Dress-up themed parties are always a hit with kids. Children love to
put on fancy clothes or fun costumes and enter a fantasy world. The most
popular dress-up themes for girls are Princess Parties, while for boys
it's Pirate Parties. Here are some suggestions for both.
Princess Party
- Magic Wand Invitations
Write the party details on homemade magic wands. Buy princess-themed
pencils and tie a wide colorful ribbon on the eraser end. Write party
details on the ribbon, and mail in padded envelopes to guests.
- Costumes
Ask the girls to come dressed up, then rummage through your closet or
head for the thrift shop and pick out old jewelry, silky scarves, white
gloves, high heels, and fanciful hats to share with the party guests.
- Castle Decorations
Cut out a castle background with towers and turrets, using large
appliance boxes. Paint the castle pink and decorate with scarves,
jewels, and pictures of princesses. Tie pink helium balloons along the
length of the castle and around the party room.
- Games and Activities
Pretty Princess
Let the girls paint each other's faces with stars, rainbows, or flowers, or hire a professional face painter.
Dress-Up Relay
Set out princess outfits and accessories, divide into teams, and have
girls race to dress up. Make it more interesting by having them dress
each other!
Princess Crown
Have the girls make their own cone-shaped princess crowns from poster
board, and decorate them with jewels, glitter, beads and lace.
Royal Foods
Serve sherbet and lemon lime soda floats, tiny pink-tinted
sandwiches, and little petit fours cakes iced pink and decorated with
small candies.
Fun Party Favors
Give the princesses dress-up items to take home, such as barrettes
and hair clips, lip gloss, paper doll books, costume jewelry, and bubble
bath.
Pirate Party
- Argh Invitations
Help the guys find their way to your Pirate's Cove with a Treasure
Map invitation. Draw a simple map that includes the homes of each guest
and your own. Mark yours with an X, then add pirate-related places, such
as Black Lagoon, Hook's Hideaway, and so on. Tear or burn the edges,
roll the maps into scrolls, and mail in tubes to guests.
- Costumes
Pirates pillaged their outfits so head for the thrift shop, a great
source for pirate-wear. Pick up some billowing white shirts, striped
socks, bandanas, short pants, and oversized shoes, then add eye patches
and phony mustaches for fun.
- Pirate Ship Decor
Turn the party room into Pirate Cove complete with a Pirate Ship. Get
a few large appliance boxes and line them up to form the foundation of
your pirate ship. Cut the tops off, paint the boxes brown, make
portholes, and lay out a "walk-the-plank" entrance. Tie on balloons
decorated like Jolly Rogers and you're ready to set sail.
- Games and Activities
Play Walk the Plank!
Set out a long, narrow board and have the kids try to walk a straight
line without stepping off into the "sea." Make it more and more
difficult by having them walk backwards, sideways, hopping, no hands for
balance, and finally...blindfolded.
Make Pirate Pieces.
For eye patches, cut circles from black felt or imitation leather,
attach a length of elastic string on both sides, and tie them to fit.
Make swords from cardboard, round the tips, paint them silver, and
decorate them with stick-on jewels. Create pirate flags from cotton
rectangles and let the kids decorate them with markers.
Treasure Chest Refreshments
Serve bowls of "grog" (soup). Offer chicken legs and hot dogs they
can eat with their hands. Or go with fish 'n' chips and a mug of apple
cider. Make a Treasure Chest Cake by baking a rectangular cake. Frost it
with chocolate icing and decorate with colorful sprinkles, chocolate
gold coins, and candy jewelry. To make the chest lid, clean the cake
pan, frost it, and set it at right angles to the cake.
Pirate Favors
Send the mates ashore with chocolate gold coins, eye patches, swords, flags, and other pirate accessories.
Penny Warner has more than 25 years of experience as an author
and party planner. She has published more than 50 books, including 16
specific to parties. Additionally, Warner writes a weekly newspaper
column on family life, penned a column for Sesame Street Parents
magazine and has appeared on several regional and national TV morning
programs. Her latest book, HOW TO HOST A KILLER PARTY, debuted in
February 2010 from NAL/Penguin.
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