How to Throw a Lego Birthday Party

Kids of both genders love Legos, and you probably have most of the materials you will need to throw this party if your child is a LEGO enthusiast. Be creative and get ready to have a fun time!

Invitations: DIY invitations are simple to make with card stock in bold primary colors of red, yellow or blue. Fold sheet in half. Add a pair of contrasting circles to the front with glue as the LEGO studs. (Use soup cans or similar sized cans to trace the circles.) Put all the pertinent details on the inside. If you prefer, there are many construction-themed invitations choices on-line or at party stores. Encourage your guests to dress in jeans and t-shirts in primary colors.

Decorations: Use primary colors for your decorations. Select red, yellow and blue for your plates, napkins, flatware and balloons. (If making the Magical Thirst Quenchers for drinks, buy clear cups.) Your child can craft some LEGO creations for a centerpiece.

For added detail make your own construction signs with poster board. Cut the paper into diamond shapes and write "Kids at Work" on them (or similar ideas).

At the beginning of the party, outfit each guest with a hard hat and a waist apron. Hard hats are $6 per dozen at Oriental Trading Company. Waist aprons are $15 per dozen at Oriental Trading Company.

Activities: A great ice breaker for this party is a guessing game. Fill a clear jar with LEGO bricks. As each guest arrives, have him or her guess how many bricks are inside, and write down the name and answer. At the end of the party, the child whose guess came closest to the real answer wins the entire jar.

Games: Organize a LEGO Hunt. Before the party hide a variety of LEGO bricks around the party area. At the appointed time give the signal to the kids to begin searching for them. Count the number of bricks each child finds to determine the winner. (Waist aprons are very useful for collecting bricks.) You can decide if the children get to keep the bricks or not. Another variation is to assign scores to the different brick colors to determine the score and the winner.

LEGO Chopsticks is a great party challenge. Have a pair of disposable chopsticks for each guest. Fill several bowls with an assortment of small objects, like big buttons, erasers, crayons and LEGO bricks. Have 3 or 4 kids at a time use their chopsticks to pick up as many objects as they can in two minutes. The child or the group with the most objects at the end wins.

Organize a Skyscraper Challenge. Give each child a small pile of LEGO bricks and have the group sit in a circle on the floor. Put one brick in the middle (on a tray to add some stability if the room is carpeted.) Going around the circle, each child adds one piece from their pile to the top of the growing tower. How high can they build it before it topples over?

Crafts: Hold a construction contest. Give each child a kit with 30 tooth picks and at least 80 mini marshmallows. (Once you figure out how many 80 are - you can eye ball the rest). Ask your guests to build something with these materials. Give awards for the most creative, scariest, smallest, biggest etc. - think of awards ahead of time or as you see the creations unfold. Take a picture of each child with his or her creations. Pictures make excellent favors for a party.

Ants are great builders. If you want a paper activity to settle the group down, print a coloring page featuring these creative creatures at work.

Food: For party food give each child a "brown bag lunch". Include a sandwich, some pretzels or chips and a few carrot and celery sticks. Your LEGO maniacs may also enjoy building some fruit kabobs. For drinks serve a magical thirst quencher. These layered drinks will be the talk of the town.

Cake: You can transform any cake into a LEGO cake. Bake a rectancle or square cake and 4 or more cupcakes. Turn the cupcakes upside down, place them on top of the cake as the LEGO brick "studs", and frost everything with buttercream icing. Add "paste" blue, red or yellow food coloring to your white icing to get the vibrant LEGO shades.

Favors: For party favors thinks LEGOs. You can purchase small LEGO sets for about $3 at discount stores or toy stores. At "official" LEGO stores you can buy pieces in bulk. The bulk bins have some unusual colors and some unusual pieces. Buy a handful for each child or create a special favor kit with select pieces. To finish the favor, add Tootsie Rolls or other small candy, if you choose. Wrap in cellophane bags and tie with primary colored ribbons.

Construction Site Magical Thirst Quencher

With a steady hand and two colorful drinks, you can create a tasty, layered drink. The secret is in selecting liquids with varying amounts of sugar, since those that contain more sugar are denser than those with less. That is the secret behind stacking one drink on top of the other - at least for a little while, anyway - eventually they will start to blend.

Here is how to serve up a magical thirst quencher with two layers. This recipe is for a red and blue version for a Lego party. Be careful to pour your liquids onto an ice cube - not directly into the other drink - to keep them from mixing.

Ice cubes, lots of them
Cranberry juice
Wild Berry Gatorade

Step One: Fill a clear glass with ice cubes. Pour the cranberry juice in first half way up the glass.

Step Two: Very slowly add Wild Berry Gatorade. You can use G2 since the blue layer is on the top and therefore can have less sugar content. Be careful to pour it onto an ice cube - not directly into the other drink - to keep them from mixing.

Lego Maniacs Fruit Kabobs

Fresh pineapple, melon and strawberries stacked on skewers offer a refreshing side to your party fare. You can buy ready-made 6-inch bamboo skewers. Pass a platter of fruit and let your little builders make their own kabobs.

