Host a Holiday Party for Kids
Tuesday, December 18, 2012 at 1:15PM Gingerbread House Making
Raise the roof … with a gingerbread house-making party.
Great news for gingerbread enthusiasts! Loblaws / Great Canadian Superstores sell premade houses complete with icing bags and candies. Partygoers can let their imaginations go wild. When complete, you simply package up their creations in the boxes they came in. Be sure to add a few extra candies to the table. For party favours, consider giving each a kid-sized Christmas apron or a big gingerbread cookie with their name on it.
Kids' Christmas Party Cookie Exchange
Cookie making is a fun Christmas tradition, but who has time to make more than two or three kinds? Here is a great idea.
Ask guests to bring two dozen of the same type of cookie to the party, plus enough copies of the recipe for each attendee. Display the cookies on a table, with the recipe cards and the child’s name next to each tray.
Then, each child loads up an empty plate with two of each type of cookie. While making their way around the table, the children also should pick up a copy of each recipe. Set up a station where the kids can then decorate covers and bind the recipes into small cookbooks as a memento of the party.
Crafty Christmas
It wasn’t all that long ago that Christmas gifts were made, not purchased. Bring back the tradition by hosting a Christmas craft party.
You could focus you keepsake crafts from hands and feet. Or, you could chose from some of other easy crafts and decorations. Instead of making actual gifts, the kids also could make wrapping paper and Christmas cards at the party.
The crafts should be enough of a favour, but you could also send these creative kids home with a blank artist’s notebook and a set of Crayons or Christmas themed pencils.
Party with a Purpose
It’s natural for kids to associate Christmas with receiving presents, but help them find the deeper meaning by reaching out to those who are less fortunate.
Throw a party with a purpose either by focusing on a charitable theme or simply asking guests to bring nonperishable food, winter coats or other donations to a regular Christmas bash.
You could decorate the main table with a large stack of canned goods shaped like a tree, trim a tree with scarves as garland or hang strings of mittens above every doorway.
A Caroling We Go
A night of Christmas caroling can be cold, but it sure warms the heart.
As guests arrive, hand out songbooks you’ve made with copies of some favourite carols and gather everyone around the piano or stereo to practice. If the party is for young children, stick to two or three short songs they can easily memorize.
Go over some safety guidelines before heading out, such as walking with a buddy and staying on the sidewalk.
Bundle up, hand everyone a candlestick and bobeche (older kids only) and then spread holiday cheer by singing door to door. Have the kids take turns presenting neighbors with a plate of cookies before moving onto the next house.
Someone should stay back at the house to make sure hot cider, hot cocoa and other warm treats await the carolers when they return.
Rock Around the Christmas Tree
Break from tradition with a Rock ‘n’ Roll kids' Christmas party.
Spray the kids’ hair with temporary red and green dye when they arrive (with parental permission, of course) and brand everyone with some temporary Christmas tattoos. Push aside the couches, hang a disco ball and let the kids dance to holiday songs. If you’re up for it, rent a karaoke machine.
When it comes to food, what rock star doesn’t love pizza? Tie yours to Christmas by making mini pizzas in holiday shapes. To do this, cut the dough with cookie cutters before adding the toppings. For favors, send everyone home with a music-themed tree ornament, such as an electric guitar or drum set, or a CD burned with some of the Christmas songs.
Polar Express P.J. Party
Whether it’s the book by Chris Van Allsburg or the movie starring Tom Hanks, The Polar Express is a beloved Christmas story.
On invitations made to look like train tickets, invite kids to come to your house dressed in pajamas. Serve hot chocolate (a nod to a particular scene from the story) and a train-shaped cake.
Read the book or show the movie, then send everyone home with a jingle bell, a reference to how the boy in The Polar Express finally believes Santa Claus is real.
Trim a Tiny Tree
Sure, decorating the Christmas tree in the living room is fun, but kids often love having trees in their bedrooms, too.
You can sometimes find inexpensive, small, artificial ones at craft or discount stores. Buy a bunch, then invite kids over for a tree-decorating party. Or, have the kids make their own decorations at the party.
Serve a tree shaped fruit tray for fun.
Christmas Around the World
Give your kids’ Christmas party an international theme by hosting a Christmas-around-the-world party.
Assign a different country to each child, being sure to include Turkey, the homeland of Saint Nicholas, Germany, which is partially credited for the tradition of decorating a tree, and Mexico, where families hold neighborhood “posadas,” or re-creations Mary and Joseph’s search for a place to stay in Bethlehem. Research how other cultures celebrate Christmas, too.
Ask everyone to bring a side dish that represents the culture assigned to them, sing songs that tie to the countries, such as Stille Nacht (Silent Night) in German, and teach the kids to say “Merry Christmas” in different languages.
Christmas is a magical time of year, due in large part to the joy it brings to children. Yes, it’s a busy time, too. But squeeze a kids' Christmas party into your schedule and both you and the kids are sure to get into the holiday spirit.
