Thursday Theme: Artist Party

Let your imagination go wild with this fun party theme. If your kid loves to paint, draw or create, they will enjoy an artist party.

Instead of traditional party games, plan simple art activities but keep in mind that art is about the process not the final product. Instead of planning craft activities where the guest make something from a model, provide a variety of materials and let the children be creative.

Younger kids will enjoy creating masterpieces using finger paints, clay,and stickers. If you are concerned about messes and spills, take the party outside.

Get rolls of newsprint from the local newspaper (they often sell roll ends for quite a bargain). Roll out the paper along the floor or tape to a wall to provide a giant mural or banner that everyone can work on together.

Give the children sidewalk chalk to decorate the driveway or sidewalk in front of your house.

Buy large plastic painting sheets or tarps at the dollar store and completely cover the floor and wall of

Thursday Theme: Baking Party

A fun and delicious theme for a party is a bakers theme. Kids love to help make and eat yummy baked goods. If you are nervous about having several little helpers in your kitchen, simply do all of the actual baking before hand and have the guests participate by decorating cupcakes or cookies that you make in advance. But let’s face it, the kids will feel even better if they actually get to make the goodies. It’s a good idea to only plan on baking one or two things so having something already baked that the kids can just decorate might be good to fill in time while another dish is baking. For younger kids, it is a good idea to crack eggs and measure ingredients ahead of time and have them in small bowls or cups so that the children can help add ingredients easily. Don’t let the kids pick what items you are going to make. Only plan on baking one or two things during the party.

Purchase or make plain aprons for the kids to decorate with fabric markers and accessories.

Play games like Don’t Eat Pete, Memory Tray (using kitchen gadgets), Pass the Parcel, Pin the Smile on the Gingerbread Cookie, Cookie Jar (like Fruit Basket but change the fruit to be different cookies like chocolate chip, peanutbutter, ginger snaps etc), Smell it!, Feel it! or Cake, Cake, Pie (Duck, Duck, Goose).

With game prizes, baked treats and fun aprons, you won't even have to have a goodie bag.

Friday Freebie: Finger Puppets

Fridays we like to give away free printables to use at your next party. This week's freebie is a bunch of finger/stick puppets complete with stories to go with them that you can use at your next puppet themed party. Click to download pdf and enjoy!

Thursday Theme: Puppet Party

A fun and unique party is a Puppet Party. You can either make puppets at the party like sock puppets, brown bag puppets, fun foam puppets, finger puppets and puppets on sticks or you can purchase puppets. Cheap puppets can be found at dollar stores or at certain times of the year Costco sells adorable sets of 8 puppets for $20.

If you purchase puppets, you can give the puppet with the invitation or better yet, play a game like Pass the Parcel at the party to give the guest their puppet. Wrap a puppet in each layer of wrapping paper, have the guests sit in a circle, turn on music and have the guests pass the parcel while the music plays. When the music stops the person who is holding the parcel gets to unwrap a layer and keep the puppet that is under the layer. Keep playing until all the guests have puppets.

You can make a stage out of a refrigerator box, a table with a tablecloth, chairs with a blanket or tablecloth or even behind a couch. Organize the guests into groups of 2, 3 or 4. Write the names of familiar stories on small pieces of paper (Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Bean stock, Cinderella and so on. Click here for a pdf of the complete stories and fairy tales that you can use) and put them in a hat and have each group draw out a story. Have props ready for the stories (hats, wigs, toys, tools and so on) and give the groups a limited amount of time to prepare then take turns performing for each other. You can also have spontaneous performances of made up stories but sometimes the lack of structure and direction can bore the audience. You may want to have popcorn or other treats for the audience to enjoy while watching the show. Making a movie of the production is a great thank you gift keepsake for the guests that they will enjoy showing their families.

