St. Patrick's Day Party  This jolly Irish festival is the perfect excuse to call all of your daughter's friends together for a delightful celebration. 

GUESTS: Compile a select guest list of 4-12 girls. Make sure that everyone invited is compatible and will enjoy this kind of a party. This works well with girls 8 to 13 years old. 

INVITATIONS: send out invitations two weeks early. I find homemade cards a cute alternative to store-bought invitations or computer printouts. Just fold some green cardstock paper in half and draw a shamrock shape. Make sure the edge of one leaf skims the fold of the paper. Take a scissors to the template and you should have a cute folding shamrock as a final result. Inside, write party details such as time, date, place, and RSVP deadline. Then write this message on the outside;  You're in Luck! You've been invited to _____'s St. Patrick's Day Party! Sprinkle with gold glitter or edge with gold leaf for a dazzling finishing touch. You might even want to stick a shamrock pin in the envelope before you mail the invitations as a little favor that your guests will love whether they can come or not. 

PREPARATIONS: Thinking ahead will save you time and energy. Fill out an agenda planner with all the things you need to do. Make and send invitations, keep a record of the RSVP's, buy snacks, buy decorations, buy prizes and favors, etc. Shopping lists and to-do lists can help keep you organized too. And fill out a long list of games and activities. A party with good structure turns out to be the best one. Use the ideas I'll provide plus ask for ideas from your friends and coworkers. A few extra chaperones can't hurt either for the bigger parties with messier cleanups. 

DECORATIONS: hang up green, white, and silver streamers; inflate green and white balloons and hang them around; spread green and white confetti over the floor; use an inexpensive green tablecloth; screw in a green light bulb; pop an Irish tape, like Westlife or Off Kilter, into the player. Also, cut out shamrocks, rainbows, leprechauns, pots of gold, and gold coins from poster paper and hang them up on banners. Set the mood.  FOOD:  Finger foods might include carrots and stalks of celery with dressing, pretzels, chips and salsa, chocolate chip cookies, cupcakes with green frosting, cheese sticks, chicken fingers, or crackers. For Lunch, serve traditional Irish beef stew with a side of braised potatoes, creamed corn, and Irish soda bread, with mint tea and ginger ale. Or if your guests want something more familiar, serve them pizza or fried chicken with soda and juice. Offer some chocolate cake or ripe fruit for dessert. 

GAMES/ACTIVITIES: 1] An icebreaker: Get some plain white t-shirts, green and gold fabric paint, paintbrushes, sponges, aprons, and plenty of newspaper to cover your precious carpet! Make the kids put on the aprons while you cut the sponges into shamrocks, pots of gold, rainbows, stars, hearts, etc. Then let the little artists dip, dab, and create their very own personal t-shirt masterpieces which they can wear for the remainder of the party and take home as souvenirs.

2] Okay, once everyone is dressed and ready for a good time, let them have it! Rent an instructional video on Irish step dancing. Put it on and let everyone take a shot at learning the lively traditional dance that's exclusively Irish. It's really hard to tap that rhythm with your feet while keeping your arms still at your side!

3] Enough dancing? Time to Eat! Watch the Macy's St. Patrick's Day parade on television while eating lunch.

4] Still hungry? Have an Ice Cream Sundae. Supply pistachio and mint ice cream sprinkled with green sprinkles, green sugar, and green m&m's. Dig In! Kids can mix and match their own cone creations and have a cookie on the side too.

5] Don't bounce around right after you eat. Sit back and watch Disney Channel's the Luck of the Irish starring Ryan Merriman. Other, more mature, Irish movies would be Leprechaun, a horror flick, or Circle of Friends, an Irish romance.

6] Feeling antsy? Host a treasure hunt. Divide the kids into teams and give them different courses which they can follow to the treasure. Their first piece of paper should lead them to the next spot, holding the next clue, and so on. It might go from Who's the fairest one of all? (Mirror) to Water, Water everywhere (Pool deck). The final reward is a big chest of chocolate gold coins. But everyone gets a prize for completing the course, a jar of green bath salts or a scented green candle.

7] You can modify lots of games to fit the theme. Turn Button, Button, who's got the button? Into Who's got the leprechaun's gold coin?. Turn Hot Potato into Hot, uh, Potato. (Potatoes are Ireland's biggest export.) Let the kids also unwind with traditional games like limbo, tag, charades, gestures, bingo, and duck duck goose.

8] Sit around a circle and share Irish folktales. Act them out, or form your own little skit. Dress up, have fun! Practice those Irish accents and put on those airs!

9] Pass out goody bags and play with them. Include stuff like headbands, hairclips, lipgloss, nail polish, body glitter, pencils, gel pens, bookmarks, candy, tops, yo yo's, figurines, stickers, plastic sunglasses, and lots of confetti and sequins, all of a bright green hue with shamrocks all over them. 

ETIQUETTE: to the little hostess; never isolate one guest with your attention and make others feel left out. Don't branch off into cliques or gossip meanly about others. Every guest should feel comfortable no matter what you do. Handle fights or little controversies with dignity. Be flexible. Follow the rules of the house. Ask an adult for help if you need to. No tattling. No sneaking out. Behave, be responsible, and have fun! To the parent; give your kid some time alone with her friends with no interference, but be there when needed. Intervene when necessary, but things usually work out. Keep an eye for trouble out but don't be nosy. Set limits, but don't be strict. And relax! 

MAKING MEMORIES: take lots of pictures to put in scrapbooks, or buy a special album for party photos only. Include quotes by the guests and headshots of everyone who made it. Write about the silliest, scariest, sweetest, weirdest, and funniest moments of the party. Send pictures to guests and have copies of any video or audio tapes made for anyone who wants one. And send thank you's for coming.  Think about what went right and wrong about this party, what you liked and what you didn't, and save up party tips for next time.

Search the site for party ideas! Custom Search