Category: Kids

Toy story party ideas

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Decorate your Toy Story party to look like Woody’s Roundup, Andy’s Room, a toy store or outer space! Here are some other ideas to inspire you when planning a children’s party.

  • Hang paper airplanes from the ceiling with fishing line so the planes look like they’re flying.

  • Use toys and green plastic army men as balloon weights.

  • Use a Buzz Lightyear or Woody pillowcase as a chair cover for the birthday child.

  • Decorate in lime green, blue, white and red for a Buzz Lightyear party or red, gold, cow pattern, and denim for a Woody party.

  • Have the birthday child or adults dress as characters from the movie.

  • Set up the room like Pizza Planet and offer arcade games like skee ball, electronic basketball, bowling, foosball, plastic darts or air hockey for the kids to play. Hand out gold coins to use as game tokens.

Easily incorporate Pizza Planet into your Toy Story party by ordering or making pizza for your guests. Another option is to have a cowboy barbecue with Woody over a campfire with hotdogs and marshmallows. Here’s one Toy Story food ideas for snacks and dessert.

 

  • Mr. Potato Head Rice Krispies Treats. (Use Cocoa Krispies cereal in the batter. Form into flat oval shapes then add marshmallow eyes. Use gum drop for ears, feet and hands.)

    Toy Story Party favours

Thank your guests with a variety of cool party favours! To find a large variety of Woody and Buzz party favours, visit the store and click the “Party favours” tab or the “More Fun Stuff” tab. Some of the favours we have include:

 

  • Mini Slinky Dogs

  • Buzz Lightyear flyers

  • Army men

  • Toy Story 3 stickers and temporary tattoos

  • Toy Story punch balloons

  • Cowboy and cowgirl hats

  • Fun-shaped candy and lollipops

 

Harry Potter Children’s party themes

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Transform your child and his or her guests from Muggles to wizards with our Harry Potter Party Ideas! We have suggestions for everything from invitations to activities that will ensure a mystical birthday bash no one will forget!

Harry Potter Children’s Party Planning & Invitations

In addition to basic magical kids party supplies, like plates, cups, napkins, and decorations, you may want to consider purchasing, borrowing or renting the following items for your Harry Potter party:


  • Harry Potter movies, soundtracks or video games

  • A Selection of Magic Tricks

  • Wands

  • You may also want to consider hiring a magician to come perform for your guests.


Invitations are an important part of your planning because they give the first impression of your children’s party to your guests. If you have the time to make your own invitations, here are a few ideas to consider for your Harry Potter Birthday party:

  • Fold a piece of cardstock in half to create a top-fold card. If you are artistic, draw the Hogwarts crest on the front. Underneath the crest, write, “You are Invited…”

  • Punch a hole in the corner of a card-style invitation and attach it to a magic wand. Ask your guests to bring their wand with them to the party.

  • Create a top-fold card and divide the front of the card into four squares. Write one of the Hogwarts house names in each square (i.e. Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff).

    Harry Potter Decorating & Food

Transform your party area into a page out of the Harry Potter series with some ‘mystical’ decorations:


  • Make a “Sorting Hat” by cutting a cone shape from a 24″ x 18″ piece of purple poster board, as shown below. Roll it into a cone, and tape or staple it closed. Cut out star and crescent moon shapes from yellow construction paper, and glue them onto the hat. As each guest arrives, put the hat over his or her head and announce that they have been chosen to the [child’s last name]’s house! Then, use the Sorting Hat as a centerpiece.

  • Hang two or three stuffed owls from the ceiling of the party area.

  • Cut a large lightning bolt out of white poster board and spray paint it silver. Hang it on the door leading to the party.