Thursday Theme: A Halloween Party

Halloween parties are fun for kids of all ages and can be done at any time of the year. When my son was 11 we had a "Half-way to Halloween" party in April complete with costumes, a spook alley and trick-or-treating! My daughter also had a Halloween party for her birthday one year in September. If you are having a Halloween party at a time other than the fall you may have to adjust some activities. For example, at my son's party we carved oranges since pumpkins were nowhere to be found.

You can make a spook alley in your home using refrigerator boxes, Halloween decorations and spooky music. Appliance stores are usually nice to give refrigerator boxes for free. It may take several trips to the store or you may have to visit several different appliance stores to get enough boxes so it is good to plan ahead. Arrange the boxes in a sort of maze and hang bats, spiders, lights, skeletons, ghosts (can be simply tissues on strings), spooky decorations that are activated by motion sensors, or anything that will be silly or scary. Play spooky music as guests crawl or walk through the maze.

You can go trick-or-treating, at any time of the year and at any time of the day. Make sure to have your guests dress up for the party and take treats to your neighbors before the party. Kids of all ages love to trick-or-treat and will be shocked that the neighbors actually give them something when it isn't Halloween. Since you are providing the treats, neighbors are usually totally cooperative and entertained.

Other fun activities and games for a Halloween party include:

Swinging Apples
A drier variant on apple bobbing! Tie string around each apple stem and hang the apples from a doorway. The children can then take turns biting into the swinging fruit while keeping their hands behind their backs!

Doughnut Eating Race
Eating donuts has never been so fun! Hang several donuts with string from a tree branch or a sturdy rod. Blindfold the contestants and, on the count of three, have each player try to eat their doughnut — the first one to finish wins!

Mummy Wrap
This game will leave you all wrapped up! Divide your party-goers into teams of two, and give each a roll of toilet paper, white crepe paper, or fabric. At the sound of the music, one team member must wrap the other from head to toe (leaving the head free and not binding the arms to the body.) Once completely wrapped, the "mummy" must run to cross the finish line before the others.

Eerie Piñata
This is a great pre-party craft that doubles as a game. Have your kids help you with this easy-to-make piñata, fill it with candy and small toys, and decorate it as a spooky ghost or jack-o'-lantern. At the party, have everyone take a swing until it breaks, and then go to town collecting the loot.

Mr. Skeleton Relay Race
This game takes a bit of prep work before your party begins. Buy (or draw) a simple skeleton on sturdy poster board or cardboard, and cut out each of the bones separately. Make enough so each relay team has a full set of skeleton parts.

Divide your players into teams. Place each set of bones at the opposite end of the room or yard. Have the first member from each team line up, and, at the whistle, race across to grab a piece of skeleton, race back, and tag the next team member. The first team to get every piece and assemble their skeleton together correctly wins!

What's in the Bowl?
Spaghetti brains! Grape eye balls! Jell-O guts! This classic guessing game will leave everyone screaming (from fun, of course)! Fill separate bowls with prepared Jell-O or pudding, peeled grapes, cold spaghetti, and anything else you can think of that feels slimy and gross. Cover each bowl with black and orange felt so nobody can peek inside, and have everyone try to guess what it is they're touching.

Pin the Wart on the Witch
Ever seen a witch without a wart? The trick is putting it in just the right spot. This is a fun twist on a party game classic.

Find the Pumpkin
Challenge the party-goers to find the hidden pumpkins. The grand prize? Candy, of course!
Supplies:
·  Ten pieces of white paper
·  Five pieces of yellow paper
·  Five pieces of orange paper
·  A crayon
·  Scissors

How to play:
Draw ten white pumpkins, five yellow pumpkins, and five orange pumpkins. Cut out all the pumpkins. Decorate each pumpkin with a funny face. Write the number 1 on the backs of the white pumpkins. Write the number 5 on the backs of the yellow pumpkins. Write the number 10 on the backs of the orange pumpkins. Hide all of the pumpkins. Tell the kids to find as many pumpkins as they can before you say "Stop!" Players will add up the numbers on the pumpkins each of them found. The player with the most points wins!

