Family-Friendly Atlantic City: Duality and 4th of July

The 4^th of July is tomorrow, and many families are trying to figure out how to spend the holiday. Should we trek up to the mountains? Should we gather with neighbors for a cookout? Should we stay home and relax? There is another option, friends! We’ve got two words for you:

Atlantic. City.

What?!  With my family?!?

YES!

Until recently, we’ve associated Atlantic City, NJ with fun weekend getaways, bachelor parties and casinos. Not anymore! Atlantic City has done some great work to become a family-friendly travel destination, thanks to the Atlantic City Alliance. Now there is fun for everyone in AC!

 Intrigued? Independence Day is the perfect chance to check out all of the Family Fun Atlantic City has to offer.

Aside from the beach, boardwalk and fireworks, Atlantic City Alliance has teamed up with Montreal-based media and entertainment studio, Moment Factory, to debut the breath-taking 3-D Light Show, Duality, directly after the fireworks show on July 4^th around 9:30pm. Moment Factory has worked on similar shows for Celine Dion and Madonna, so we know this will be spectaular!

Duality is an 8-1/2 minute light show that shares the story of Atlantic City’s rich history, which will be projected onto the facade of Boardwalk Hall. Spanning the decades of architecture, recreation, social progress and industrial achievements, Duality will utilize light and sound to amaze audiences. The show will be shown year round, twice an hour (subject to change on seasons and special events).

This is the first light show of it’s kind in Atlantic City, taking 3 months to build with a team of 35 members. How amazing would it be to bring your family and see the inaugural show?!

Here is a sneak preview of Duality (all photos courtesy of Moment Factory):

How did they do that?!? Check out some Duality behind the scenes action:

Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall from Moment Factory on Vimeo.

Start planning your trip today – it’s not too late! There are plenty ofFamily-Friendly activities in Atlantic City, and a vibrant nightlife for the parents to enjoy! For more information on Atantic City, click here.

This post is brought to you with the support of the Atlantic City Alliance. Join the conversation about the new Atlantic City at #HowIDoAC on Twitter. Find them onFacebook and twitter.

Crafting with Little Kids: Sponge Painting, Independence Day decoration

Sponge painting is a fun and easy craft to do with kids of all ages. The paint can be anything from washable acrylics, watercolors, or even just water used to make patterns on the sidewalk or a wooden fence. While I’m sure there are pre-cut shaped sponges available to purchase, I decided to cut out my own shapes from a large new sponge, using cookie cutters as inspiration for the shapes.

I had in mind using the sponge paintings as decorations for our upcoming family July 4th BBQ, so I made sure to cut out a star

shape sponge. Using small cookie cutters, I traced the shapes onto the sponge with a sharpie pen. An exacto knife and scissors helped with cutting out the shapes.

Supplies:

Sponge shapes, either pre-cut or homemade

washable paint (even finger paint would work)

construction paper

plastic dish for paint

Directions: Cover your work surface with newspapers or an old table cloth. Explain the process of using the sponges, similar to rubber stamps, to your child. Show them how to dip the sponges into the paint and then onto the paper to make any pattern they like. It helped to water down the paint to make it the consistency of melted ice cream. Using a small plate with sides helped contain the mess from the paint. Let your child be as creative as they want! For very young kids, they can use water as paint and make prints on paper as well…it just won’t be permanent, or go outside and use the sidewalk as a canvas.

To make a flag garland for our party, I took two of the finished paintings, ones with mostly star shapes on red and blue paper, and cut each page into eight rectangles. (I folded the page in half twice, then a third time to get eight equal rectangles.) I then used a hole puncher to punch out two holes at the top of each rectangle, about an inch apart and centered. All of the rectangles were threaded onto a long cord/ribbon to create a garland of flags to decorate for our party. This can be done for any themed party, just color coordinate the construction paper and the sponge shapes to match your theme! It is a nice way to incorporate your little kids’ craft projects into inexpensive and festive holiday decorations!

You can find more crafts and other adventures with a preschooler on Diane’s blog Knitting Zeal.