Tag: theme

Themed Parties

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Themed children’s parties are a fantastic way to celebrate a special occasion, especially if your little one is particularly obsessed with a certain character, film, or has a favourite hobby or interest. As children’s interests are usually as equally popular with their friends and classmates, hosting a themed party for kids is usually a great way to get guests enjoying themselves. We’ve come up with some suggestions for creating a themed party.

Invites and Fancy Dress

Asking guests to come in fancy dress is a great idea for a themed party. If your child wants to be the only one dressed as their favourite character, specifying this on the invites is a must! Do so in a polite way rather than appearing to demand that no one else dresses the same. A great way to do so would be to refer to your child as their character choice, like so: ‘Spiderman (Joe) would be delighted if you could join him for his superheroes party…’

Decorations

Decorations complete a themed party, so make extra effort here. Why not get the whole family involved and make your own decorations? It’s a great way to save money, and spend some quality time together, and may even make good use of your child’s excited pre-party energy!

Make banners and signs that include favourite characters and use a colour scheme that relates to your theme. Football fanatics will love it if their team colours form the basis of the party’s decoration, and those interested in all things aquatic will think that a room decorated in blues and greens with plenty of drawings of fish and sea creatures is wonderful.

Games

Rather than coming up with completely new games, organise common party games that children love, with a twist. Change the names of the games, or alter the rules slightly so that they incorporate the theme. For instance, if hosting a science party, play ‘pass the thermal reactor’ instead of ‘pass the parcel’ and have a science related prize.

You could even describe musical statues differently. Explain that there is no gravity when the music plays so you have to dance like astronaut, and that once it stops, the gravitational pull is so strong that no one can move!

Entertainment!

Entertainment can really be the cherry-on-top to a themed party, especially if the entertainer arrives in fancy dress or has some brilliant ways to amuse the guests! Have a look at our directory of children’s entertainers which will help you out a little so you can put your feet up and enjoy!!

Stay close to the magic

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Here are some top 6 hotels within a short distance from the Disneyland magic!

1. Vienna House Dream Castle

Vienna House Dream Castle is the closest of the non-Disney hotels and has been designed in the style of a historic palace set in beautiful French gardens. It has a wide choice of rooms with families in mind. They also offer guests free parking and a complimentary shuttle bus to the parks.

2. Explorers Hotel

The Explorers Hotel is a brilliant option for large families as they offer interconnecting rooms that can sleep up to 10 guests. It has a huge indoor play area, on-site 6D cinema and secret lagoon swimming pool, complete with water slides and toddler area! A complimentary shuttle bus will take you to and from the parks.

3. Vienna House Magic Circus

Vienna House Magic Circus is a great value for money offering super comfortable rooms with a curtained-off kids area in the rooms with bunk beds. Also games consoles in the rooms and a fun outdoor playground to keep the kids entertained! A free shuttle bus service is also available to take you to straight to the heart of the magic at Disneyland Paris.

4. Hotel Kyriad, Magny-le-Horne

The Kyriad Hotel is a budget-friendly, family hotel with larger sized hotel rooms, most having a double bed and a set of bunk beds in each. The hotel has a video games room as well as a play area in the lobby and an onsite farm with ponies, goats and rabbits. Jump on the complimentary shuttle bus to take you straight to the Disney parks

5. Radisson Blu Hotel

The Radisson Blu is a 10 minute drive from the airport and offers guests a complimentary shuttle to and from the Disney parks. The rooms have tea and coffee making facilities and also has access to 3 beautiful 9 hole golf courses. After a day of Disney, you can swim in the indoor swimming pool or enjoy a family dinner in one of the restaurants.

6. Hotel L’Elysee

Hotel L’Elysee is just one stop away from the Disney parks by train. Bedrooms are well equipped for families with both triple and two double bed configurations. The town offers fabulous shopping and dining with the added bonus of The Vallee Village Chic Outlet Shopping.

Monster bake off

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Halloween is becoming more and more popular in the UK. Every year the UK get more involved in having parties for this spooky day. The whole family can get involved and just have fun!!

Here are some kids Halloween food ideas that will impress your little monster kids!!

Ghoulish Ghost Cakes

Dariole moulds are the ideal shape or these spooky little cakes but you could cheat and use a mini chocolates rolls under the white icing!

