It seems right that I should start my blogging journey with my most requested party theme!
And yes, I am talking about Anna, Elsa & Olaf!
I appreciate a lot of parents have had enough of Frozen and now I've mentioned it are probably sat there and have started unconsciously singing 'let it go' in your head (you can thank me for this later!), but they are still the most popular party choice by far amongst little girls!
As much fun as it is to have your favourite characters at your party it can be quite expensive, especially after you have catered, got in your decorations, party bags and potencially hired out a space if you do not have the room in your own home to host it. It's your little girls dream to meet a real life princess but don't forget, she also wants to BE the princess!
There is nothing wrong with letting your daughter be Queen for the day, and with the right props and games up your sleeves, you can whip up a magical party fit for a room full of mini princesses and princes and keep them entertained throughout the party.
And yes, I am talking about Anna, Elsa & Olaf!
I appreciate a lot of parents have had enough of Frozen and now I've mentioned it are probably sat there and have started unconsciously singing 'let it go' in your head (you can thank me for this later!), but they are still the most popular party choice by far amongst little girls!
As much fun as it is to have your favourite characters at your party it can be quite expensive, especially after you have catered, got in your decorations, party bags and potencially hired out a space if you do not have the room in your own home to host it. It's your little girls dream to meet a real life princess but don't forget, she also wants to BE the princess!
There is nothing wrong with letting your daughter be Queen for the day, and with the right props and games up your sleeves, you can whip up a magical party fit for a room full of mini princesses and princes and keep them entertained throughout the party.
Most standard parties (at least back in England) are 2 hours long, this is adequate time for the guests to play, eat and have plenty of fun without you feeling the need to pull your hair out and think 'what have I done, trying to take this on by myself!'. Children will need to have time to arrive which gives you 10 minutes of FREE FOR ALL time, children will be rushing around checking who they know and getting in the party mode. This is a great time for you to have a 'free disco' - let the children have a few minutes to get settled before you take a deep breath and unleash the party games!
NOTE BEFORE WE START: Make sure you have plenty of little sweets or tokens to give to the children who have been called OUT in any of the games. This makes the experience a little less painful for them and avoids tears at the thought of not winning anything! By having smaller prizes to say 'well done for trying' everyone is a winner, and hopefully everyone keeps smiling!
As the children are buzzing around, you may as well keep up the energy and play some energetic/musical themed games to start off the party. Here are my go to suggestions:
FREEZE - Basically, musical statues with a more 'FROZEN' themed name.
FROZEN CORNERS - Name 4 corners of the room different places from Frozen, Southern Isles, Oakens Trading Post, North Mountain, Arendelle. When the music stops the children have to chose a corner to stand in - if their corner is called, those children are out. Keep playing until you have a winner!
SNOW BALLS - Release blue and white balloons and get the children to rush around making sure none of the 'snowballs' hit the ground. (this game can last a good few minutes and also a good 'icebreaker' - no pun intended!).
MUSICAL TROLLS - Just like musical bumps, but when the music stops they children have to curl up in a ball (rock) like the trolls do in the film.
LET IT GO - Quite simply 'let it go' on the dance floor, get the children to show you their best moves to the 'infamous song'. Swirling around like snowflakes, roaring like a snow beast, casting a frozen spell, building up an ice castle....Take it in turns for each child to show a move, and then everyone follows suit, for more ideas, think of Elsa's dramatic arm movements and foot stomping.
WARNING - THERE WILL BE LOT OF TWIRLING!
NOTE BEFORE WE START: Make sure you have plenty of little sweets or tokens to give to the children who have been called OUT in any of the games. This makes the experience a little less painful for them and avoids tears at the thought of not winning anything! By having smaller prizes to say 'well done for trying' everyone is a winner, and hopefully everyone keeps smiling!
As the children are buzzing around, you may as well keep up the energy and play some energetic/musical themed games to start off the party. Here are my go to suggestions:
FREEZE - Basically, musical statues with a more 'FROZEN' themed name.
FROZEN CORNERS - Name 4 corners of the room different places from Frozen, Southern Isles, Oakens Trading Post, North Mountain, Arendelle. When the music stops the children have to chose a corner to stand in - if their corner is called, those children are out. Keep playing until you have a winner!
SNOW BALLS - Release blue and white balloons and get the children to rush around making sure none of the 'snowballs' hit the ground. (this game can last a good few minutes and also a good 'icebreaker' - no pun intended!).
MUSICAL TROLLS - Just like musical bumps, but when the music stops they children have to curl up in a ball (rock) like the trolls do in the film.
LET IT GO - Quite simply 'let it go' on the dance floor, get the children to show you their best moves to the 'infamous song'. Swirling around like snowflakes, roaring like a snow beast, casting a frozen spell, building up an ice castle....Take it in turns for each child to show a move, and then everyone follows suit, for more ideas, think of Elsa's dramatic arm movements and foot stomping.
WARNING - THERE WILL BE LOT OF TWIRLING!
Let's calm it down a little..
After all that rushing around it's a great idea to calm things down a little!
To add a little bit of sparkle to your party I can highly recommend GLITTER TATTOOS. Unlike facepainting, which can seem a daunting thing to try and take on by yourself if you have had no previous experience, glitter tattoos are amazingly easy and I personally think, anyone can do them. Glitter tattoos tend to last 1-2 weeks once applied and can be bought on Amazon. I would recommend buying some starter kits, like the one shown opposite, with both boys and girls designs. Once you have the kids and are ready to go, all your need to do is sit yourself down, place the sticky stencil on a child's arm (you can get about 3 uses per sticker stencil), apply a little of the special glue provided in your kit and dab on some glitter. TADA! |
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Getting crafty
Whilst the queue is going for the tattoo parlour, it's a great idea to keep the other children busy with a craft activity. Keep the music going for those children who would rather rush about and do their own thing.
