Neon Nights

Neon is cool – under black light when you’re clubbing, neon glows brightly – you’re planning on wearing a pink tutu, why not take it a step further: wear neon face paint. Yes, they’re all doing it in the clubs – swirls and tribals, rainbows and butterflies.

Children’s Parties on a Budget

Save some money this year; have a party but don’t break the bank.

Email the invitiations – you can design them yourself or use pre-designed ones available onseveral packages – do a search for “invitation templates” – this method is free and you can be sure the parents get to keep a copy.

Have a party at home instead of in an expensive venue - put a gazebo up in the garden and decorate it to provide a theme: Princesses like pink curtains (especially voille) and cushions to sit on – add a throne for the birthday girl – use a chair and tie a throw around it (Red, gold or purple) tied with ribbons. Use false tea lights to add mystery and serve juice in plastic goblets. Aliens/Spacemen like kitchen foil silver with wire ariels and tubes made to mimic spacecraft. Faries have tea surrounded by flowers – make large ones from crepe paper and stick them all around the house and garden! Pirates need a trunk and a treasure map – you can hide something for them to find in the garden too.

Forego the entertainer and run party games yourself — there are plenty of party games ideas on this website. If the idea of 20 bored kids really terrifies you then hiring games may be a cheaper option and kids won’t have played some of these old fashioned garden games before.

Make your own decorations – this might help keep the children busy while you get on with other tasks.

Get the children to make something as part of the party entertainment – this can become their present to take home – save a fortune on party bags! One idea is to make some plaster of paris objects to paint and decorate – you’ll only need to buy a couple of latex moulds and the plaster – though admittedly it needs some planning – you’ll need plenty of time in advance to make them.

Let all the children loose with some face paints – they can paint each other, their arms, legs or the dog… or perhaps not!!

Checklist for Village Hall Parties

  When you’ve got to dress an excited birthday child, pack the sandwiches in the car and balance an elaborate birthday cake on the front seat it’s easy to forget all the other things you’ll be needing at the village hall party. Here’s a handy checklist that you can use to make sure you’ve got it all ready. Download your Party Check List here.

Fondant Icing that tastes nice!

Personally, after I’ve slaved for hours in the kitchen making the detailed features of my child’s latest birthday whim I find it soul destroying to see the little darlings picking the icing off the cake because it tastes horrible – it seems all the shop bought fondants are pretty grim in terms of taste. To make it yourself though seems like soooo much hassle, we Mums simply don’t have the time! However, I’ve found the answer:

 Marshmallow Fondant Icing

1. 3 cups mini marshmallows
2. 2 teaspoons water
3. cup icing sugar
4. Food colouring paste – if required

Put the marshmallows and water in a microwavable bowl and microwave together for a few seconds (the original recipe suggested 20 seconds but it takes up to 40 in my mircrowave) You’ll know when it’s ready as the whole bowlful will melt and inflate to around twice its original size – watch it!

Spoon this into a food processor and add the cup of icing sugar. Whizz with a double blade. The mixture will turn into tiny balls before becoming one large ball of fondant wich can easily be rolled as a cake covering or moulded into any shape your child can think of! You can use food colouring paste to colour batches of your mixture or paint it on afterwards. If you want to paint it on, mix it with vodka or similar rather then water as using water will make the icing sticky. Drink the rest of the vodka yourself to help you get through the party afterwards!

Spooky Halloween

The living dead come out at Halloween – be sure to be one of them!

Halloween decorations

It wouldn’t be Halloween without some spooky decorations:

To make these quick and easy 3D bats you will need some A4 black paper and a white or silver pen and some thread and tape for hanging. Print or copy the template onto your black paper and fold down the centre of the page. Cut along the solid lines to make the shape of four bats. Fold the head down on each one and draw on a face with pointy fangs. Selotape thread onto the back of each one and suspend from the ceiling. Each piece of paper makes 4 bats and you can cut through two sheets at once so you’ll soon have a room full of scary bats!

Download a Bat Template in Word format

Sweet Pumpkin Pie Recipe

What better way to sneak vegetables into your children than under the guise of a pudding! My 3 year old is particularly partial to this! Below is James Martin’s recipe taken from his brilliant “Desserts” book – clicking the picture below will take you to Amazon where you can buy a copy.