  • Create placemats that represent the four houses of Hogwarts using plain white construction paper and coloured markers. Write one of the house names on each placemat, and decorate them with the appropriate colours:

    • Slytherin: Green and Silver

    • Gryffindor : Scarlet and Gold

    • Hufflepuff: Yellow and White

    • Ravenclaw: Blue and Silver


When it comes to children’s party food, your guests would most likely be perfectly happy with pizza or hotdogs. However, if you would like to include some Harry Potter themed snacks, consider these ideas:


  • Serve “Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans.” We suggest using Jelly Belly brand jelly beans because of the wide variety of flavors available.

  • Make chocolate frogs using chocolate chips and gummy frogs (available at candy stores). Microwave one cup of chocolate chips for one minute or until melted, and stir. Dip the gummy frogs in the melted chocolate, and then place them on wax paper to cool. Keep the frogs chilled until you’re ready to serve them.

  • Serve “magic potion”. Freeze cranberry and grape juice in ice cube trays before the party. Serve a colourless soda at the party, such as ginger ale or lemon-lime. Let your guests select their ice cubes, which will “magically” change the colour of their drinks.

  • There are a number of treats from the Harry Potter stories that are made from everyday products, such as Butter Beer (root beer), Choco Balls (chocolate covered strawberry mousse balls), Fizzing Whizbees (sherbet balls), Rock Cakes (randomly shaped cakes with raisins), chocolate eclairs, and licorice wands.

    Harry Potter Party favours

Put a smile on your guests’ faces by sending them home with party favours that fit your theme. You could give one large favour, such as one of the Harry Potter novels or movie tickets; or combine smaller favours such as:


  • A magic wand

  • A book of magic tricks

  • Harry Potter stickers, pencils and stationery items

  • Plastic Harry Potter glasses

 

Skylanders party

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Step onto the Portal of Power and save Skylands from the evil Kaos with a Skylanders themed children’s party!
With Skylanders multitude of characters and plotlines, your party will include something that every single one of your guests can enjoy. Your son or daughter will love transporting themselves into their favourite video game when you accessorise their party with Skylanders themed decorations, food, tableware, and activities. Get ready to choose your elemental category and become a brand new playable character when you have your Skylanders party!
Skylanders Party Planning & Invitations
In order to throw the best children’s party possible, you need to plan appropriately! One of the most important planning decisions to make is where your children’s party venue will be. Your home, your garden, or an arcade would all be great places to host your Skylanders themed party. No matter where you choose, we offer a wide variety of Skylanders dinnerware, decorations, and other accessories for your convenience!
Some items that may go well at your party are:
Your Playstation, Xbox, or Wii along with your Skylanders figurines so that your guests can play their favourite video game during the party
Skylanders plush characters
Skylanders masks
Printed badges of the eight elements so that your party guests can wear their favourite
Skylanders costumes so that your guests can dress up as their favourite character
Invitations definitely don’t have to be boring! Make sure your friends and family know how great your party is going to be by sending them some awesome invitations. Invitations are also a great way to show off your creative side; if you’re feeling crafty, make some of your own Spyro the Dragon invitations using the following steps:
Cut out pieces of paper in the shape of Spyros head
Fold the pieces of paper in half to make a card-style invitation
Colour it purple and orange to match Spyros classic look, or decorate it in whatever way you would like
Include a fun poem to invite your friends to the party:
Skylanders need help It’s time to defeat Kaos At Gina’s Party! Just because you’re not creative doesn’t mean you can’t have fun invitations! If you’re looking to write your own message to your guests, you can buy our Elements Force Personalised Invitations. For easy yet still stylish pre-made invitations, take a look at our Skylanders Invitations and Thank You Set. No matter what your preference is, you’ll be sure to find or make the perfect invitations for you and your party!
Decorate your home with Skylanders signature figurines.
Bring the Skylanders to you! Create your own vines using brown string and brow, golden, and green tissue paper that you can cut into leaves. These can be hung anywhere around your party venue.
Bake your kids favourite type of cake and put Skylanders figurines on top.
For the undead among you, create some Skylanders Undead Bone Pretzels! Simple poke a piece of popcorn on each end of a skinny pretzel stick and dip in melted white chocolate until set.
For a healthy snack, buy some watermelon–after all, it heals and rejuvenates the Skylanders, so it’s the perfect way to give your party guests a boost of energy!
Sheep are included in every Skylanders game, so make sure you include them at your party with these Skylanders Sheep Cupcakes! Frost cupcakes with white frosting and cover with mini marshmallow use a chocolate donut hole for the head and give it eye with frosting.
Skylanders Party Favours
Your guests took time out of their day for you to come to your party. Make sure you let them know how much you appreciate that by giving them each a Skylanders goody bag at the conclusion of your party! We offer a variety of items, both Skylanders themed and not, that would go great in your goody bags! If you’re looking for a Skylanders themed goody bag.
Skylanders favour cups
Skylanders stickers
Skylanders 3D erasers
With all of these options, you can mix and match until you create your perfect and unique goody bag for you guests. The possibilities for your Skylander favours are endless!

