Winter Party Time

What's a Winter Party? Simple. It's a party in the winter time. That's it.
A couple of years ago, during February vacation, the kids asked if they could have a party. "For what?" I asked. Well, they just wanted a party. Just...you know...for....to have a party.
Considering that adults have parties all the time for fun and just make up reasons, I figured, why not kids? Okay, so we made up a reason...winter. Good enough. A party just like a birthday party, but without the birthday.

A Winter Party is a great vacation activity. It's easy, inexpensive, and the kids think it's great fun. The more decisions the kids can help with, the more fun they'll have.

Here are the ingredients:
A date
A time
A list of invitees
Invites
Meal
Snacks
Cake or dessert
Decorations
About 3-4 hours of your time

Here's how you put it together:
Plan ahead with your kids. Have each one invite 2-3 kids. Invite early so there aren't any disappointments. The first year we had a Winter Party the kids made the invites by hand and handed them out at school. This year, we just made a few phone calls.

Plan a meal. We like to have our party either around lunch time, or dinner time. It helps the other parents out, and a meal is a great way to break up the time and get the kids to take a break. Keep it simple. Simplicity is key. We have had pizza delivered previously, and this year I made homemade macaroni and cheese. I let the kids choose the meal.

Make sure you have plenty of snacks. And it's great if you can have snacks that you can leave out for a spell. That way, kids will snack as they play and you can relax a bit more. This year we served veggies and dip, homemade popcorn (with lots of butter), pepperoni slices, juice and water.

**Tip. Did you know that if you put popcorn kernels in a regular brown lunch bag, and stick it in the microwave and hit the "Popcorn" button, it will pop up just like "microwave popcorn"? No kidding. You don't have to add butter or salt or anything. Really. Give it a try. It's so much better for you and it's so much less expensive.

Dessert is important. Remember, this should feel a lot like a birthday party, without the birthday. But, dessert is the highlight of most birthday parties, so it's important in the Winter Party too. We have made special cakes for our Winter Party before, with snow hills and candy ponds and little fondant kids throwing snowballs. This year instead of cake we served fruits, marshmallows, graham crackers and potato chips - all with warm chocolate sauce for dipping. It was a big hit. It cost a little more than a cake, but it was also easier to put together. Whatever you decide, let your kids in on the decision making.

Decorate in a winter theme. This is really easy. Remember, keep the expenses down. Make your own. This is a great activity for another day during vacation. Cut paper snowflakes and hang them about. Cut paper icicles and drape them from the windows and mantel. Grab your white cotton stuffing from the attic and place it about as snow. There are tons of things you can do using what you already have at home. Depending on the ages of the kids, you can determine how much decorating you need to do. Keep it simple.

We kept it very simple this year. No planned activities. Sometimes this works, sometimes not. The boys mostly played Wii and had snowball fights outside. The girls played with Grace's toys much of the time and also spent quite a bit of time outside. During one party we all walked through the woods to a nearby pond and played ice hockey with sticks and frozen chunks of ice. As long as the kids have all their best friends together, some good food and freedom to play, they will love their Winter Party.

Our party was yesterday, from 2-7pm. It was a great time of day - gave me lots of time to prepare in the morning without rushing, and the kids were ready to just settle down when their friends had left. We were supposed to have a snowstorm, and got rain instead, but that didn't hamper their outdoor play at all. The kids all had a great time, I was able to relax with the moms a bit, and my kids are already saying they've had a great, great February vacation. It's the last day of vacation now. We're off to the American Girl Store, and to find Grace's geocaching bug that's been in hiding in a park somewhere for the last two years. More on that later. Party on.