Walk on the Witches Hat
Kids will go batty for this hair-raising version of musical chairs.
Supplies:
·  Big brown paper bag, or big picture of a witch's hat
·  Pencil
·  Scissors
·  Tape
·  CD player, tape player, or radio

How to play:
If you have a large picture of a witch's hat, tape it right on the floor before you play the game. If you don't already have a picture, you can make one easily. Cut the bag so that you can open it out flat. Draw a big witch's hat and cut it out. The players will line up and shut their eyes. A leader is at the front to see that no one peeks. (Whoever peeks is out of the game.) The leader will control when the music stops and starts. When the music starts, the players begin walking in a circle (as in musical chairs) around the hat. When the music stops, the person who is standing on the hat is out of the game. The last player to circle the hat wins!

Pumpkin and Ghost Bowling
It's like bowling, only better! Simply paste some black circles on toilet paper rolls to look like ghost faces and then stack them like a pyramid with 4 on the bottom, 3 on top, 2 on top of that and then 1 on the very top. Use small, round pumpkins as the "balls" and you've got a great seasonal game to play at your next Halloween party.

Tricks and Treats
Shhh! To win this game, kids try not to say the magic words.
How to play:
Give each of the players a bag filled with ten pieces of wrapped candy. Have the players write their names on their bags so that the bags don't get mixed up. Decide on a time limit. If you are giving a party, you could keep the game going the entire time, even while you are doing other activities. The object of the game is to catch people saying any of the following words:
· HALLOWEEN
· CANDY
· WITCH
· PARTY
· GHOST
· PUMPKIN
It might be helpful to write the words in large letters on a piece of paper and tape the paper up where everyone can see it. If you catch someone saying one of the words on the list, that person has to give you a piece of candy from his bag. The person who has the most candy at the end of the game wins a prize. The best part is, everyone gets to keep any candy they have left in their bag.

Scarecrow Building
A scarecrow contest is a great way to bring out everyone's creative side! Provide all the supplies you need to build a scarecrow (hay, old flannel shirts, burlap bags, etc.), pair off into teams, and have everyone get to work building the most creative scarecrow they can in the time allowed.

Nosey
Halloween games of disguise survive in many old sources, and they don't necessarily involve elaborate costumes. In "Nosey," the party guests are divided into two groups and sent into adjoining rooms. A curtain or heavy sheet with a small slit in it is hung in the doorway. One of the players sticks his or her nose through the slit, making sure nothing else shows. Then the game leader chants, "The witches have stolen somebody's nose. Who does it belong to, do you suppose?" and everyone on the opposing team attempts to guess the owner of the nose. If correct, the guessing team scores a point and the opposing team must present another nose for their regard. If the guess is wrong, then the guessing team must now start offering up noses -- which, it should be noted, can be very hard to recognize without any accompanying features!

The Black Cat and Her Kittens
A good game for younger children is "The Black Cat and Her Kittens." One child is chosen as the black cat and is escorted from the room. The rest of the children then take their places around the table, laying their heads on their arms so that they cannot see anything. The game leader then touches several children on their heads, tapping them as the black cat's kittens. When the black cat is brought back into the room, the kittens meow for their mother, and the mother attempts to locate them by their meows. The first kitten to be found takes the mother cat's place for the next round, but the rest must keep up their meowing until every last kitten is found.

Guess the Ghost
You will need a blindfold. Sit the kids in a big circle. Put some music on and take it in turns for one child to be blindfolded and walk around the circle, touching the other children's heads. When the music stops, the child that the person who is 'it' has their hands on must let out a ghostly wail. The person who is 'it' must try and guess who it is. If they guess correctly they swap around. If they do not guess correctly they go around the circle again.