175g butter

175g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

3 eggs

175g self-raising flour

800g ready-to-roll white icing

1 tube black writing icing

Beat together the caster sugar, butter and vanilla essence until light and fluffy. Add one egg at a time with a tablespoon of flour for each egg. Beat well and fold in the remaining flour.

Spoon into 8 greased and floured dariole moulds, place on a baking tray and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Cut the top of the cakes off to form a flat surface and then turn out onto a board or plate. Leave until completely cold.

Roll out the white icing on a surface dusted with cornflour and cut out 8 x 16cm circles (can use a saucer as a guide). Drape these over the sponge cakes to form ghost figures. Draw the ghost’s features using a tube of black writing icing

Tombstone Sandwiches

These sandwiches will be great fun for your party guests. You can use a variety of fillings like Marmite, Peanut Butter, Egg Mayonnaise, Cheese and Tomato to make these spine-chilling sandwiches.

Sliced bread

Grated carrot

Grated cheddar cheese

Mayonnaise

Salad cress

Cut the crusts off the bread and cut into rectangles. Using a plain round cutter or a saucer as a guide cut the top of the sandwich into a round tombstone shape. Mix together the grated carrot, cheese and mayonnaise (or use a filling of your choice) and sandwich the bread together with this mixture.

Arrange the tombstone sandwiches upright on a plate and sprinkle the cress around the sandwiches before serving.

 

Get crafty this Halloween

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Lots of kids either have a craft side or simply enjoy making something, regardless of the end result and Halloween is a perfect time to go this.  There are hundreds of different children’s craft ideas around the theme ranging from simple pot decoration to more complex children’s activities.

For the little ones, painting a pot is a good idea. Cover a pot in some white paper the day before, stick it down and leave it to set for a blank canvas.  Then the kids can paint it orange, cut out some black eyes, nose and mouth and add a stalk and leaf in glittery paper to make a cup pumpkin lantern. Or paint it luminous green, draw on some face features as well as a big black gash with stitches then paint the rim black. Add a couple of metallic T-shapes on either side and you have a Frankenstein pot!  Once decorated, they can fill them with sweets to give out on the night to trick or treaters or for a children’s party.

If you’re having a children’s party, a Halloween decoration or ten are compulsory.  For the younger kids, you can start simple.  Buy some wooden blocks, one for each letter of Happy Halloween.  Let them paint them orange or whatever colour they want then write a letter on each in a black marker. Either glue them together to form the word or if you are handy with a drill, drill holes through them and string them onto some thick card.

Another decoration is a nice witches broom to hang above the fireplace but using the real broom can be a bit heavy. Instead, take the inside of a roll of wrapping paper and get the kids to paint it black. Wrap a few sections of yellow around it and you have the stick. For the broom, take a piece of cloth and either stick or stick a load of threads on it then wrap it around the stick and glue it.

Costume Ideas

Going out trick or treating means that a costume is compulsory. Some kids choose to just go with a fun favourite character without regard for the time of year but others want something special to Halloween. You can buy lots of them in the shops but if you want to make something unique and spend time with the kids making it, you can create your own.

The scary spider is a simple option and all that is needed are some plain black clothes to start with. A hoodie, trousers and black shoes are the basis for the outfit. Take two pairs of black tights and stuff them with the content of an old pillow or some bubble wrapping. Stitch them onto the top and tie loops at the end so that kids can move their spider legs with their arms.

Perhaps one of the easiest costume options is the Grim Reaper. A black hooded cloak that goes all the way to the ground is all that is needed along with a white swimming cap to hide their hair. Face paints to make their faces white and add big black eyes and a cardboard scythe finish the outfit.

For the girls, a witch is a good choice. Pick up a witches hat from the shop and decorate as you like. A feathered scarf is a good addition to the outfit and a coordinating top and skirt to match the hat colour is needed. You can cut out paper or cardboard stars and other shapes to stitch onto the clothes for that witch chic. Then some makeup or face paints will finish the look.

Food

With all the elements of Halloween it is easy to find food that can be transformed into something spooky or gory. For instance, Dracula cookies are an easy quick option. Take some chocolate chip cookies and cut them in half. Put some red jam on one side of each then stick some white marshmallow pieces in to resemble teeth.  For the fangs, slide some slivers of almond between the marshmallows – instant vampire cookies.

