We love to celebrate every holiday, but the 4th of July is a hard one to celebrate with two young kids. The fireworks are all done by hotels here, and there’s always a huge crowd to view them- it always takes us almost an hour to leave the parking lot afterwards.
Then of course they’re so loud! Loud noises and crowds are not a good combination for kids who have been kept up past their bedtime {since the fireworks don’t even start until 9pm}.
Instead of trying to go to a big event this 4th of July, we just held our own kid-friendly 4th of July BBQ the other night! It was perfect because it was earlier in the evening so they weren’t overtired, but they still had some fun activities to do and some yummy food to eat!
First I set up a table with all of our favorite BBQ foods. We grilled some chicken, and I made some mashed potatoes with gravy, corn, and my favorite: summer nachos! {See the super easy recipe below!}
After we grilled & ate, it was starting to get a little dark so we changed into our jammies and had fun with some kid-friendly glow sticks and light up necklaces! We also used party poppers in place of fireworks and blew bubbles- because you don’t need an excuse to blow bubbles!
The kids had so much fun and we didn’t have to stay up too late, deal with overtired kids, or try to navigate the streets full of discarded fireworks on the way home. Of course, we will still watch the fireworks, but now we don’t have to do a whole big thing. We’ll be watching from our car across the street from one of the hotels, and I’m almost certain Zac will sleep right through it.
Want to have your own kid-friendly BBQ? Here are my top five tips:
1. Keep the time of day in mind. Summer BBQs are tricky because you don’t want to be outside at the hottest part of the day {between 4-6pm} but you don’t want to keep them up too late. Consider having a lunch-time BBQ, or consider setting up some activities inside {with someone to supervise} so that little ones aren’t outside in the heat the whole time.
2. Provide some fun activities. Whether you’re handing out glow sticks, providing a new bucket of sidewalk chalk, or going swimming, make sure there’s something for kids to do. Being at a party full of grown ups outside in the heat is miserable if you don’t have anything fun to do.
3. Pick some kid-friendly foods. Not everything you make has to be straight from a box with a cartoon character on it, but provide some things that kids typically like. Fresh fruit, cut up veggies, chicken, and of course a yummy dessert are all great options!
4. Safety first. It can be hard to keep track of everything when you’re grilling and entertaining guests, so be sure to enlist someone to keep an eye on the kids. Whether you have a pool, fireworks, or just a flaming hot grill, a barbecue is a particularly dangerous place for kids if they aren’t being supervised!
5. Make clean up easy. If you have a house full of people to entertain, and little ones to keep track of, you don’t want to spend half your party cleaning up from cooking. Take shortcuts like using paper plates, grabbing precut vegetables when possible, and using Clorox products.
Clorox has two brand new products that are perfect for fast clean-up, during a summer barbecue or anytime. The new Pump ‘N Clean Kitchen & Dish Cleaner is a handy bottle of bleach-free liquid cleaning solution that is always just a pump away. Use a sponge, paper towel, or cloth and press down with just one hand to pump the product out and clean up the mess!
The best part is that it’s food-safe {though you shouldn’t use it to clean raw meat or fish} so you can use it to clean your work station between cutting different vegetables, countertop spills, or whatever else you need it for! I actually brought our pump outside to clean up messes on the spot using the red, white, and blue napkins we were using!
The other Clorox product that I used to make my BBQ cleanup quick was their new ScrubSingles Kitchen Pads. They are disposable scrubbing pads that come preloaded with Clorox cleaner- all you have to do is wet them and scrub your mess- then toss it when you’re done.
It’s my new favorite tool for grilling- it lets us clean the grill and grilling tools in a flash without having to deal with the nasty grill brush that doesn’t fit anywhere in my kitchen and that my husband refuses to clean himself so I get stuck washing it and it scratches me the entire time. {I hate that grill brush. I hate it so much.}
We made these Summer Veggie “Nachos” for the BBQ and they were so delicious! Justin actually gets credit for helping me come up with this fresh & yummy alternative to classic nachos. They feature red bell peppers instead of chips, refreshing guacamole instead of cheese, and of course some fresh veggies on top.