Minecraft parties

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Minecraft has swept into the hearts and devices around the world, and you’re tasked with creating a Minecraft world in your own home for a kids birthday party. But have no fear! Minecraft is a great children’s party theme, with tons of opportunities to make your Minecraft party shine. With such a blocky style, it’s easy to build your party area into a one of a kind world for your birthday gamer.

Personalisation

Personalise your party to show off the special day you are celebrating. Customize messages on invites, labels, activity mats, bag tags and more.

Decorations

Minecraft is a world made of coloured blocks so your decor will mostly contain square-shapes. In the game, there are many different worlds you can create and explore, so getting an idea of which worlds you’d like to include in your party will help you tackle the decor aspect much easier. Whether it’s snow, desert, water, grass, or sand, you’ll find some great tips to throwing a one-of-a-kind Minecraft party in your home or outside.

 

  • You can coordinate solid blue, green, and black tableware and decorations with Minecraft brand elements to pull the whole look together.

  • Make a Minecraft party backdrop by taking square shaped paper plates and sticking them to the wall with sticky tack or non-damaging tape.

  • Use our stone wall backdrop to set the scene.

  • Take or make cubed cardboard boxes and cover with duct tape, construction paper, or tissue paper grass. Poke two small holes in the top and hang them from the ceiling with fishing line.

    Party Favours

Party favours are a part of the party fun, and with a Minecraft themed party, you’ve got lots of options to choose from. You can even make it a personalised gift, with either a themed name tag or another individual character. Carry your theme through your party favours to make it feel complete.

 

  • Use coloured paper bags or boxes and glue or draw Creeper, Golem, or Ghast faces on them.

  • Fill smartie tubes with red, green, and blue bubblegum labelled as “TNT,” “Diamonds,” or “Slimeballs.”

  • Small blind bags of Minecraft collectables also make great favours.

  • Make your own Minecraft boxes to fill with small favour items with this simple template.

  • For older children party poppers labelled TNT make a great party favour as well!

  • Paint or tape Creeper faces on lime green buckets so your attendees can take a character from Minecraft home!

    Party Games and Activities

While your party is in full swing, throw in some fun activities and games to keep the energy going. Keep the hands busy after meal time by having stations or times for different games.

 

  • Make a cookie decorating station for dessert. Use these Minecraft cookie cutters to make a batch of sugar cookies in advance.

  • With adult supervision, have kids make mini swords or Minecraft characters out of Hama beads.

  • Pinatas are a party classic, and making your own Ghast Pinata isn’t too hard!

  • Pin the tail on the pig is another fun game you can make incredibly easily with construction paper, scissors, and tape!

  • If you’re feeling extra handy, make a Minecraft beanbag toss with cutouts like a Creeper face.

  • Set up a photobooth with a few props. Like these Minecraft masks, and swords in front of a stone wall covering.

    DIY Crafts

Minecraft is all about building a world, so why not include some building creativity during the party? Having the kids (and adults) create a make-and-take craft is a great  way to keep them entertained and add one more keepsake to the pile of party favours

.