For cupcake fans, the ideas are endless. Green icing and some witches’ legs sticking out is one design while spider’s webs iced into a flat cake is another great look. Using biscuits to make grave stones and have them sticking out of crumbly chocolate icing works well for spooky cemetery cakes while a simple iced face on a white cake makes for a ghoulishly tasty snack.

If carving a pumpkin is a bit too much for you, why not make oranges into carved lanterns instead? Cut the top off the orange and scoop out the middle then cut out eyes, a nose and a fun funny mouth. You can even add jelly inside them and leave to set before carving the face.

 

Have a Pyramid Party

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If your child is into ancient History, then maybe an Egyptian party would be just the thing;

You could ask the kids to come dressed as an Egyptian (not only would it be great fun but also very educational)

There could be lots of crafty making (seeing as the Egyptians love to build things) why not have a Pyramid building competition which cardboard recycling could be put to very good use. All you need is glue, glitter pens and the children’s imagination to build an amazing Pyramid!!

PARTY GAMES;

Mummy wrap game;

Divide the kids into 3 teams and had them wrap one person as a mummy. Best wrap in 5 minutes’ win.  You will need lots of toilet tissue, try and buy the more expensive stuff as the cheap tissue will rip easily.

Next game is a scavenger hunt. Divided into teams and gave them hieroglyphic clues which they had to translate. There are a lot of websites that give ways to translate hieroglyphics, but not all of them use the same letter-to-hieroglyphic translations.  Tell the children that archaeologists weren’t always given complete information!

The first clue led them to an archaeological dig site (the sand box). They had to dig up a ring, necklace, gold coins, and their next clue. Use one of the pyramids to give instructions — particularly, one item per person; I wanted everyone to get one of each.

The second clue took them to buckets that they had no idea what was inside.  There were all sorts of horrible feeling things inside for example, Jelly, baked beans and custard and they had to dig deep to get their clues!!

The third clue took them to the Nile River. Planks were laid out in the garden and pretend water was underneath them.  The idea is that they balanced and didn’t fall. At the end of the Nile was a crocodile’s nest. They had to get the eggs from the crocodile’s nest for their next clue.

Final stop was Tutankhamun’s tomb, for their prize there were sweets and prizes all stuffed into a treasure chest. Great fun!!!

PARTY FOOD;

Sandwiches and crisps were laid out and ice cream scooped into bowls, so just had to bring it out from the freezer.  Oh and of course a Pyramid Cake!!!

 

Superhero party

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Holy Superhero children’s party themed Batman!  POW! BANG! POP!  You don’t have to be a super parent to put this party together.  We have lots of fun ideas to help you.  So jump in the nearest phone booth, pull on your mask and tie on your cape, because it’s Superhero time!!

Are you ready to transform your home into a family fun Bat Cave and your garden into a Superhero training ground?  Will you welcome guests with Spider webs and Incredibles decorations?

Superhero parties only come once in a lifetime and you want to make it one that your little caped crusader will remember forever.

 

Invitations.

Superhero party invitations can be masks, comic books, or even newspapers with villainous headlines. Make them super exciting with some hints on what to expect and include whether costume is being worn or will be provided. Be sure to give the start time, end time, date and location of the Superhero Party.

Decorations.

Set the mood for your party with great decorations like Superhero posters, music, and character party supplies. Cover the party table in reds, blues and other Superhero colours accented with streamers, balloons and confetti.

Games.

The memories are even more special when guests get to take home the artwork that they’ve created themselves at the party. Superhero’s always love to decorate masks and capes. Follow-up with photos of each child with the main character.

A Superhero party just isn’t the same without all the Superheroes dressed in their capes and masks.

The cake.

Whether you bake and decorate your own or buy one pre-made, a Superhero cake is always colourful and exciting. If baking is not your thing, individual cupcakes always go down well and you can stick some rice paper ‘superhero’ characters on your cupcakes for an added treat!

 

Cars Children’s party Theme

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Race toward Lightning McQueen and the rest of the gang from Disney Cars for your kids next party! If your child wants racing excitement, then a Cars birthday is right up their race track. Go the extra mile by getting creative with your Cars invitations, decorations, food, favours and games. Here are some fun suggestions to get your child’s party on the right track.

Disney Cars Party Planning & Invitations

You may want to consider purchasing, borrowing or renting the following items for your party:

 

  • Die cast Disney’ Cars toys and race tracks

  • Inflatable Tyres

  • Go-karts

  • Racing helmets and driving gloves

  • Disney Cars: DVD, video games or soundtrack

  • Racing flags

 

Let the race to your child’s birthday party begin with creative Disney Cars invitation. Consider one of the following suggestions.

