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St. Patrick's Day the Preschool Way
St. Patrick's Day is a wonderful time to do something special with your child. This year, throw a St. Patrick's Day bash! Sit down and plan the party with your child. We have some great suggestions to help you with the green theme, but your child might have some ideas that will surprise you.
The Invitations
How many children should you invite? A house full of
preschoolers can get out of control if not entertained
constantly. Becca Gladden, a party consultant for The Party
Shop, suggests to base the number invited on your
child's age. "A good rule-of-thumb is to invite one
child for each year of the host child's age -- for
example, five children for a 5-year-old. If you have
more parent helpers at the party, you can safely
invite about four children for each adult," says
Becca. "Be sure you have enough adults on hand to keep
things under control, or hire a neighborhood teenager
as a party helper."
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Shamrock Invitations
You'll need:
Draw a shamrock shape onto the construction paper. Help you child cut it out, then write all the information about your party on the shamrock. |
Instead of mailing the invitations, let your child hand-deliver them. "I find hand-delivering the invitations is much more friendly and personal," says Gladden. If you do mail the invitations, drop them in the mailbox at least 10 days to 2 weeks before the party.
Decorations
What color should you decorate with? Green, of course!
Use green streamers, green and white cups, plates and
napkins, and green and white balloons. "Cut green shamrocks from construction paper or poster board and glue gold glitter on them," says Gladden. "Hang them all
around the room."
Matching place cards for the table can be made by sponge-painting smaller clay pots, then writing the children's names on them with a marker. Fill the pots with green jellybeans, lollipops or Lucky Charms cereal.
|
Shamrock Pencil Topper
You'll need:
Trace the shape of a shamrock onto the Fun Foam. Cut out the shamrocks, then make two small slits, a little wider than the pencil, in the center to pass the pencil through. Wiggle eyes could be glued on, if desired, to make silly shamrocks. |
Don't forget the front door! "Cut out one large shamrock and tape to the door," says Gladden. "Write 'Welcome To The Party' on it with a gold marker. Have the children sign the big shamrock when they arrive and let the host child keep it as a souvenir of the party."
For non-sugary snacks, "Serve spinach bagels (they are green but taste great) with green-tinted cream cheese; make spinach dip and serve with cucumbers or broccoli pieces; top individual pizzas with green peppers or serve a big tossed chef salad with green ranch dressing -- basically, use your imagination and color your favorite food green with a few drops of food coloring," says Gladden.
Most preschoolers are familiar with the book Green Eggs and Ham, so why not serve something a little different? Yes, green eggs. Simply tint the eggs green with a little food coloring. Have a parent read the story as the kids eat their green treat.
What Do I Serve?
Keep with the green theme even with the food you
serve. To keep it simple, frost cupcakes with green
frosting, or you can make a cake that looks like a
rainbow and a pot of gold. "Bake a white sheet cake (add a few drops of green food coloring to the batter) and frost with vanilla frosting tinted green," says
Gladden. "Create a rainbow using M&Ms arranged in colored rows. Separate an Oreo cookie and place one half flat on the cake at the end
of the rainbow -- the 'pot.' Break the other half of the Oreo in half and stick it into the cake sideways for the top of the pot. Sprinkle
butterscotch chips on top of the pot to resemble pieces of gold."
Gladden suggests setting out a pitcher filled with green Kool-Aid, or placing green Squeeze-Its beside each child's plate. Another option is to make up a batch of Lime Punch. This festive punch is just the right color, and kids will love the sweet, but tart, taste.
Party Favors
Set up a cookie decorating station. Bake
some Sugar
Cookies before the party, then set out bowls of
green sprinkles, green M&Ms, tinted green frosting, or
any other decoration you like, and let the children
decorate their own cookies.
Another option is to fill plastic storage bags with
candy, rubber balls, pencils, whistles, etc., and tie
the bag closed with green and white ribbon. "Include a rubber snake in the bag, especially for boys," says Gladden. "Explain that St. Patrick is credited for
ridding Ireland of all snakes and saving the potato
crops." The bag could also be filled with Lucky Charms
cereal. Hide a chocolate gold coin in the cereal for
the kids to hunt for. Party Games
Match Game
You'll need:
Help your child draw a picture of a shamrock on one of
the index cards. Have him copy as close as he can the
same exact picture on another index card. Repeat this
process, but use different things such as a pot of
gold, leprechaun, a green square, four-leaf clover,
etc.
To play: Let's Sing!
Party favors are a great way to keep the children
entertained. Set up a craft table and let them make a
craft to take home. "Give each child a paper bag and allow them to decorate it with crayons and markers, St. Patrick's Day stickers, rubber
stamps, ecetera," says Gladden. "Let them take home their decorated
cookies (in a sandwich bag), gold chocolate coins,
place cards from the table and pencil topper. You can
also divide up the balloons. If you have a Polaroid
camera, take pictures of the children during the party
and place the pictures in the treat bags as well."
Children love party games. Gladden suggests having a Leprechaun treasure hunt. "Cut out several pictures of the leprechaun from the Lucky Charms
cereal box, or use any leprechaun image of your choice," she says. "On the back of each one, write a clue to where the next leprechaun
is hiding. Hide them around the house. Help the
children follow the clues and have a pot filled with
gold chocolate coins or individual treat bags at the
end of the treasure hunt." Pin The Hat on the
Leprechaun is another fun game. Draw and color a large
leprechaun on a piece of poster board and cut out. Cut
hats out of black construction paper and let each
child try stick the hat on top of the leprechaun's
head -- blindfolded, of course!
Place the cards face down in straight rows on a table.
Have each child turn over two cards. If the cards do
not match, they must turn them both back over. The
child take turns until all the cards are matched up.
The one with the most matches wins.
Gather all the children in a circle and teach them a
classic Irish song. Print out the words so they can be
taken home in their party bags.
|
Red Is The Rose
Come over the hills, my bonnie Irish lass
Chorus:
'Twas down by Killarney's green woods that we
strayed
Chorus: |
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