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Hosting A Holiday Party

With everyone in a festive mood, the holidays are a fun time to have a party. So think winter, holidays, and excitement and get ready to host a celebration of the season. A note before you get started: keep in mind that not everyone celebrates Christmas or Kwanzaa and you want to make sure everyone feels at ease so you may want to keep the theme generic to the holidays or winter. In addition, holiday parties often include both children and adults so be certain to plan accordingly.

Invitation

Cut outs of seasonal symbols make cute invitations. Try some of these popular ones: bell, snowflake, snowman, wreath, candle or star. Make it special by adding a bit of glitter or use a gold marker for writing. You can also find pens that have glittery ink. Now make sure your invitation sounds welcoming:

We would enjoy your company in a celebration of the season. Please come join us for some holiday cheer.

Decorations

Obviously, holiday decorations are not hard to come by – you can find them in the stores beginning around Labor Day! However, adding a personal touch gives a decorated house a warm feel – something you want to portray during the holidays. Don’t hesitate to display your children’s handmade crafts. Set them around proudly and even invite them to create more. Provide them with beautiful wrapping paper to construct chains that can frame doors and mirrors. Also try to spread your decorating beyond the living room, as your guest will most likely venture beyond the main living area. At the very least, they will be using your restroom and children will probably play in your child’s bedroom. Make sure your holiday spirit reaches into these areas also. A simple candle garden can add shine to your restroom. Kids rooms will shout “happy holiday” if you add some festive garland around their door frame, hang some sparkling stars from the ceiling, and let them arrange window clings on their windows. You may want to go with a color theme such as red and white, or silver and gold, or give the “adult” areas a glamorous touch while the children’s rooms are made cute. Your main living area may be decked out with sparkle, but the children’s area can be filled with stuffed animals such as snowmen, teddy bears, reindeer, and dolls. The point is to create a decorated home, not just a room.

Food

What would the holidays be without a feast? Yes, eating is a big part of the holiday celebration. Plenty of recipes and specialty foods can be found to make this part of the party a treat. But if you’d like a little help with some creative ideas, here are some cute ones to try:

Hot Cocoa

No holiday party would be complete without this luscious drink! Instead of tearing the top off the hot chocolate mix, make it from scratch. Using whole milk, dissolve chocolate pieces in the warm milk – stirring constantly. Most chocolate will do but know that the better the chocolate, the better the cocoa. Now drop in a few mini marshmallows or a snowman peep and add a squirt if whipped cream and see how many happy faces you’ll get. If you want to add a bit of a kick, provide everyone with a candy cane for stirring!

Decorated Marshmallows

Using good melting chocolate, dip large marshmallows in the chocolate so that they are covered about half way up. Now dip the marshmallows in nuts, crushed candy cane or sprinkles.

Pretty Pretzels

This again utilizes melted chocolate. Dip pretzel rods about one-third of the way into melted chocolate. Now attach snowballs (miniature marshmallows) by sticking them to the chocolate before it hardens. You can also dip the coated pretzels in festive sprinkles or crushed candy canes.

Fancy Cookies In A Pinch

Instead of trying to bake and decorate cookies when you have lots of other party preparations to deal with, buy good quality cookies from the grocery store or bakery and decorate; drizzle chocolate over them (if you use white chocolate, you can add food coloring), dip cookies in two different chocolates, add frosting and sprinkles, or coat with white chocolate and sprinkle on dark chocolate shavings.

Consider that much work goes into baking and cooking. You deserve to enjoy your party with your guest, so save yourself a bit of time and effort by purchasing prepared foods and adding little personal touches to make them look like yours!

Games and Activities

You may think that games are for kids, but even the adults can have fun with some of these:

Chinese Gift Exchange

This “game” is best played with older children and those who are not opposed to sharing. On your party invitation, ask everyone to bring a gift. The gift should be generic so that it can be used for both children and adults and should be kept to a named price range. You can suggest a theme such as something to do with art, a game, sports, etc., or you can leave it open. The gifts should be wrapped and untagged. You will need to prepare small squares of paper that are numbered (up to however many guests are participating), fold them and place them in a jar or cup. As each guest drops off their gift a t a designated spot, they should remove one of the numbered tags. The game is played like this: the person with number one chooses the first gift and opens it. The person with the next number now chooses between a gift that has already been opened or selects a gift from the remaining unopened gifts. If an opened gift is “stolen” from someone else, that person now selects a new, unopened gift from the remaining gifts. The game goes on until the person with the last number makes the final selection. This game is lots of fun in spite of all the ruthless stealing that takes place!