What's the time, Mrs Witch?
You will need: a witch's hat and broom and a spacious room
This is a simple variation on the 'What's the time, Mr Fox' game. Elect one player to be Mrs Witch. They can put on the witch's hat and hold the broom. Each of the other players stands at one end of the room with the witch at the other, with her back to the other players. The players ask: 'What's the time, Mrs Witch?' and the Witch shouts out a time, eg. 7 o'clock. The other players take the corresponding number of steps in the direction of the witch. When the players get close to the witch the witch can then should out 'midnight' and chase the other players. Whoever the witch catches is out of the game.

Witches Cauldron
You will need:
a large cooking pot
a damp sponge
a shelled hard-boiled egg
a large piece of orange peel
selection of rubber toys from the toyshop (frog, snake, etc)
blindfold
Fill your cooking pot with items such as the above (and any other suitable things you can think of - you'll need enough bits and bobs to allow each child a turn). Each child has a turn at being blindfolded and plunging their hand into the cauldron to find the imaginary item you name. For example, ask them to look for: 'A hairy giant's tongue' (the damp sponge), 'a dragon's eye' (the egg), a goblin's skin (the orange peel), 'a frog/snake' (rubber toys), etc.

Brain Digging
You will need:
a big bowl of cooked spaghetti
some ping-pong balls or similar
some small bags of sweets
Get the kids to dig in among some bits of 'brain' to find a trick or treat! Cook up a big pan of spaghetti, leave to cool for a moment and then turn into a big bowl. In the pasta hide some ping-pong balls or similar. Three balls have 'treat' written on them with permanent marker, and three have 'trick' written on them. Each child gets a turn to dig inside the 'brains' and pull out a ball. If they choose a trick ball they have to do a forfeit (something silly, like run around the garden twice, or do a silly impression), but if they pick a treat they get a small prize, such as a small bag of sweets.

Web Weaving Game
You will need a small ball of string (approx. 30 to 40 feet) for each child in this game. Pair the players into teams of 2 and place them into a circle (3 to 4 teams work best). Team members should be opposite of each other. Give each child a ball of string and have them tie the loose-end around their waist. When you say go, have each child throw the ball of string to their teammate. The teammate wraps the string once around themselves, and then throws the string back. The first team to use their two balls of string wins. This is lots of fun and the kids will go wild. Make sure to take pictures before they start removing the web-it's fun to see everyone all tied up. To add a spooky element, after the last ball of string is tossed, turn out the lights for a minute or two. The kids get creeped out that they are tied up in the dark. Part of the fun too is watching to see how the kids will get out of the web.

Boo, Boo, Ghost
A Halloween version of duck, duck, goose. Fun for smaller kids.

Pass the Orange
Everyone gets in a large circle. The first person is given an orange to place under his chin. He must pass the orange to the next in line but neither may use their hands. If the orange drops, those two people are out of the circle. This continues until there are only two people left. When the orange drops the next time, a vote is taken as to who dropped it. The winner gets the prize.

Push the Peanut
Give each player a toothpick and a peanut which is still in the shell. Placing the toothpick in their mouth, they have to use the toothpick to push and roll the peanut from the starting line to the finish line. This game can be turned into a rely, but do not make the distance between start and finish too long - it is a slow race.

Candy Corn Catch
Divide guests into groups of 3 teams, 4-5 per team or if couples into pairs. Team members will toss candy corns into the pumpkin that will be tied around a team member’s waist. To make things fair give each team member the same amount of candy corn, so if some people choose to eat it rather throw it, they will have a choice. Suggest 10 per person. Now select a team member to wear the pumpkin (these should be the ones for trick or treating so there is a hole on top) and tie the plastic pumpkin around one team member's waist. Now establish a throw line for those with the candy and place the pumpkin wearing teammate 5, 7 or 10 feet away. Once everyone is set let the tossing begin. The kids and adults can throw candy corn all at one time or one at a time. You person wearing the pumpkin can move around to try to catch the candy corn as it is thrown. Once everyone has thrown the candy corn, take the pumpkin and count how many went in and also have the kids pick up any that is on the floor. Switch team members and go again. Add up how many go in each round and then total the amounts after everyone has had a turn. Winning team is the one to get the most candy corn in the pumpkin.