For the pastry, sift the flour, icing sugar and salt into a large bowl. Add the butter and, using your fingertips, gently rub it itno the flour. When the mixture is crumbly, add the chopped nuts, then sprinkle in 1-2 tsps water and the egg yolk. Bring the pastry together (you may need more water) to make a smooth dough that will leave the bowl clean. Rest in the ridge for 30 minutes.

Cook the pumpkin in a steamer for 15-20 minutes, or until tender. Transfer to a blender and roughly puree.

Pre-heat the oven to180C/350F/Gas mark 4. Lightly grease a23cm, 4cm deep, loose bottomed, fluted tart tin.

Remove the pastry from the fridge androll out on a floured surface. Transfer it, rolling it over the pin to the tin. Press lightly all over the base and sides of the tin, easing any overlapping pastry backdown the sides. Trim, leaving 5mm above the rim of the tin.

Prick the base all over with a forkand brush the pastry with the reserved egg white. Bake on a baking tray for 20-25 minutes until crisp and golden. (Check after 10 minutes – if the pastry has risen in the centre, prick it a few times and press it down again.)

For the filling, lightly whisk the eggs and extra yolk together in a large bowl. Place the molasses into a saucepan and heat gently. Add the sugar, spices and cream, then bring it up to simmering point, giving it a whisk to bring everything together. Pout it over the eggs and whisk again briefly. Add the pumpkin puree, still whisking to combne, then pour the filling into a jug.

When the pastry case is ready, remove it from the oven. Pour half the filling in, then return the tart to the oven and, with the shelf half out, pour in the rest of the filling. Slide the shelf back in. Bak the pie for 35-40 minutes, or until puffed up round the edges but still slightly wobbly in the centre. Place the tin on a wire coolingrack. Serve chilled with creme fraiche.

Party Games for Tots

Little people don’t really understand proper games – some of the usual party games will entertain them but they don’t really understand winning… and certainly don’t like losing!! Here are a couple of games that will keep them entertained and happy:

Tight Rope Walker (ages 2-8)

Put a long piece of string or tape on the floor and have the children pretend to tightrop walk along it – show them how first then let them have a go – make it funnier by adding instructions and or silly props – give them an umbrella, a bunch of flowers or tell them to hop and jump!

Leaping Frogs (age 18m+)

Cut out several Lily leaves from green paper, fabric or even newspaper, lay them on the floor and have the children hop about like frogs in between. When the music stops, each child must find a lily pad. There is no need with very young children to take away a pad each time but older children find the competition fun if you do. For younger children there need not be a winner though they enjoy it if you tell them who made it to the lily pad first each time. ( You can theme this if you like – your children can be monsters stomping to their rocks, butterflies landing on flowers, fairies flitting to toadstools etc etc)

Magic Wands (ages 2-6)

Wave a magic wand at the children and tell them “Abracadabra, you’re all lions!” - each child then acts the part – you can have all the children be the same animal together or pick them individual ones until you’re surrounded by a whole farmyard of noises! Be careful not to upset anyone by giving them horrid animals that they won’t like (…you know your little guests best!!). Make your boys into mucky pigs rolling in the mud and your girls into pretty kittens.

 Follow the leader (age 18m+)

Start marching and get the children to copy your every move. Do silly walking, jumps and dances around the room. Sit down, sneeze, do star jumps – guaranteed to get them laughing.

Blowing up a balloon (ages 2-7)

The children hold hands in a tight circle. Everyone blows and the circle gets bigger like a balloon. When the leader says pop, all the children sit down. You can make this last longer by letting some air out and making the circle smaller again. if you have enough children, make long thin balloons too – this means they’ll start off closely facing a friend increasing the giggle factor.

Zoo Animals

An animal version of Charades – the children sit in a circle to make a cage. Each child stands in the cage in turn and acts out an animal while the others guess what they’re trying to be. You can decide whether they should be allowed to make noises or not depending on your guests ages – perhaps older children must be quiet – younger children can make noise.

Find the balloon

Draw a face on a balloon and hide it while all the children close their eyes. Have them all try to find it. Any object can be substitued; things like ticking clocks might make seeking easier – though the children will have to be quiet to find it!

