GUEST BLOG POST: Fun & Safe Fireworks by Marie Coltrane

It is almost the fourth of July. My children love to shoot off fireworks and play with sparklers. But because of a “burn ban” in the area, we are not be able to do that.

Fortunately, there is another way kids can see and “play with” fireworks.

They are called Milk Fireworks. To create them is very easy, safe and fun.

First, gather a cookie sheet (with sides), milk, food coloring, liquid dish soap, and a small dropper. Second, pour some milk into the cookie sheet – enough to cover the bottom. Next, drop some drops of food coloring all over the milk. Finally, on one end of the cookie sheet, drop one small drop (the smaller the better) of liquid dish soap. Watch the fireworks go! When they start to slow down, you can drop another drop of liquid soap in on the opposite end and then you can see it go again. (Repeat as many times as you want.)

Another type of “firework” you can create in your home is straw painting. This is done by having your child drop one drop of liquid paint on their painting surface. Then, taking a straw and blowing through it, they can move the paint around and the results will look like small firework blasts. Do as many colors and blasts as you want. You can also decorate your landscape to make it more realistic or fantastic.

All six of my children love these two activities. I hope yours will as well. 

Have a wonderful 4th!!

Marie Coltrane is the author of Stimulate your Child through the Years without going Bankrupt.  She is the mother of six children ages 16 to 3.  Marie lives and works in Texas and loves to share ideas with parents about how to play with their children without breaking the bank.