  • Duct tape bracelets are a fun craft that’s quick and easy!

  • Pick up some inexpensive blank T-shirts and have the party attendees make their own Minecraft shirts use heat transfer vinyl or fabric paint.

  • With a little pre-planning, you can make some fantastic Minecraft creatures from simple items such as toilet paper rolls and small boxes.

Kids eat free

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We believe all mums deserve to have a break from cooking at home everyday, but sometimes eating out with Kids can be pretty expensive. If you are looking for a place to treat your Kids with a delicious meal without breaking your bank account, look no further! We’ve done the hard work for you by compiling these fab restaurants which offer ‘Kids Eat Free’

Gordon Ramsay Restaurants

Selected location

There are several Gordon Ramsay’s Restaurants which offer Kids Eat Free for every adult main course ordered, including Maze Grill Mayfair, Bread Street Kitchen and The Narrow in London.

Damon’s Restaurant, Lincoln / Liverpool / Sheffield

Kids under 12 years old can enjoy a free main course from the kids menu which available from Monday to Saturday 12-6pm at Damon’s restaurant.

Coal Grill & Bar, various location

Kids aged 10 and under can enjoy a fun free meal from Coal Kids Menu per adult spending £10 or more, available from Monday to Friday 12-5pm.

Brewer’s Fayre / Beefeater Grill / Thyme / Table Table – Premier Inn, Countrywide

Enjoy up to two under 16s free Premier Inn all-you-can-eat breakfast per one full-paying adult. Kids can choose from hot and cold breakfast, as well as freshly-baked pastries, fruits and juices.

Morrisons, Countrywide

Morrisons offers one free kids meal (for under 16 years old) with any adult hot meal (over £4.50) from 3pm every day.

Crown Carveries, Countrywide

Visit your local Crown Carvery any Sunday (and bank holiday Monday) to get free kids carvery for each adult ordering a roast or pub classic meal. ASDA, Countrywide

Kids can eat free on weekdays after 3.30pm for every adult meal purchased worth £4.

Easter Entertainment

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Here are some brilliant Easter themed children’s activities for indoors and to give the little Kids a break from scoffing a pile of Easter Eggs!
 
Egg Decorating
 
Egg decorating is so much fun and keeps children entertained for hours. You can use paints, glitter, stickers and anything crafty that you can get your hands on but first you need to blow out the contents of the egg. Here’s how to do it –
 
Pierce a small hole at both ends of the egg and blow into the egg (do this over a bowl) and the contents of the egg will come out.
 
If the egg appears stuck, then swirl it around and blow again.
 
Finally hold your finger over the bottom hole and place the top under running water, shake the egg and blow again.
 
Leave the egg to dry and then they’re ready to decorate.
 
Indoor Egg and Spoon Race
 
The key for this child friendly activity is to use coloured plastic eggs, or if you are heading down the more traditional route then boil the egg first so that it’s hard boiled otherwise this could end up as quite a messy children’s activity. Arrange the children at the start line with an egg and a spoon each, and when you say go the children race to the finish line without dropping their egg. If they drop it, they need to start again! You could make the race more difficult by adding obstacles!
 
Springtime Easter Nests
 
This Easter recipe is so simple for the children to make and requires no oven! My favourite bit is licking the bowl afterwards…yum yum!
 
Ingredients:
 
150g Shredded Wheat (Cornflakes or Rice Crispies are just as yummy)
 
250g chocolate
 
3 tbsp golden syrup
 
1 bag of Mini Eggs
 
How to make:
 
Melt chocolate in a saucepan over a low heat
 
Stir in syrup and and rice crispies – watch out for taste testers!
 
Spoon mixture into cake cases, top with a Mini Egg (or two) and leave to cool
 
Enjoy!

Rollercoasters or Kids

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Who doesn’t love roller coasters! Too often age and height restrictions prevent our little thrill seekers from the excitement and fun of twists, drops and loops. So here is a list of the best child friendly coasters aimed at keeping under 8’s happy!