Snowball Fight! (age 3+)

With much animation, tell the children that it is snowing (inside!!) and act out making and throwing snowballs. They’ll take it up immediately – remember how cold and wet it feels down the back of your neck and mimic this. Make sound effects when you hit or miss and act as if you get hit – sometimes from behind! (my little boy plays this in the supermarket, much to the amusement of other shoppers, grabbing imaginary snow from the shelves as he goes by in the trolley.)

Spicy Sweet Pumpkin Seeds

In my house Halloween is no longer about carving a pumpkin – it’s about nibbling roasted pumpkin seeds! This recipe is easy and doesn’t take all night. Suddenly you too will be agreeing to the children carving a pumpkin each - any excuse to get your hands on more seeds to roast!

Spread the seeds over a baking sheet and sprinkle with a little salt. Bake at 350C until golden (listen out for them popping open and reduce the temperature if necessary). You can eat them now but hold on… they’re better after the next step!

In a bowl mix the following spices together: approx a teaspoon each of cumin, garam masala* and paprika. Half a teaspoon of cinnamon and salt. two tablespoons of sugar – use golden demerara if you have it. Set mixture aside.

Put some oil into a saucepan or wok and heat it. Add your roasted pumpkin seeds and another two tablespoons of sugar. Mix this until the sugar caramelises – only a few seconds (it may smoke a little).

Sprinkle over the spice mix and stir well. Eat hot or cold. Yummy… does anyone have any pumpkin seeds going spare?

(*Garam masala is a spice blend that includes cumin, coriander, celery salt and ginger – if you don’t have it, simply use a subsitute) You could no doubt use the same idea to coat other seeds and nuts – I can’t help thinking about cashews…

Halloween Party Games for children

Apple Bobbing
A large bowl of water is placed on the floor (a baby bath is ideal for this if you have one). Without using their hands, they have to try and lift an apple out of the water using their teeth. Children can wear aprons if you have them and spread plenty of newspaper over the floor as this can get quite messy!

Dangling Doughnuts
Tie some doughnuts with holes in the centre using a length of elastic or string and hang them from a pole in a row. Without using their hands AND without licking their lips, the children must munch through their doughnut. The first to eat the whole doughnut is the winner. You can add raspberry syrup for blood but be warned, this makes it a great deal messier!

Witches’ Cauldron
Fill a bowl or ‘cauldron’ with items that represent different body parts. Put things like peeled grapes in the box and pretend they are feeling eyeballs, linked sausages for intestines, cauliflower for brains, a balloon filled with water for a heart, liquorice laces for veins or jelly for liver.

Get the children to sit blindfolded in a circle and take it in turns to pull out each item and guess what it is.

Pumpkin Lanterns
To create a true Halloween atmosphere you really need a pumpkin lantern, put it near a window or outside your front door or have it as centre piece on your table. They are easy to make and pumpkins are cheap and plentiful at this time of year.

Using a sharp knife, cut a thick slice off the top of a fairly large pumpkin. Reserve the top for the lid.

Scoop out the seeds using a spoon and discard them along with any fibrous threads. Carefully cut and spoon out the pumpkin flesh leaving about 2cm flesh all the way round. You can keep the flesh you remove to make recipes like pumpkin soup or pumpkin pie.

Using a pencil or felt pen, mark out the facial features on the front of the pumpkin. Then cut around the lines using a small pointed knife, cutting away small sections at a time.

Place a night light inside the pumpkin. Light the candle and place the lid on top. You can get fake nightlights these days in supermarkets or florists which flicker realistically but are much safer.

Mummy Wrap
Take your party and divide them into partners. You will need a lot of toilet paper. One person will be the mummy, and the other will be the wrapper. The object of the game is for the wrapper to cover toilet paper around his or her mummy, including their arms which are held out. The winner is the first person to be wrapped like a mummy in toilet paper.

Pumpkin bowling
You will need: oranges, plastic bottles of water.
Draw pumpkin faces onto the oranges and substitute your living room for the local bowling alley. Use the bottles of water in them as pins and replace the ball with the oranges and try to get a strike!

Graveyard game
Choose one person to be the grave keeper. The grave keeper closes his/her eyes and counts to ten while everyone else gets into a good frozen position and stands very still. The grave keeper then walks around looking for anyone who moves. If the grave keeper catches you moving (breathing doesn’t count), you are out. You can move positions when the gravekeeper’s back is turned but don’t get caught moving. The last person left is the winner and can be the new grave keeper if you choose to play another round.

Hire a face painter for the night…