Summertime boasts three opportunities to host a Patriotic Theme Picnic. You can choose Memorial Day, July 4th, or Labor Day. This is a simple family party to put together since many of its components will be ready available at party stores.

You have the color scheme since red, white, and blue is the only one to fit our Patriotic Theme. Using more scotch tape, tacks, or various types of holders will keep streamers, balloons, flags, and other decorations in place. Don't skimp on these if you want to truly carry your theme. You will find no end to the supplies to make your theme look like campaign night. There are tons of paper products in red, white, and blue along with flags, and items with stars representing the states. You might use Uncle Sam hats, Liberty Bells, or even the scales of justice. My mother has a hedge, which runs parallel to the long driveway, and she sticks flags in every few feet for a very attractive display.

Try to add the same color scheme to some of your food. I've seen some beautiful cakes and desserts made like flags. Anything done in the shape of the US is good also. Even firecracker shapes can be fun since fireworks are sometimes a part of the festivities. I've seen cranberry sauce jellied and made in a juice can with a tiny candle stuck in the center. These would need to be frozen if the day was hot. Use plates and serving pieces in your scheme. Remember when colors are tough to come by for foods for a theme, you can use the color in everything else such as picnic ware, tablecloths etc. Serve usual picnic foods on red, white, and blue and the effect will still be terrific.

Plan activities and games accordingly. If fireworks are allowed where you live, invest in enough to make a small, but respectable presentation. Keep the items you purchase legal and always keep safety in mind. Note- the average person is not qualified to set off anything too sophisticated, so please don't chance it.

Games could be active or passive. There are typical picnic games like softball, volleyball, and Frisbee. You could arrange old -fashioned events like a fishpond for kids or a sack race for adults. Hot day, hotter than ah ah ah, set up sprinklers or water slide toys for the youngest guests, but don't be surprised if your adults get in the act. Rain put a damper on the whole thing? Maybe a tug -o-war will liven things up. Don't forget relay races and games you design with a patriotic theme in mind.

Prizes and favors can be in the form of flags, patriotic t-shirts, baseball caps, sunglasses, or cap (firecracker) guns. Each one has some significance you can tie in. For example, sunglasses, because the future in America is so sunny. Be creative.

I always remember when my father, who always bought me a cap gun for every July 4th, bought me one when I was 16 for a joke. Hey, it was still fun even then. If you want to add an element of silly to any party, hand adults toys. Once we gave all the ladies batons and all the guys dart guns you blew through with tiny suction cup projectiles. We had a blast, I would advise doing this at an outside party since I found those darn darts for several months afterward when we did it inside. Water pistols are another fun idea since you have no clue how much fun hot weather and adults with water guns are until you try it.

Have a great time, but make sure some moment of your party is given over to honoring our great country and saluting it since we are all so lucky to be here.

Credits: Jo Ann Wentzel