We had this party at our house each July 4th for many years, and every single year it was a great hit.

Afternoon Event - July 4th costumes (one year my sister came as the Statue of Liberty from a grey sheet, my niece came as a 1776 drum 'made out of tag board,' and my daughter in an Abe Lincoln hat and coat), ingenuity is the key.

Invitations:

• You can do whatever you want here. I LOVE hand made invitations, but you can email, call or do whatever you would like.
  
  
• This is a picnic; generally people will bring their own meat to grill and a dish to pass. As the host you can have the beverage and snacks. Or whatever you would like to do.
  
  
• You need to get an RSVP from the people coming, and kids (at least eight and above) love this party and can join right in –
  
  
• When inviting people tell them you will be having a lip sync (more about this below).

Scorecards:

You make a score card (use heavier paper and cut to about a 4” x 6”). There needs to be two colors of score cards (you will see why in a minute). On all the cards you list the names of the games and the point value for each game (3pts winner, 2 pts 2nd place, 1 pt 3rd place). We gave the lip syncs more point values. Also put a line next to the game (in case you are the winner – you get to put the points down).

Now this is the most important part of getting the scorecards ready. You buy an assortment of stickers. On your scorecards at a corner you put on a sticker then a matching sticker on another scorecard, then another two stickers that match, then another two stickers and so on till you have made as many invitations as you have people. THEN when people come you hand out these cards and then each guest has to find the person who has the matching sticker to see who his partner is to play the games.

Games:

I just used my imagination for the names and games that we played; here are some of them:

• The Benedict Arnold Egg Race – Line up in two lines, everyone is given a spoon, the first line is given an egg to put on their spoon. They have to carry the egg on their spoon to where their partner is (about 30 feet) on the other line. They have to (without the use of hands) put the egg on the second person’s spoon. That person now goes (and remember time is key – SO HURRY) back to where the original person was.
  
  
• The Revolutionary Obstacle Course – The host sets up an obstacle course (a tire, a ladder, a swing, toss a ball in the air – again use your imagination - anything goes). One person is blindfolded and the other coaches his partner through this TIMED race. The host shows where the obstacle race starts, where it goes (or doesn’t go – maybe they have to walk on the right of a sidewalk NOT the left) and where it finishes.
  
  
• The Potomac River Balloon Toss – The host fills up balloons with water. Two lines form again, but this time only a yard apart. The first toss is easy to the other line (take one step back), you throw again (take one step back, you throw again (take one step back), and continue this until the lines are quite some distance away and the balloons are dropped. Last one standing gains points.
  
  
• The George Washington Lip Sync – People decide on the song they want to lip sync to, they bring the CD and possibly costumes and props to go with their song. This is absolutely a riot!!!!!!!!!
  
  
• The Valley Forge Volley Ball Game – This is where the two different colors on the score card comes in to play; the people who have one color play the people who have the other color.

Decorations:

Around the fourth of July you can go to any Dollar Store and find great decorations and crepe paper. So I loved putting up decorations to enhance the day.

THE ORDER OF THE DAY:

To Start the Day: Each couple who paired up from the matching stickers on the scorecards, grab the big flag that we had on a pole and ran around the house……..

Games: You can have any order you like, but we did them in this order: the egg walk, the ballon toss, the obstacle course, the volley ball game and last the lip sync (the best for last).

Grilled: We do our grilling after the games, but this is totally up to you.

To End the Day: We sing: “I’m Proud to Be An American” (we get the words and and the CD and we sing along, what a great way to end the day).