Puppy Party Ideas December 23, 2009

Planing a Puppy Party? I hope these tips get the creative juices flowing.

Think Dog Bones and Paw Prints

• Make dog bone shaped invitations out of brown card stock or paw print invites.  You can use thumb prints to make the “toe” prints of the dog.  Draw an oval for the pad print.  Use clever wording like “Join us for a Paw-ty” or “Make no bones about it- we’d love to have you at the party!” or “Join us for a doggone good time” or “You’d be barking mad, not to come”
• Make Paw Print decorations.  Stamp paw prints on the table cloths and draw paw prints on the balloons.
• Make dog bone shaped cookies! Here’s a dog bone cookie cutter http://www.surlatable.com/product/id/129499.do
• Eat hot dogs and “dog food” (any mixture of cereal and other goodies resembling kibble, like coco puffs and peanut butter chips)
• Play games like “Pin the Bone in the Dog’s Dish”  or “Pin the Bone in the Dog’s Mouth”  or “Pin the Dog in the Doghouse”
• Have a treasure hunt to the goodie bags.  Write the clues for each location on bone shaped paper and mark each spot with a paw print so the guests know when they’ve reached the right place.
• If you’re not opposed to a little mess or are having an outside party- fill shallow bowls with water or another beverage (or purchase dog bowls at the dollar store). Without using their hands have the kids lap up the water from the bowls, like a pet.  The first to drink all the liquid wins!
• If you chose to purchase dog bowls for each child, serve their food in the bowls.
• Stuff Noah’s Ark dogs:  Ella the Black Lab, Coco Lab, Buddy Puppy, Candy Poodle and Scruffles Dalmatian.  (sorry, shameless plug)
• Make dog collars (beaded necklaces)
• Paint the children’s faces with dalmatian spots, whiskers and black noses.

Great Ideas for Winter Parties January 4, 2009

Growing up with a November birthday, I was always jealous of those kids that were blessed with summer birthdays.  They had the pool parties, the water balloon fights, the picnics, the mini golf games, the playgrounds.

If you’re stuck coming up with some ideas for a great Winter party, take a look at some the ideas below.  And feel free to offer some of you own suggestions!

The Cozy Party

Winter is the perfect time to have a Pajama Party.  Have a mid-day sleepover.  Invite the children to come dressed in their pajamas with their pillows in tow.  Dim the lights and watch a movie that was just released on DVD or an old Winter or Holiday favorite like the Grinch or Frosty the Snowman, eat popcorn, drink hot chocolate (with mini marshmallows of course) and talk.

The Winter Themed Party

It’s Winter so you might as well go with the season as the theme.  Create invitations on foam or paper snowflakes using glitter glue and markers.  We found a pack of snowflakes at AC Moore this season that we used to make beautiful invitations. Or if that seems like too much work- let the kids decorate snowflakes when they arrive.  Just be careful when using the glitter glue as it make not dry by the time the child leaves the party.

Play Pin the Nose on the Snowman.  You can make a great snowman out of white poster board with some construction paper accents (hat, scarf, etc).  Or purchase a snowman decoration at any place selling Christmas decorations and simply cut some orange carrot noses out of paper.  Put some tape or sticky tack on the back of the noses.  Use a scarf for a blindfold (preferably not a scratchy wool one).

If you have some open space in the house, let the kids have a snowball fight.  Use crumpled up white scrap paper or soft white balls for snowballs.  The kids can play a dodgeball- esque game using the “snowballs” or have them try to the balls into tubs or bins.  Each bin can be worth a different point value.  If this is party for girls, have each girl secretly choose another girl at the party.  (You can do this my drawing names from a hat.) Ask each girl to write down a compliment about the girl that they have chosen. Crumple the compliment up into a snowball and toss the snowball at the person that it is for.

Have the party guests bring their mittens or gloves to the party and as they arrive collect them in a basket.   Once the party is underway, ask the birthday child to match the gloves to the guest that brought them.

The Wishing It Were Summer Themed Party

Have a Summer Luau in the middle of winter.  Invite the guests to wear summer clothes to the party, like Hawaiian shirts and shorts.  Give the out leis as the guests enter the door.  Girls might enjoy learning to hula.  You can pick up an instructional DVD or book at the local bookstore or just improvise.

You could play a game of musical beach towels.  Fold the towels up into a nice seat size and play the game just like you would play musical chairs.  Play a mixed CD of summery songs or Island music to stick with the theme.

Serve up some french fries (just use frozen) in Dixie cups to give them the Summer carnival or boardwalk feel.

Look for some more ideas to be added as I have some more ideas!  And please feel free to leave comments with your own great ideas!