on hand, like hands and feet, to create this 4th of July flag as a team effort.

The favorite traditions for our family of six kids growing up for the 4th were homemade ice cream, watermelon seed spitting contests, and sitting on the roof to watch the fireworks. From our home in North Tempe, we could see the big fireworks from ASU, SRP Pera Club, and three to four other locations.

Have a wonderful Independence Day and family day!
Beth

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Having fun with our families and creating priceless memories together is one of the best ways to build teamwork, develop closer bonds, and makes us all healthier. Watch this funny  video of Chad Morton, a stay at home Dad in Atlanta, that has gone viral with over two million hits.

Here are 8 great ways to get your family to laugh more and have fun together.
1. Be silly. Impersonate a ballerina or Dora the Explorer or their favorite Superhuman cartoon character. Act like a chimpanzee or a silly monster.
Pretend to fall off the couch, onto the coffee table and roll across the floor. Make silly faces, like exaggerated grins.
2. Start a tickle-fight. Wrestle together as a family. Get everyone involved down on the floor.
3. Make up your own silly song. Use familiar lyrics to a children’s song but add your own silly words.

4. Create a silly prank when no one is expecting it. Pretend there’s a bug and you’re scared of it, or a mouse and you’re standing on the chair. Or play hide ‘n seek all over the house.
5. Children love being chased. Clear an area and tell your child you’re going to ‘get her’.
6. Get our your old ‘knock-knock’ jokes and silly riddles.
7. Share a funny story from your childhood. When Dads share self-depreciating humor, stories of how they  failed  when they were younger, its endearing to children.
8. Watch Mr Bean videos. Dads, have your family watch this funny video of Mr Bean who tries to use the kids slide at the pool and when he gets chased off, he tries the high dive and is too scared to dive.

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Okay, so you’re the Dad. That means you want to be Mr. Generous, and you want to make sure your children have everything. Good for you.

But the best we can do for our children has very little to do with passing over the keys to a new car, hooking Jr. up with that fly pair of $200 sneakers, or making sure your offspring attend the finest schools. What loving fathers “do” is to provide a framework in which kids can grow up to be the very best young people they can possibly be.

Our opportunity, as loving All Pro Dads, is to craft the kind of environment where such growth is possible. There’s a lot we can do – and the following “10 Things loving fathers do for their children” are a great place to start:

  • Loving fathers… love their children’s mother: This is huge – possibly the most beneficial intervention dads can do on behalf of their children. Love your wife without reservation – you can’t do much more for your kids than that.
  • Love them unconditionally: Make sure that your children know you love them “no matter what.” Don’t confuse this with permissiveness – unconditional love does nothing to encourage the wrong kind of behavior. In fact, kids who are secure in their father’s love tend to act out less, not more.
  • Grow up: We’re talking about the dads here, not the kids! Children don’t want another buddy – they want a dad. They want someone who thinks things through, makes tough decisions and engages life with responsibility – someone they can count on.
  • Be there: “Quality time” is all well and good… but it has nothing on quantity time. Make the time. Everyone has the same 24 hours available. Make yours count.
  • Provide: Just do it.
    – A stable home
    – Love and affection
    – Material needs
    – Presence
  • Discipline: Children appreciate an even hand, balance, accountability and love-drenched discipline. It’s called consistency, and without clearly defined boundaries, it is very difficult to grow up.
  • Value education: Don’t just read to them – read with them. Don’t just fuss about grades – get involved with their homework. Don’t just talk about learning – be a hands-on advocate
  • Raise them to leave: The simple goal of being a family, of parenting our children, doesn’t look any more complicated than this: raise them well equipped to leave home and to establish faithful lives.
  • Teach them to take responsibility: Kids who learn how to duck responsibility and avoid cost will – sooner or later – fall flat on their faces. Loving fathers make sure their children know how to own up, clean up, and move forward.
  • Teach them to love this life: The best predictor of happiness in children is happiness in their parents. If we learn how to love this life, and then give that blessing to our kids, then they will be well prepared for satisfaction.
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