We chose to use diced cherry tomatoes and finely diced red onions because those are some of our favorites, but you could choose whatever veggies you like to top these off with. The red bell pepper and guacamole are a must though, just because they taste so good together and are such a great, summery combination! They’re much more bikini season friendly than traditional nachos, too.
What’s your favorite thing about summer barbecues?
Meghan says
I am loving your veggie nachos.
Pam says
I love the veggie nacho idea. What a fun and light summer snack.
Liz Mays says
Wow, those veggie nachos look fantastic. That Clorox Pump ‘N Clean is so cool. I need to pick one up!
Stacie @ Divine Lifestyle says
I love the veggie nachos idea. What a fun way to get some healthy stuff into the kids – and my husband! 😉
Catherine S says
The veggie nachos look good. My favorite thing about summer barbecues is spending time with family and friends.
Marcie W. says
Making our BBQs family friendly are an absolute must along with easy clean up. As a vegetable fanatic, I will definitely be trying those summer nachos soon!
Brandy says
What a cool, yummy recipe idea. I love Summer time BBQ’s too, my kids have been begging for me to have one big one. I think I will when we move!
Amanda O. says
Love those summer veggie nachos. I’ll be adding them to my next get together.
Alesha @ Full Time Mama says
Veggie nachos are just the thing I need for a yummy, healthy snack. My husband makes some amazing homemade guac, so I will DEF need to make these! Great idea!
I also love that Pump ‘N Clean Kitchen & Dish Cleaner- I def need that for my kitchen counters to help clean up the little messes from these 4 less-than-tidy kiddos! lol
Felicia says
These are all wonderful tips! BBQ’s are so much fun.
Veronica says
the last time I tried to barbecue I was without eyelashes and eyebrows for a month. Lol. I haven’t messed with it since and that was 6 years ago
Sabrina @ Dinner, then Dessert says
It wouldn’t be summer without a backyard barbecue! Looks like you had a great time!
Tracy @ Ascending Butterfly says
Those Summer Veggie “Nachos” look great! At first I thought that the Pump ‘N Clean Kitchen & Dish Cleaner was hand sanitizer, LOL! 🙂
Kristi says
My favorite thing about summer bq’s is seeing friends and family and the great selection of food as most of them are potluck that we attend.
Christie says
I agree that kid safety is so important at a BBQ, especially when there’s a hot grill involved! Loving your veggie nachos too, so colorful
Toni | Boulder Locavore says
Love the Vegie nachos! They are genius. You bring up great tips for celebrating with smaller children.
Jeanine says
What great ideas! We love having bbqs and inviting people over who usually all have kiddos to add to the mix!
Stephanie says
That looks like a great idea! I’m always looking for a new way to eat veggies. I’m not really a huge fan of them so anything I can do to make them more appealing is always a good thing!
Donna says
The food! Some of my favorite things about bbq’s are cooking outside, family, the taste of grilled food, watermelon, and now thanks to Clorox, easier clean up! And did I say, “Food”! 🙂
Chrystal | YUM eating says
Bubbles and cupcakes! Can’t go wrong there! I am a big fan of vegi nachos. I use bell peppers and smaller peppers for a lasagna style recipe, too.
Robin (Masshole Mommy) says
I love all the cute decor. I think my favorite things are the cupcakes and the bubbles!
Kate K (My Mommy Brain) says
The veggie nachos look great (minus the onions!). Clever idea!
Beth@FrugalFroggie says
Thankfully we live in walking distance from seeing fireworks. Our kids survived staying up late.
Lisa Joy Thompson says
My kids are still recovering from being up too late watching fireworks the other night! This is a great alternative and I need to remember this next year!
Cinny says
That’s such an awesome scrubbing pad. It’d be great for our grill too.