Halloween Corners
This random Halloween game is always a lot of fun for kids and it is totally random who the winner is. Stick up large Halloween themed pictures (ie witch, bat, ghost and black cat) in the four corners of a room. Play some music and when it stops, each child runs to a corner (if you have small numbers you can limit the number of children in each). The music operator without looking then calls out one corner or pulls a piece of paper from a hat and the image on the paper identifies which the corner is out of the game. Continue to play until there is one person left and they win a prize.

Pumpkin Smash
Blow up orange / Halloween balloons (We recommend you get good balloons). Tie off and then tie a foot long piece (can be longer) of ribbon around the end of the balloon. Take a Sharpie marker and carefully draw a Pumpkin Face on the balloon. Now have everyone tie their balloon, using the ribbon, around their ankle. Once everyone has tied their balloon around their ankle, share the rules. When the Party Host says Go! Everyone tries to run around and step on each others pumpkins (balloons). If your Pumpkin gets popped, then you are out of the game and can no longer Smash any pumpkins. Play Pumpkin Smash until there is only one person left with a balloon.

Vampire or Not!
For each child take a party cup (cup cannot be see through) and add one set of wax lips and one set of fangs. Create a set of Lips & Fang Cards – We suggest you create 2 or 3 more cards than expected guests just in case you get some extra people at your event. The quickest way to create the cards is to take a photo of the lips and fangs and then copy the images and print it out on a sheet of paper. Now cut out the images and attach to cardstock. If you have less than ten players have 3 Fang Cards and all the Rest Lip cards. If 11 – 15 players for your Halloween game, we suggest 4 Fang cards and all the rest Lip cards. If more than 15 player, divide the group up into 2 groups. (Make 2 sets of cards)

How to Play: Vampire or Not!
Gather the kids and have them sit in a circle where they face inward and can see everyone. Now hand out the cups with a set of lips and vampire teeth / fangs and tell them you are going to play a game. Have one child, the Vampire Hunter, leave the room and give each of the remaining children a card that has a picture on it of a pair of Lips or Vampire fangs. If you get the Lips you put your Lips in and if you get Vampire fangs you put those in your mouth. Once everyone has selected their Lips or Fangs they put in their lips or fangs and the Vampire Hunter returns and takes a seat and has 30 seconds to determine which three or four children they think are Vampires. (The ones with the Vampire teeth) During the time that the Vampire Hunter tries to determine who is a Vampire, the other players try to conceal their teeth from view by keeping their lips closed, so they don’t give away whether they are Vampires or Not. After 30 seconds the child names the 3 or 4 players that they believe are Vampires and one by one they smile to identify whether they are a Vampire or Not! If they child correctly guess all the Vampires then they receive a candy bar or small prize. – In large groups where you have 4 Vampires you might want to give a prize to those who get 3 or 4 correct. If the child only gets 2 Vampires then their turn is over, the other Vampires reveal themselves and the Lip and Fang Cards are collected. Then the next child, Vampire Hunter, leaves the room and the process is repeated until each child has had a turn guessing whether other guests are Vampires or Not! Play one or two rounds

Vampire or Not! Game Variation
A Fun Spin on this game is to have the child, Vampire Hunter, who is guessing whether the other guests are Vampires or Not 15 – 20 seconds to do something silly without touching any other players so they can get other kids to smile or laugh. This way they will have a better chance to get the other kids to smile or laugh, plus it makes the game more entertaining too. Once the Vampire Hunter has completed their silly act then they must guess the Vampires. (Same rules as above apply)

How to Throw a Party for A One Year Old

As important as this first milestone is, let's be honest, your child’s first birthday party is really for you and the family. Your hands will guide tiny ones in opening the presents, you will end up blowing out the candle, and you will accept the congratulations. At the moment, the party will not be meaningful for your one year old, and you won’t hurt his or her feelings if you choose to make it a celebration for adults only.

