Snow Party

If the weather outside is frightful (and one or more of your children have winter birthdays), throw a snow party! Have everyone bring a sandwich for lunch.
You provide:


Lots of hot cider and hot (soy) cocoa with marshmallows


Snacks/snowman materials


Your own personal snowman


Snow Paint
2-4 drops of food coloring mixed with water in a squeeze bottle
(I bought these ketchup and mustard containers on clearance at the grocery store.)


Frozen Picassos


Yellow snow paint = Questionable color choice?


Dairy-free mitten cookies to decorate


Look! It's a marshmallow 'snowball' on the cookie mitten!


Winter-themed treat bags



Now go inside and take a nap.

P.S. As of today, I have been blogging for two years. Crazy!

Dairy-Free Wizard of Oz Birthday

Menu:
Glinda's bubbles (PB & J circle sandwiches)
Tinman's heart cookies
Scarecrow straw (potato sticks and pretzels)
Emerald city green grapes
Munchkin (baby) carrots
Watermelon
Rainbow popsicles
Chocolate cake
Water and apple juice

Games:
Coloring Pages
Eat Apples off the Tree: Remember the trees that throw apples at Dorothy? This game is just like it sounds. No hands! K got the idea from a Clifford Halloween book.


Witch's Broom Relay: I saw this idea on several websites. The kids stand at start with a broom in hand and use the broom to hit a ball up and around a "yellow brick." They come back to start and hand off the broom to the next person in line. We had the older kids play one-handed with their non-dominant hand to even the playing field.


Follow the Yellow Brick Road: I wrote clues on one side of yellow "brick" cards with the names of two or three of the children on the other side. I matched up children who can read with those who can't. The first clue led the first group of kids to the next clue, which was then read by the second group of children, etc. The final card had the birthday girl's name on it, and she found and distributed the goody bags.

Goody bags:
straw wands
bracelets
stickers

On Cupcakes and Parties

Jill left some questions for me to answer, and I've decided to answer them in a post. (Hope that's Ok, Jill!)

"I wondered about your daughter taking her dairy-free cupcakes to things. How does she like that? Is she ok with it? Does it go over ok with other kids and stuff? Do you have several in the freezer and pull them out for these occasions? Are they already decorated in the freezer?
Sorry for all the questions, but my daughter is allergic to dairy, eggs and soy. So, I have been letting her take a piece of candy instead of eating the cake (she doesn't normally get candy, so she has been fine with it so far). Just wondering about making cupcakes for her to take to birthday parties and such."

When Katherine was younger (2-3) I was more likely to pack fruit snacks or a granola bar for her dessert if we went somewhere. She didn't really notice what the grownups were eating. But that was before school, friends, birthday parties, etc. Now that she's older, she prefers to match her friends whenever possible, but she understands if what she brings isn't exactly the same. Katherine's friends and classmates are very accepting and understanding as well.

I keep cookies, cupcakes, Tofutti frozen dessert, and Tofutti Cuties in the freezer. The cookies are usually unfrosted sugar cookies and chocolate chip. The cupcakes are usually yellow cake mix with chocolate frosting. After baking the cupcakes and letting them cool, I peel back one side of the cupcake wrapper, slice the cupcake almost in half horizontally (as you would a hamburger bun) , and spread frosting in the middle. I then rewrap the cupcake and place it in a freezer bag with several others. I usually send one Tofutti Cutie sandwich and one cupcake with Katherine when she attends a birthday party. More information on what I send to school and other locations is here.

Since we are dealing with just one allergen, our situation is a bit different than yours, Jill, and I know that not all of the foods I'm writing about are safe for your daughter. (Maybe you could give her sorbet or Italian ice for a frozen treat?) But I hope this helps a little bit!

Low-Cost, Dairy-Free Star Wars Birthday Party

Invitations: Printed on our computer using a picture of R2-D2.

Menu:
Chicken Light Sabers (Schwan's chicken fries)
Carrot Light Sabers (baby carrots)
Strawberry Grenades (hulled strawberries)
Pretzel Light Sabers (pretzel rods)
Popsicle Light Sabers (freezer pops)
Yoda Cake (Daddy found the cake decoration on Ebay. Mama baked the cake.)

Beverages:
Ice Water, and some Horrible Blue Drink from W@lMart that the birthday girl tried at preschool (in April!) and decided she wanted for her birthday. She remembered, too.

Activities:
Star Wars coloring pages
Playing outside
Pin the staff on Yoda--The staffs were cut out of a paper grocery bag. The kids were blindfolded and stuck the staffs on with Scotch tape.

Treat Bags:
Lunch bags decorated with Star Wars clip art, containing
88-cent light-up swords from W@lMart
Luke and Leia paper dolls
Glow in the dark bracelets


May the Force be with you.