You could decide to buy some ready made craft packs/activities or, if you are feeling a little more adventurous, make your own. Here are my top 3 'go to' frozen crafts.
FROZEN JEWELRY - Buy some blue, white and light purble beads and some thread and let the children create their own frozen necklaces or bracelets.
SCRATCH ART SNOWFLAKES - You can buy these from online shops like Baker Ross or Amazon. I think these have to be my favourite craft of all crafts as eveyrtimeI have bought 'scratch art' with me to any party the children have gone and sat super quietly at a table or on the floor or anywhere they can find a spot and have kept themselves busy scratching a pattern in to the piece of card with the special pens that come with the kit! Definately worth the investment!
http://www.bakerross.co.uk/snowflake-coloured-scratch-art-decorations-1
BUILD A SNOWMAN - Quite simply using paper plates, pipe cleaners, pens, googly eyes, paper carrots (cut out prior to the party by you) spotty stickers and long scraps of material (for the scarves) the children can sit and create their own snowman. All you need to bring is a hole punch to make a holes to put the pipe cleaner arms into and for a small piece of pipe cleaner to connect the top and bottom plate (for the body and the head), along with a couple of pritt stick - the kids will take care of the rest.
You could decide to buy some ready made craft packs/activities or, if you are feeling a little more adventurous, make your own. Here are my top 3 'go to' frozen crafts.
FROZEN JEWELRY - Buy some blue, white and light purble beads and some thread and let the children create their own frozen necklaces or bracelets.
SCRATCH ART SNOWFLAKES - You can buy these from online shops like Baker Ross or Amazon. I think these have to be my favourite craft of all crafts as eveyrtimeI have bought 'scratch art' with me to any party the children have gone and sat super quietly at a table or on the floor or anywhere they can find a spot and have kept themselves busy scratching a pattern in to the piece of card with the special pens that come with the kit! Definately worth the investment!
http://www.bakerross.co.uk/snowflake-coloured-scratch-art-decorations-1
BUILD A SNOWMAN - Quite simply using paper plates, pipe cleaners, pens, googly eyes, paper carrots (cut out prior to the party by you) spotty stickers and long scraps of material (for the scarves) the children can sit and create their own snowman. All you need to bring is a hole punch to make a holes to put the pipe cleaner arms into and for a small piece of pipe cleaner to connect the top and bottom plate (for the body and the head), along with a couple of pritt stick - the kids will take care of the rest.
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REMEMBER - NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU TRY, SOME CHILDREN JUST LIKE TO RUSH ABOUT AND DO THEIR OWN THING AND WILL NOT SIT FOR A CRAFT OR HAVE TATTOOS.
NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO, THEY MAY NOT BE INTERESTED IN ANYTHING YOU HAVE TO OFFER. THIS IS NORMAL AND NOT A FAILURE ON YOUR PART TO PROVIDE SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE, THIS IS AN IMPOSSIBLE TASK!
NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO, THEY MAY NOT BE INTERESTED IN ANYTHING YOU HAVE TO OFFER. THIS IS NORMAL AND NOT A FAILURE ON YOUR PART TO PROVIDE SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE, THIS IS AN IMPOSSIBLE TASK!
Other frozen themed games...
It is easy for me to go on and on and on about Frozen parties (i've done so many) and tell you how best to entertain the 'rabble' but I will round it up for you and give you a run down of a few more Frozen themed games you can add in to fill any gaps in your entertainment schedule!
PIN THE NOSE ON THE SNOWMAN - Olaf is a pretty simple dude to draw, or if you aren't feeling particularly gifted on the art fronT, just draw a regular snowman on a piece of A1 card (can be bought at COOP Bau & Hobby) and have some carrot shapes cut out ready to stick in place. Don't forget to bring a scarf for the blindfold!
FROZEN HEARTS - This game can get a little wet! Freeze some small hearts in an ice cube tray, give each person an icecube and the first one to thaw the frozen heart and releases it, wins!
SNOWMAN BOWLING - Using some decorated white paper/ plastic cups (decorate your cups by sticking on some black spots/buttons), stack up your cups and give the children some polystyrene balls to knock over the snowman tower.
BUILD AN ICE TOWER - Using sugar cubes see who can make the tallest tower!
SNOWBALL STOMP - with all those balloons hanging around from the party, save yourself the job of popping them by making it into a game. Tie a ballon (snowball) round each childs ankle with a piece of string. The aim is for the children to burst each others balloons, the child who's balloon survives is the winner!
Phew.... I think for now, that will do, you should have plenty of ideas to keep you and the party guests busy busy busy!
PIN THE NOSE ON THE SNOWMAN - Olaf is a pretty simple dude to draw, or if you aren't feeling particularly gifted on the art fronT, just draw a regular snowman on a piece of A1 card (can be bought at COOP Bau & Hobby) and have some carrot shapes cut out ready to stick in place. Don't forget to bring a scarf for the blindfold!
FROZEN HEARTS - This game can get a little wet! Freeze some small hearts in an ice cube tray, give each person an icecube and the first one to thaw the frozen heart and releases it, wins!
SNOWMAN BOWLING - Using some decorated white paper/ plastic cups (decorate your cups by sticking on some black spots/buttons), stack up your cups and give the children some polystyrene balls to knock over the snowman tower.
BUILD AN ICE TOWER - Using sugar cubes see who can make the tallest tower!
SNOWBALL STOMP - with all those balloons hanging around from the party, save yourself the job of popping them by making it into a game. Tie a ballon (snowball) round each childs ankle with a piece of string. The aim is for the children to burst each others balloons, the child who's balloon survives is the winner!
Phew.... I think for now, that will do, you should have plenty of ideas to keep you and the party guests busy busy busy!