Cat-o-pillar Coaster – Paultons Park, Hampshire

This purr-fect family coaster is perfect for your little daredevils. With swoops and loops around up to a height of 10 metres, it’s an ideal Fun introductory coaster for the under 8’s. Be aware the experience you have by sitting at the back is MUCH scarier for little ones than the front!!!

Wild Bills Runaway Train – Adventure Wonderland, Bournemouth

Bill’s wild and so will you be, with the kids delight and excitement on this runaway train ride as it dips and dives carrying its brave passengers twice round a track of loops and swoops. It’s a big screaming, arm waving, runawaying, swaying adventure!

Octonauts Rollercoaster Adventure – Alton Towers, Staffordshire

Dive into CBeebies Land and join Captain Barnacles and crew as The Octonauts head on a Octonauts Rollercoaster Adventure!

The Flying Fish – Thorpe Park, Surrey

Experience a fun, fast, first-time roller coaster with a trip on Flying Fish. Now a firm Family favourite at the park, Flying Fish is the perfect ride for young thrill seekers to earn their adrenaline apprenticeship.

Dragon’s Apprentice – Legoland, Windsor

Especially for younger guests, this mini roller coaster still offers plenty of thrills and spills to keep the children entertained. Riders travel to the top of the castle ruin and drop in a spiral motion above the moat.

The Rattlesnake – Chessington World of Adventures

This is a rattling rollercoaster ride and you’ll be in hysterics as you snake your way through the sharp turns, inclines and sudden dips of the old Mexican tin mine. Life sure has its ups and downs for little kids!

Twistosaurus – Flamingo Land, Yorkshire

This sensational spinning coaster creates rip-roaring, rotating fun. With its eye-catching dinosaur egg theme, Twistosaurus adds a fun new dimension to Flamingo Land’s extensive collection of family fun rides.

Nickelodeon Streak – Blackpool Pleasure Beach

This is one for the slightly taller under 8’s but it’s well worth a mention in our list!  A spine-tingling ride in a sleek vehicle, this classic wooden coaster streaks down a super fast track is bound to be a highlight of your little one’s day at Blackpool Pleasure Beach!

Whilst most of the coasters we recommend will be suitable for under 8’s of all sizes, there are some for which a minimum height restrictions will apply. So be sure to check to avoid disappointment. All the coaster venues here have many rides for the under 8’s so I’m sure you will have an awesome day out, wherever you decide to go!

Cool things to do as a family this winter

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1. Go outdoors and find a frosty spider’s web (then make your own using PVA glue and silver glitter)

2. Make a puppet theatre using leftover Christmas cardboard, then create a puppet show

3. Create a bird feeder using a pine cone, lard and bird seed then take pictures of the birds as they feed in your garden!

4. Create your own puzzles. Stick a family photo, or a child drawn picture to card and cut it into shapes

5. Go bowling, it’s a great indoor activity that the whole family can enjoy!

6. Go to a castle and be a knight. Don’t forget to make a shield out of card and foil before you go!

7. Create a campfire and toast some marshmallows

8. Collect shells and create fun pictures on the beach, or in the forest with stones and twigs.

9. Teach your child to thread or sew, for younger children use cardboard with holes punched in it and string as thread.

10. Go on a scavenger hunt. Give children photos of things to find or set up written clues to help older children find items outside.

11. Visit a pottery café and create your very own masterpiece.

Shopping Centres with softplay

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The majority of large shopping centres now have that sanctuary of cushions, nets and multicoloured balls, the playcentre! Here are five of the best, picked due to their size and proximity to the largest numbers of Mums and Dads in need of a little retail therapy!

Intu MetroCentre; Gateshead, Tyne and Wear

The outdoor play area at intu Metrocentre Qube is designed to provide challenging fun for children from 3-10 years old. With a fireman’s pole, climbing walls, and dance chimes there are plenty of children’s activities to keep little ones entertained and give mums and dads a rest!