A one year old will delight in the attention and atmosphere of the occasion, but the concept of a party is not within his or her grasp. The birthday child of this age has been known to be far more intrigued with the boxes and wrapping paper than with the gifts.

If you do decide on a party with other children or babies present, you will want to have a very short party, a half hour to an hour, unless you have plenty of room and equipment so the babies can go to bed while the adults enjoy themselves. When deciding on the time of day for the party, take your child's nap schedule into consideration. Also you should childproof your play area carefully, remembering that it will probably contain both crawling and walking babies.

There shouldn't be a lot of organized activities or games. Toys, bubbles, puzzles, play dough (homemade from flour and water is best. Click here for recipe ), a short story or puppet show or a few rounds of "Ring Around the Rosies" are entertainment enough. Songs and finger plays are also fun at this age but remember a one year old's attention span is very short and you only need one or two quick activities to make them happy (click here for fun songs or finger plays). Forcing this age of kids to do races or attempt games will only be a disappointing and frustrating experience for all involved. Children at this age don't really play with other kids, but they often are happy to have them near by. They have no understanding of the concept of sharing and should not be forced to share as much as encouraged to play nicely.

Snacks and finger food  like fish crackers, Cheerios and baby biscuits are always a bit hit with this age. Make sure you keep food that could be considered a choking hazard out of reach of small children. A cupcake or slice of cake is always in order but avoid giving them too much sugar as it may upset their tummy.

One of the most important things you should have at your child's first birthday is a camera. Photos will be the only way your child will "remember" the event and help them to know that you cared about celebrating this important milestone in their life.

Thursday Theme: Hawaiian Luau Party

A fun theme party for any age is a Hawaiian party. You can have a luau at any time of the year though it is easier when you can have it outside. Sometimes having a luau in the winter helps warm everyone up and makes for a refreshing change from the cold.

It is fun to have your guests dress up for the occasion. Suggest they come in tropical clothes if they have them. Greet your guests with a lei and a big Aloha.

Hawaiian type activities for all ages include learning the hula, the limbo, hula hoop contests and silly photo booths. Check out a video from the library about hula dancing, hire a professional dancer or just turn on Hawaiian music and encourage everyone to dance. Give your guests grass skirts made out of raffia, streamers, garbage bags, or ribbon.

Younger kids will enjoy making their own leis out of dried pasta (you can color pasta with food coloring), beads, cut straws, card stock flowers, tissue paper flowers, plastic flowers, fruit loops, or shells. Dress up in the leis and skirts for your dancing lesson.

For a photo booth you can paint Hawaiian characters on refrigerator boxes, or make a surfboard out of cardboard or corrugated plastic and place it on top of a solid block of wood or a stepping stool or use an old ironing board with a blue sheet, tarp, or plastic table cloths under and behind to look like your guests are in the water.

Games for younger kids:

• Pack the suitcase relay -- have a couple of different suitcases and equal amounts of clothes and accessories that would be good for a trip to Hawaii like shorts, tee shirts, swimming suits, sun glasses, hats, flip flops, etc.  Make as many teams as you have suitcases. Have the teams line up at one side of the room with the pile of clothes and accessories. Put the empty suitcases at the other side of the room. When you say "Go!" the first person on each team puts on all of the clothes and races to the suitcase, opens them up, takes off all the travel clothes and puts them in the suitcase and then rushes the suitcase back to the next player. The player who is next in line has to dump the clothes out and put them on and carry the empty suitcase across the room and then take back off all of the travel clothes and put them in the suitcase and bring the full suitcase back to the next person, and so it goes until every player on the team has had a chance to try on the clothes and pack the suitcase. The first team to have everyone complete the task is the winner.
• Pin a coconut on the palm tree -- similar to pin the tail on the donkey.
  
