Disney Princess
FREE decorating tips & recipe ideas to assist with your preparations
Decorating tips -
A Disney Princess party room is one of the easiest to decorate because you have such a wide variety of licensed products to choose from. Stores are filled with loads of Disney Princess products such as castles, dress up items, costumes, dolls, cake toppers, candles, yoghurts and cup cakes plus so much more. Use many of these items, probably already in your house, and display them around to theme your party room.
In addition you could cut-out and paint a cardboard castle with big turrets for the party room. Using pastel coloured organza material on the walls and ceilings will help create a fantasy world.
Handy hints -
There are a few important decisions to be made before you send out your invitations - Date, Time and Location.
Date - It’s a good idea to check the proposed date and time with “key” friends before committing.
Time - It is important to state starting and finishing times on the invitations. Generally 2 to 3 hours is ample. You will generally find many younger children tend to get tired in the afternoon/evening so a morning party may be good for the littlies.
Location - You have a couple of basic choices with the most popular being “home” where you’ll have plenty of time to set-up and have all your supplies close at hand. The obvious disadvantage with this choice is, having to clean the house before and after the party, possible damage to your house and space limitations. Nearby parks are nice because they’re usually free, with plenty of space to run around and usually have a play structure to entertain the kids. The downside is, having to haul the supplies to and from the park plus lack of privacy and overcrowding. Local indoor play centres are becoming more popular for little children and the best part is there’s no cleaning up afterwards.
When sending out invitations, allow plenty of time for guest’s parents to change their plans if necessary.
The golden rule for the party host is, don’t try and do everything on your own. Many parents invite another parent or relative to help them with the food as well as supervision once the party begins.
Once the party begins you will generally find that younger children need constant supervision. Older children usually like to be left in peace at least some of the time during the party, only needing to be checked from time to time to make sure everything is all right.
Be vigilant around balloons. If they pop the rubber bits could be a danger to young children. If they put them in their mouth, they could choke.
Party game & activity ideas -
Party games are a great way to teach children about winning, losing, fairness and luck. Keep each game relatively short to keep children interested and if they begin to appear irritable, move on to a new game. You should always be prepared for problems such as squabbles over who won or who got what prize so be sure to explain the rules before games begin.
Charades - The guests could form groups and create their own Disney fairytale in the form or charades. Each group can act out a few minutes from a fairytale and the first person to guess which story it is receives a prize.Ring game – Arrange children in a circle with one in the middle. The children hold a circle of string, onto which is threaded a ring. The centre child closes his eyes tightly and counts silently up to twenty. While he is doing this, the children in the circle slide the ring from hand to hand around the string, concealing it under their hands. When the child in the middle has reached twenty, he/she opens his/her eyes and tries to spot which player is holding the ring. If he/she guesses correctly, the player holding the ring changes places with him. If not, the child stays in the centre.
You could even set a television up in your party room and as the children are arriving, or to quieten them down before they leave, turn on a Disney Princess video/DVD or book and place lots of cushions on the floor for them to sit and lie on. This idea is great because you’ll be able to use the time to finish setting up or start cleaning up.
Recipe suggestions -
• Include Disney Princess licensed products in your party food choices. A trip to your local supermarket will make it easy. You could make a Princess cake using specially designed cake toppers, cupcake mix or just candles.
• For small children, make sure to remove toothpicks, skewers and any other sharp objects from food before you serve it. Make sure an adult is in the room at all times in case a child chokes.
• Dip the rim of each glass in lemon juice then add sugar or coconut before filling with sparkling drink however do not overfill the children with fizzy drinks, they have a nasty habit of erupting later leaving you a nasty mess to clear up.
• A treat for dessert could be that each child guest makes their own sundae but then they give it away to someone else. A great way to entertain the children for a little longer.
• Plan to include food and drinks for grown ups in case anxious parents stay or come to pick their child up early.
• Try to serve at least a few types of healthy food. Make sure it looks colourful and appetising and you’ll probably find it will disappear in time. Try not to be over adventurous when planning the food, as many children are picky eaters.
• The party food shouldn’t be too hot as just-cooked food such as cheerio’s or sausage rolls can burn little mouths.
• Cut the party cake into thin slices, as most children will have had enough to eat by the time the cake comes around. You could wrap up the left over slices for children to take home in their loot bags.
• Toadstool treats – Place 2 scoops of ice cream into each cone, packing it down firmly then place in freezer for 10mins. Then carefully dip one cone at a time into melted chocolate and drain off excess. While chocolate is still warm, press the smarties into the chocolate and then allow it to set.
Final checklist
1. Pick your party date and time
2. Plan a menu and go grocery shopping so that you can make as much food as you can before the day and freeze
3. Write out a final schedule of activities and games
4. Arrange for help on the party day
5. Order the cake
6. Get exact guest numbers
7. Buy remaining party food, film, batteries, candles and matches for cake, plus other incidentals
8. Child proof the party area
9. Take plenty of pictures to commemorate the special day
10. Plan an after party nap for yourself
Please remember, if you want the children to have a good party, plan it and keep it short and simple. Mishaps may occur so keep your sense of humour, even if not every aspect of the party goes off as planned. The most important part is to enjoy the day as you celebrate the life of your child.Lastly, we’d love to receive a photo of your child’s “themed party” in action, to place on our website.
Thank you for including parties in packages in your special day and we wish you the best of luck with your themed party pack.