KidZania London; Westfield, London

Have your kids ever dreamt of becoming a pilot, a firefighter, or the next award-winning singer? Kidzania is a child-size city inside the shopping centre! With over 60 real life role-play activities in the bank, on stage or fighting crime on the streets as a police officer! KidZania is a real life role play experience for 4-14 year olds, blending learning and reality with entertainment.

Bluewater; Greenhithe, Kent

With various play areas to choose from; Bluewater is the perfect hangout for you, your friends and your family whilst letting your little monsters have some serious fun! Check out the Pirate Cove Adventure Park with caves, cascading waterfalls, pedalos and two 18-hole adventure golf courses! Children and parents alike can enjoy these outdoor spaces complete with sandpits, climbing equipment and picnic areas!

Bullring Shopping Centre; Birmingham

Teenie Weenies at the Bullring offer two dedicated multi-tiered soft play areas, allowing children to play in a fun exciting environment! For the older kids why not check out the The Junior Frame. With activities designed to stimulate and challenge children including; a spider’s web, ball pits, zip wires, rope bridges, and a variety of slides. For the little ones the Toddlers Frame provides younger children the chance to play and have fun with mum and dad.

Intu Trafford Centre; Manchester

Approximately five miles west of Manchester city centre, the Trafford Centre is hard to miss! Here the soft play area is designed for kids under 10, and includes a huge ball pool, slides, climbing nets, tube crawls, rope swings etc. For children under 6 there is the Little Tikes play area. Not enough? Then how about the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre, SEA LIFE and Paradise Island Adventure Golf. Plus the ODEON cinema shows a range of family films and host ODEON Kids film screenings on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Weatherproof Indoor Games

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It seems as soon as we get excited about the sunshine and make ‘outdoorsy’ plans, the rain clouds arrive! If you’re left wondering what on earth to do with the kids, we’ve come up with some great games to play in the comfort of your own home to keep kids of all ages entertained.

Indoor bowling

This game provides hours of fun for children (and adults) and can even be as competitive as you like You can either buy an indoor bowling set or use empty water bottles set up in a line and a soft ball. Don’t forget – place some tape as a starting line so avoid any cheating!

Dressing up stories

Get the kids using their imaginations and write a story – it could simply be their favourite fairy tale changed! They then have to act out their stories complete with costumes and props. Of course, you’ll need to put your acting skills to the test and join in with them!

Alphabet fishing

A fun and easy way to develop letter recognition and early reading skills, and even better it’s perfect for those rainy days! All you need are some magnetic letters, sticks or chopsticks, string, and paperclips. Tie the paper clips to your string and then tie (or glue) your string to your stick. Pour the magnetic letters into a big bowl…and let the children start fishing! The ‘catch of the day’ is the kids need to make words with the letters they hook out

Play ‘Sardines’ – a twist on the traditional hide and seek

You’ll need at least four players for this game with one person hiding and the other players searching for the hider. When a player finds their friend hiding, they then need to hide with that player staying where they are until another player finds them and so on. The fun will continue until the last person finds everyone at which point everyone will be squashed like – sardines!

Board games

Ditch electronic games and play with traditional board games. Snakes and Ladders, Guess Who, Monopoly…which games keep your little ones entertained?

Play ‘Bubbles’!

Playing this game is very simple and loads of fun! All you need is water, washing up liquid, a bowl and some straws! Put some water (about 2 cm) in the bowl with some washing up liquid and mix just a little bit until bubbles start forming. Use the straw to gently blow bubbles (avoid drinking – it tastes yuck) and very quickly you’ll start making huge bubbles! You could even add a bit of food colouring to make different coloured bubbles!

Build a den

Drape blankets and sheets over chairs to make a cosy den for the kids. They can read books, play games and even nap (if you’re lucky!) however the challenge may be coaxing them out of their secret fort at teatime!