Pass The Present

To prepare for this game, wrap at least five assorted boxes (one must fit inside the other) in wrapping paper and ribbon. Inside the middle box, place a large bar of chocolate – also wrapped! You will also need a dice, a pair of gloves, a scarf, and a winter hat to play this game. Time to play: With the box of boxes in the center, have everyone sit in a circle and take turns rolling the dice. The first person to roll a six gets to start. This person must now put on all the clothes and begin to unwrap the gift. As this person does so, the other players continue to roll the dice. As the next person rolls a six, they now get to pull all the clothes off he person who is currently wearing it and begin unwrapping also. The game continues until someone finally reaches and eats the chocolate bar. Hopefully, the winner is in the spirit of giving and decides to share the gift!

Find the Bells

This game is played just like an egg hunt except you use jingle bells. Give each player a holiday basket to collect his or her bells. The person with the most bells at the end of a designated time period wins.

Santa's Scavenger Hunt
Divide your guests into two teams. (If you have many guests--more than about 12 or 15--you may want to divide into three teams.) Give each player a bag and start the game. Have your guests try to locate the following:

Red ribbon, bell, holiday cookie, holiday napkin, gift tag, piece of tinsel, candy cane, holiday card, piece of wrapping paper, picture of a reindeer, and a bow or ribbon. The first team to collect everything on the hunting list wins.

Decorating Cookies

If you prefer to have your guests participate in an activity, you can set up a cookie decorating station. Purchase (or bake) enough sugar cookies so that each guest has at least 6 cookies (the amount will vary depending on the age of participants and how much time you want to set aside for this activity). Set up a decorating area complete with various frostings, sprinkles, candies, and even food markers. Be sure to have plenty of towels, plastic knives and spoons, and paper plates handy. Now put on some holiday music and let the artwork begin. Have some cute boxes or bags available for your guest to transport their goodies home safely. A good way to ensure that enough cookies are actually brought home is to have several extras available for nibbling.

Caroling

We may not have falling snow or icicles, but caroling can still be fun in the cool Florida air. A fun way to get in the spirit is to have everyone wear holiday clothes or at least dress in red, white and green. Give everyone a bell for ringing along to the beat. Little children enjoy this activity also but have a hard time keeping up so load them up in strollers or wagons that have been decorated with garland, glitter and even battery powered lights. Not set off to spread cheer throughout the neighborhood. You be amazed how many surprised, yet smiling faces you will encounter. Finish off the caroling with a nice cup of hot cocoa or warm cider upon your return.

A Visit From Santa

If you really want to create a holiday atmosphere, invite Santa to join you! Whether you hire someone to visit or ask a friend to play the part, having Santa at you party will certainly cheer things up. Prepare by having parents (discreetly) bring a wrapped and tagged gift for their child. It is suggested that you keep the gifts simple so that there isn’t any animosity among the receivers. Make sure Santa gets his stash of gifts out of site and before the visiting begins. Now allow each child to spend some time on Santa’s lap and receive his/her gift. A great gift from you to your guest is for you to take a family photo of them with Santa. A memory they’ll cherish for years to come.

Reindeer Food

Make a bag of reindeer food for each child so they can sprinkle it in their yards on Christmas Eve to help Santa find their house. Combine oatmeal with glitter and place a small amount in enough ziplock bags for each guest.

Holiday Trivia

This game can be fun for any Holiday that will be celebrated in December. Come up with at least 10 trivia questions for the Holiday you celebrate. Have the host ask the questions and see how many answers the guests know.

Holiday Pictionary or Charades

Write enough holiday words on separate pieces of paper for each guest or game player to have a turn. You can play this game as two groups or many individual teams. Have a person look at the word and either act it out or draw it (depending on which game you are playing). If you are playing in small groups then one person from each group will have to see the word. The team who guesses first wins that round. Keep track of total rounds won.

Favors

Depending on the age of your guest, you can thank everyone with a small token ranging from toys to homemade breads or pastries. Young children will be happiest with a small goodie bag filled with a few chocolates, candy canes and small toys such as a holiday storybook, stickers, and cars or miniature teddy bears. If you are thanking a family for their visit, send them home with a plate of homemade cookies and a few cute cookie cutters tied to the ribbon on the box. If you’d really like to express a sense of gratitude, make a donation to a charity in each family’s name. You can either make one large donation and include everyone’s name on it or you can purchase individual ones (such as the peace doves in malls and grocery stores) and write each family’s name on the card you receive for donating. Include the details of this gift in a thank you card.

Happy Holidays!

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