Summer children have it easy, the warmer days and brighter evenings provide plenty of opportunities to get outside and run around, letting off the pent-up energy that only seems to increase in capacity when children gather together. Children born in the winter face a couple more restrictions when it comes to organising a party, especially considering the cost of hall and venue hire when trying to entertain a larger number of classmates. While it can be frustrating, it just means winter children get to be more creative with their party ideas and can offer something different to just going to the nearest park or open field to play outside games.
Festive Treat Decorating
A party idea that has the kids creating their own snacks, buy or make a collection of gingerbread men, or if you are feeling really motivated, a couple of gingerbread house kits, that the children can build and decorate together with sweets, icing, chocolate shapes, sprinkles, etc. There are plenty of edible decorations available in the cake aisle of your local big-name supermarkets and around the festive period, you can find plenty of pretty patterns and shapes including snowflakes, snowmen and holly leafs to name a few.
Prepare the room by investing in a cost-effective large plastic sheet or tarpaulin that can be placed on the floor to protect against dropped treats and squished sweets, especially necessary if you have carpet!
Indoor Winter Sports
Got room to spare? Host your own winter games indoors, away from the cold. You can set up several “courses” including an area for measuring the furthest hop, skip and jump, somewhere to hold a short footrace or if speed is a concern, the slow footrace! Who can go the slowest without stopping? Further winter games could include an obstacle course, balloon race and best animal impression.
Creativity and imagination are your only restriction when hosting your own indoor winter games and there isn’t much investment needed, although you can always grab some medals as a “prize” for the party guests. Get your child involved in coming up with the games together and if you get stuck, there is plenty of inspiration available online.
Cops and Robbers Party
Depending on the age of your child, a themed party is sure to go down a treat and cops and robbers can be particularly fun for kids. Have the kids come in costume, police or robber or simply hand out some masks and a sheriff’s badge which all can be handmade relatively cheaply and quickly.
Party games can include a “laser course” made using string hung horizontally across a corridor that the kids must get through without touching the string and “setting off the alarms”. You can also set up a target practice zone using soft nerf guns or cheap “sucker” guns which fire soft ended sucker darts and often include a plastic target. Don’t forget to get the kid’s mug shots before they go home!
Costume Party
Costume themes are a no-brainer when it comes to children’s parties. Children can dress up as characters from their favorite movies or TV shows. To make it more relevant to the season, kids can dress up snugly with thick medieval capes and robes. They don’t only look fashionable and in character, but they also keep their little bodies cozy and warm.
These make great costumes for historical fiction characters like Robin Hood or King Arthur. They can also work for modern characters like a Jedi from Star Wars or a wizard from Harry Potter.
Lego Party
Lego is always going to be a popular pastime and toy for growing children as it encourages their creativity and imagination and helps them create entire make-believe worlds around them. As such, a Lego party will always go down a treat for boys and girls and even the party food can be made Lego themed, with brick-shaped cupcakes and pizza squares.
Lego sets can be picked up inexpensively via online stores and you can introduce party games such as hide the brick, fastest to build a specific design, highest tower, guess the number of bricks in a jar and build the best Lego vehicle to launch down a homemade ramp.
Winter doesn’t always bring rain and if you have an all-weather garden with artificial grass or a covered trellis, you can put together some activities that the children can take part in outdoors to give them more room to enjoy themselves. Just remember to request outdoor suitable clothing on the invitation to stop them getting cold!
Note: This is a collaborative post
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