  • Fold a piece of red paper in half and cut out a car shape. Write “Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Engines! [Child’s name] is turning [child’s age]!” Cut out circles from black  paper for the wheels. Attach the wheels to the card with brass fasteners so they spin.

  • Include a Disney Cars character or a small racing flag with your invitation to hand-deliver to your guests.

  • Make your invitation look like a pit pass for the Piston Cup! Write the party details on a piece of 2-1/2 x 4-inch paper and laminate it. Then punch a hole in the top and loop a 12-inch string through it to make a necklace.

    Disney Cars Party Decorating & Food

  • Attach two checkered racing flags to your mailbox or crisscross them on your front door.

  • Make a centerpiece out of characters and a toy racetrack.

  • Use chalk to draw a “Track” on the driveway and/or sidewalk leading up to your door.

  • Make a few Cars inspired signs like “No Tractor Tipping,” “Radiator Springs” and “Casa Della Tires” and hang them throughout the party area.

  • As guests arrive, hand each their “Driver’s License” using our laminated bag tags. Guests can take them home as their party favour!

  • Use white and yellow lawn paint to draw a racetrack on the grass in your garden for outdoor games. Include a Start and Finish line, complete with checkered flags.

 

We’ve changed the names of some common snacks to accommodate a Cars-inspired menu! Label the food table as “Flo’s V-8 Cafe” and serve some of the following tasty treats.

 

  • Lightning McQueen’s Ice Cream: Set up an ice cream bar where children can choose their own flavour and toppings.

  • Chick Hick’s Chicken Bites: Chicken fingers

  • Tow-mater Taters:  jacket potatoes with melted cheese on top and ketchup.

  • Luigi’s Special: Any Italian meal will work, such as spaghetti or fettuccini.

  • Sally’s Shakes: Milkshakes

  • Red’s Salsa Surprise: Spicy salsa with tortilla chips

  • Mack and Cheese: Macaroni and cheese

  • Tex Mex: Any Mexican meal will work, such as tacos or quesadillas

    Disney Cars Party favours

Thank your guests with awesome party favours! Some of the favours we have include:

  • Racing Helmets

  • Lightning McQueen race launchers

  • Disney Cars Rolling Stampers

  • Disney Cars punch balloons

  • Disney Cars temporary tattoos and stickers

  • Tow Mater hats

  • Race flag pencils

 

Have a Frozen Children’s party

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Frozen is the biggest movie that Disney has had in years. The demand for Frozen party supplies and costumes has been great so if you child dreams of having a Frozen themed children’s party, consider her in good company. This will be a celebration that every one of her friends will think is the best party they ever went to. As a parent, we have made it easy for you to throw a fun kids birthday party that your daughter and her friends will never forget.

Frozen Party Planning & Invitations

To bring the world of Anna, Elsa and Olaf to your home you’ll need some special extras. In addition to all of the Frozen Themed party supplies and decorations you should consider enhancing your party space with some of the following ideas:

 

  • Frozen DVD & Soundtrack

  • Frozen Costumes

  • Crowns & Tiaras

  • Sprinkle paper snowflakes on the table for icy sparkles

 

If you have the time and you’re feeling creative, you can make homemade Frozen invitations but you can get just as much impact with our personalized invitations that include your child’s name, a personalized message and all your party details.

 

Seal your envelopes with a snowflake sticker or an official Disney Frozen sticker. This will give your guests a good guess as to what is inside the envelope!

 

  • Cut snowflake construction paper or make a Snowman. You can even use light blue paper and glitter to make a dress like Elsa’s . Write in your party details on the back and decorate the front to look like the character.

  • Include creative wording on your invitations such as:”Let it go! Let it go!”It’s a Frozen birthday for nobody in particular that will be the “coolest” party for sure because she’s a girl worth melting for

    Frozen Party Decorations & Food

Here are some of our favourite suggestions for Frozen party decorations:

 

  • Set the scene with cardboard full-sized standups of Anna, Elsa and Olaf as well as Sven and Olaf together, and the Frozen castle. The kids will have a blast posing for pictures next to them. These pictures will also make great favours..

  • Turn your room into the winter wonderland of Anandelle with snowflakes, silver foil star hanging decorations and metallic silver streamer curtains in the doorway to simulate icicles.

