Holidays are a great opportunity to bring your community together. Although, I'm still not sure where June went here is a list of ideas of fun patriotic things your apartment community can do on Independence Day.

The week of the 4th:

• Draw a patriotic mural on your sidewalk with red, white & blue sidewalk chalk (or have residents submit facebook photos of their sidewalk chalk murals)
• Fill clear bags with red, white & blue assorted candy – tie with ribbons – have available in the office the week of the 4th for residents and prospects
• Host a balcony decorating contest - residents decorate balconies with red, white, and blue lights, flags all over.
• Have each of your team members wear red, white and blue during the week.
• Email your residents to thank them for being a part of your community and provide them with any additional holiday resources you may want to share.
• Provide links to local fireworks and other events in your resident portal or apartment blog.
• Have your residents share favorite 4th of July recipes – publish your favorites in resident newsletter/facebook/blog/twitter.

Organized Activities:

• Barbecue – everyone bring their own meat to grill, and a side item to share
• Have a pet costume contest.
• Decorate cookies with red, white & blue frosting, sprinkles, candy
• Host a hot-dog or apple-pie eating contest
• Make patriotic cupcakes – have residents bring (or provide for them) undecorated cupcakes and schedule a cupcake decorating party decorate with red, white & blue frosting and sprinkles.
• Have a picnic with organized games – relays, races, water balloon toss, tug-of-war, pin the tail, ... Serve red & blue fruit (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, watermelon) with white cool whipped topping
• Make tie-dyed shirts in red, white & blue
• Fourth of July themed movies – if you have a media center or community room to play movies throughout the day. If you're north of Texas (it's way hot here!) you may be able to setup an outdoor screen to show movies on the lawn.
• Resident Tailgate - have a tailgating party with residents and a scheduled time to carpool to the local fireworks display.
• Write letters to people you know serving in the military right now. Notify your residents that you will be collecting letters to send for them, or suggest a service like Email Our Military as a community project.
• Have a fundraiser to a local charity (sell lemonade, sell concessions, garage sale with proceeds going to charity)
• Organize a local volunteer opportunity - have residents meet and socialize while making a difference around your community.

For the Kids

• Bicycle parade – the kids decorate their bikes and ride in a parade through the neighborhood (don’t forget those helmets!). You can also decorate strollers, skateboards, wagons, wheelchairs, walkers and scooters.
• Red, white & blue crafts for kids – schedule a time to have activities for the kids in the community.
• Water based activities for kids – water balloons, bubbles, water guns, wading pools
• Find 4th of July coloring pages online for kids to color: here are some crafts and printables to get you started.

For more 4th of July Activities visit: MyPlanningList, Family Fun, Yahoo Independence Day.

Do you have any additional ideas or resources that your property uses?