• Coconut relays -- divide the guests into teams and have them walk with a coconut between their legs or elbows, pass it to each other behind their backs, or rolling it on the floor.
• Musical beach towels or surf boards  -- play like musical chairs where you walk around the towels or surfboards (cardboard or poster board cut and painted like surfboards) until the music stops and then everyone has to jump on a towel or surfboard. You could also have everyone pretend to surf with the music on and when the music stops they have to jump off and change surfboards when the music starts again. While the music is off you can quickly take one surfboard away.
• Pineapple bowling -- Put a little bit of water on the bottom of 2 liter bottles and wrap in yellow paper or cover with yellow tissue paper to look like pineapples. Use coconuts as bowling balls.
• Tidal Wave -- take a very large blanket and place it on the ground. Give everyone a mini beach ball with their name on it and place it in the center of the blanket. Then have everyone grab part of the blanket and call out "tidal wave" tossing the blanket until there is just one ball left and that is winner. 

Other activities for younger kids:

• Bubbles
• Tattoos
• Sand art
• Erupting volcanoes

Games teens will enjoy:

• Shake Your Bootie -- Cut two slots in the back of empty tissue boxes for a belt  to fit through (belt, scarf, ribbon or rope). Fill the tissue boxes with ping pong balls. Tie the tissue boxes around your guests waists making sure the tissue boxes are at the back. Put on some lively Hawaiian music and let the players shake their booties to the music to get rid of all the balls in the box. The guests can't touch the box with their hands or get help from others. The object of the game is to be the first to boogie all your balls out!
• Funny Hot Potatoe -- Load a garbage bag with all sorts of embarrassing and somewhat funny Hawaiian clothes and accessories (bikinis, big briefs, etc.) Now in the form of hot potato you pass the garbage bag around and when the music stops, the person with the bag pulls out an article of clothing and must wear it! The game ends when all the clothes are gone. The winner is the person with the least clothes from the bag on. This game is good for a laugh, especially when guys are wearing bikinis and so on. Wear the garments over your own clothes.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Friday Freebie: Pet Time Party Printable

Fridays we like to give away free printables to use at your next party. This week's freebie is a Pet Time Party printable, perfect for any pet lover's party.  It has an editable banner, editable cards, editable regular size chocolate bar wrappers, mini chocolate bar wrappers, cupcake wrappers, cupcake toppers, toothpick flags and water bottle wrappers. Click to download pdf and enjoy!

Thursday's Theme of the Day: Circus Party

A circus party is always fun for kids. You can decorate up your house to look like a big top or use a canopy or tent outside. Dress up in a sports coat and top hat and you will be ready to welcome your guests as the ring master.

Some games to have at a circus party include Clown, Clown, Acrobat (Duck, Duck, Goose) or pin the nose on the clown. Let the kids join the circus by giving them costumes or props. Paint the kid’s faces or provide some sort of silly nose or glasses. Make simple clown collars from scraps of material and give these to your guests as part of a "Pass the Parcel" or treasure hunt game. 

Make a “tightrope” with a 2 X 4 board or rope along the ground, have balls available to juggle, stuffed animals to tame and pillows or mats available for tumbling acts. Free cardboard boxes from the appliance store can be used to make a photo booth or cut holes and make “rings of fire” for the guests to toss stuffed animals through.  Have circus treats like cotton candy, popcorn and snow cones and let the kids take turns performing. 



Some kids might be too shy to be in a circus act but they will love watching their friends and being the audience.

Let Them Eat Cake!