  • Winter scene wall decorations will give the snowy appearance you seek but without the chill.

 

Every little girl will be thrilled to go home with a bag of Disney Frozen favours, toys and goodies.

 

  • Purchase a Frozen  reusable drink cup or Frozen Drink Bottle and fill it with sweets.

  • Frozen themed snow globes make a great favour that will give a child something to display in their room

  • Get some Frozen Award Ribbons to give to kids for winning party games

 

Star Wars party ideas

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Now that the Force has awakened, no doubt you have a child in your life begging for a Star Wars birthday party! We have some great children’s party ideas to help you throw the ultimate celebration.

Spacey Decorations

Luckily, recreating “space” isn’t too complicated! Use a black tablecloth or sheet and splatter with white paint to add a galactic feel. Hang it up as a backdrop for food/cake table or for a photo booth! Lay out black plates, cups, and cutlery, and blue and black balloon bouquets as centrepieces. There are tons of resources for printable garlands.

Finally, try gathering some white paper lanterns and using gray paint to create the Death Star ship.

Fantastic Food and Drink

You can get really creative with the snacks at your Star Wars party, and this is a great opportunity to use puns. (Even if the kids don’t appreciate them, it’s fun!) Party foods like Obi Wan Kabobies, Yoda Soda, and Padawan Popcorn are all great choices. Use your clever wit and put your own sci-fi twists on old party favorites.

As for your Star Wars birthday cake, you can have one made by the pros with expert detail or you can take the DIY approach. If you opt for making your own, there are some pretty simple designs that the amateur baker can try, like this awesome BB8 cake. Cupcakes are also a great option, and you can include multiple Star Wars characters.

Galactic Games and Activities

There are a lot of kid-friendly games that you can incorporate into a Star Wars kids birthday party. Create light sabers out of pool noodles! Set up target practice with Nerf guns to take out the toilet-paper roll Storm Troopers. Add some “Jedi Training” with a galactic bean bag toss and a “laser” obstacle course made out of streamers. Or, Pin the Bun on Princess Leia, anyone?

Want to really blow your child’s mind? Invite Darth Vader or Hans Solo to visit!

Themes for Your Child’s Party

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The chances are that your child and their invited guests will already be pretty excited about the prospect of a party, but if you really want to get them looking forward to the day itself then adding a theme could do the trick. A themed birthday party gives the kids a chance to dress up whilst also giving you a great topic for which to base your decorations, food and entertainment around.

Pirates and Princesses;

This has to be one of the most popular themes and always goes down well with the little ones. It’s so easy to pull off as well and you can make it as minimal or as full on as you like. Pirates can either turn up fully decked out in attire or with a simple eye patch. The girls will also be really excited about being able to don their favourite dresses, adorn themselves with a tiara and greet their royal subjects!

Space

Space is a great theme for both boys and girls as it really allows the children to let their imagination run away with them. Will they come dressed as a strange alien from the planet Zog, or will they arrive in a spacesuit ready for their latest adventure into the unknown voids of the galaxy. You could even ask half of your guests to dress as aliens and the other half as astronauts and then use these teams within your entertainment.

Food could include various twists on party classics, such as ‘asteroids’ instead of meatballs and ‘moon rocks’ in place of chicken nuggets. The venue could also be decorated to look like a strange planet with stars, moons and spaceships on the ceiling.

Circus

Having a circus themed kids party can be a great way to give the children a chance to learn a few new skills whilst they are having fun. They could have a go at learning to juggle, or fooling around like their favourite clown. The circus is not just about the guy with the red nose and big shoes though, and so the children have plenty of options when it comes to fancy dress. There’s the ring announcer, the gymnasts, the lion tamer and the strong man; to name just a few.

At the circus, tomatoes can easily be renamed as ‘clown’s noses’ (you might even persuade a child to eat one when they would otherwise turn their nose away to a vegetable!) and similarly, cheese puffs can be transformed into ‘juggling balls’. To really add that finishing touch, why not turn your venue into a Big Top with some multi-coloured fabric.

Wizards and Witches

This theme has always been a firm favourite, particularly at Halloween, but has grown in popularity since the rise of a certain boy wizard. Your little guests can dress as their favourite character from the film franchise or as a wizard or witch from their own imagination. The beauty with this theme is that it doesn’t take much to transform an ordinary child into a wizarding genius; just a hat and wand in most case.