When it come to kids parties my advice is to scrap the meal and just let them eat cake.  It’s not that I think kids should get pumped up on sugar but I know that they don’t appreciate food at parties and going to all the bother to fix a meal is not worth it. Kids can be picky eaters and trying to please all of them can cause unnecessary stress for any host.  My oldest son’s first friend party was incredibly stressful because I thought I had to serve a meal and was trying to keep everything hot and ready as the guests arrived only to find that I had to beg some of them to eat or at least force them to wait at the table so others could finish their meals.

Adults throw dinner parties where the entertainment includes a fabulous dining experience and a chance to socialize.  A kids party, on the other hand,  is all about the games, activities and treats.  It’s unfortunate that as we get older we often limit our amusements to eating and end up using any spare time exercising to rid ourselves of unwanted pounds that our indulgences produce. Ironically, kids often find meal time more of a chore than an entertaining experience and yet they have metabolisms that allow them to eat just about anything without ever facing the negative consequences.

I’m not condoning reckless abandonment of the four food groups and I acknowledge that poor eating habits put kids on the destructive path of obesity, but we’re talking about parties here and I am assuming that a party is a special occasion for a child and not an everyday occurrence.  As the host, your primary concern is for your guests and the most important thing you need  to concentrate on is making sure that everybody has a good time.  Since a kid’s idea of a good time is not necessarily based on a meal, a host of a kid’s party should plan for a lot of games and activities and spend any culinary efforts on treats and dessert.

Kid’s parties don’t have to be long, an hour and a half to two hours is plenty of time.  Schedule kid’s parties between meals so that parents know you aren’t feeding the kids.  You can also say that “light refreshments” or “treats” will be served in the invitation implying that “lunch” or “dinner” will not.  If your adult “need to provide food” can't be ignored, there are simple and easy meals that you can serve at a kid’s party like hot dogs and pizza.

If you are worried about a bunch of sugar-induced-crazy-kids running around, relax and serve the cake last.  I actually love to serve cupcakes because they are less messy and can be easily sent home.

Another thing to think about when serving food at a party is allergies or food sensitivities.  Nut allergies and gluten sensitivities are two of the most prevalent food issues that plague our society today.  At my son’s first grade party I opted to forgo the meal and just deal with treats and dessert.  It turned out that one of the guests was allergic to strawberries.  Her mother was so thrilled that she was invited. Apparently other parents had been too nervous to deal with her allergy and so she rarely got party invitations.  I tried to insure that all of the food at the party complied with her allergy but just to be safe, the cupcakes and treats were given to the kids as they left the party.

As kids get older they appreciate food more and can enjoy parties with food based themes like mystery dinners or progressive dinners.  Until then, however, keep it simple and just let them eat cake!

Photo Credit: iStockphoto and Party Time Mysteries

Let the Party Begin!

When I was a kid my parents could only afford to give me 1 or 2 things on my birthday but to make up for that, they always allowed me to have big birthday parties.  This was a good idea for two reasons: 1) I felt special and loved and 2) my friends could provide the material things my parents couldn’t.  When I say that I had big parties, they were only “big” in that I was not limited in the number of guests I was allowed to invite, in fact my mother always said to invite twice as many people as I really wanted because she knew that more often than not, half of the people would not be able to come.  The parties I had were most always home parties with traditional games that cost little or nothing.  Decorations were nonexistent or simple at best and refreshments were usually limited to cake, ice cream and punch with a small toy, candy or balloon as a favor to take home.  Times have changed.  Today’s kids seem to expect a lot more–or perhaps it is the parents who want to provide more.  Regardless of who is responsible, today’s parents often pay hundreds of dollars for their kid’s parties.  I don’t condemn those who can afford to spend a lot on their parties but I do know that it is possible to provide entertaining and memorable events without breaking the bank.

The purpose of this blog is to share information.  I will be providing weekly party tips and tricks based on my experiences and research and would love to hear your party ideas, suggestions and successes.  After all, everyone is going to entertain at some point and we can all benefit from the collective knowledge and creativity of those around us.

Photo credit: iStockphoto