Pineapple
Melon balls
Strawberries

Brownie Pizza

Brownies and pizza are always a big hit with kids. Imagine the impact when you combine the two. This recipe puts a sweet twist on two classics to create a chocolate delight that is soooo easy to make.

Your favorite brownie mix

2 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 1/2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Red food coloring paste

6 ounces white chocolate

Assorted candy toppings

A drizzle of chocolate sauce to finish pizza

Step One: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare the brownie recipe according to package directions. Except pour the batter onto a lightly greased 12-inch pizza pan and bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool.

Step Two: Meanwhile, make the "tomato sauce" in a large bowl, cream the confectioner's sugar and butter. Add the vanilla and milk and beat until smooth. Add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of red food coloring paste (use paste to get the rich tomato color) and mix until you have the desired shade for your "tomato sauce". Spread the sauce evenly over the cooled pizza.

Step Three: For "cheese" roughly chop or grate white chocolate. Spread it evenly over the frosting. For other toppings, add candy coated chocolate candies, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips or other favorites. To finish, drizzle chocolate sauce over pizza.

Step Four: Use pizza cutter to slice the brownie.

16 Servings

Slumbering Sea Dogs

This flaky combination of fish, cheese, salsa and taco seasonings makes for a finger-licking party treat. A perfect alternative to hot dogs or sandwiches.

8 frozen fish sticks
8 refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
1 tablespoon taco seasoning mix from a one-ounce package
2 slices American cheese, each cut into 4 strips
3 tablespoons salsa

Step One: Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray 15x10-inch pan with sides with non-stick cooking spray. Place fish sticks in single layer in pan. Bake 10 minutes, turning once.

Step Two: Meanwhile, separate dough into 8 triangles. In shallow bowl, place taco seasoning mix. Lightly dip one side of each triangle into seasoning mix, coating evenly. Place triangles on work surface, seasoning side down.

Step Three: Place 1 baked fish stick on shortest side of each triangle. Top each fish stick with 1 strip of cheese and about 1 teaspoon salsa. Starting with shortest side of each triangle, roll up dough around fish stick; place cheese-side-up on cookie sheet covered with layer of parchment paper.

Step Four: Return to oven; bake 12 to 15 minutes longer or until golden brown.

8 servings

Party Corn Dogs

Kids will love these delicious corn dogs baked in your oven.

1 can refrigerated large golden corn biscuits
8 teaspoons ketchup
8 teaspoons mustard
8 hot dogs

Step One: Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease cookie sheet or cover sheet with parchment paper. Separate dough into 8 biscuits. Roll each to form 6-inch oval.

Step Two: Spread each biscuit with 1 teaspoon ketchup and 1 teaspoon mustard. Place 1 hot dog in center of each biscuit. Roll dough around hot dog; seal ends and edges well. Place seam side down on greased cookie sheet.

Step Three; Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown.

8 corn dogs

Butterfly Birthday Bash

A Butterfly Birthday party is a good choice for the spring and summer months. An intriguing combination of art, nature and good eats, this active party will be a hit with the school age set. True fun for that special day!

Invitations: For an easy DIY invitation, craft a butterfly shape from card stock. Refer to this template if you need inspiration. On one side include all the party details. Decorate the other side to resemble your favorite butterfly using crayon, markers, stickers and glitter. Fold the butterfly and tuck inside a colorful envelope. Butterfly-themed invitations are available on-line from Birthday in a Box. Another way to go for this occasion would be flower or garden-inspired invitations.

Decorations: Check party supply stores for butterfly-themed plates, cups, napkins and a tablecloth for your party. Create butterfly napkins by folding large square napkins accordion style (one-inch back and forth), then slide on a napkin-ring and fan open each side to look like wings. For a special touch make Fluttery Wonders out of colorful magazine pages and pipe cleaners. Then tie them on helium balloons with long strings of curling ribbon. Let the balloons float to the ceiling, so the butterflies can "fly" around the party area.

Activities: Visit a butterfly conservancy or a natural history museum that has a collection. Check the Internet for one near your area. If you go this route, all you need to add are the refreshments for a complete party experience.

Otherwise, choose two or three activities/games (with one more for emergency back-up). Rent a video about butterflies, or borrow one from your local library. Or paint a butterfly on each guest's check with face paint or put temporary tattoos on their cheeks or arms.

An excellent way to settle kids down while you are serving the food is with a paper activity. Family Fun magazine has two excellent choices for this party theme: Bug Party Coloring Page and Buggy Tic-Tac-Toe Game.

Games: A great warm-up activity is a butterfly hunt. Hide butterflies all over the backyard (or inside the home). Kids can keep the butterflies they find. A variation is to hide some special butterflies which will earn the finder special prizes. Before the party buy several small items to use as prizes and assign them a number. On several of the butterflies write a number that corresponds with the prize. When a child finds a butterfly with a number they get the prize that matches that number.

Another perfect game for this theme is Butterfly Cocoon Wrap. You will need 2-3 new rolls of toilet paper for each team. Divide guests into teams of three to four players. Each team will choose its caterpillar - the one who gets wrapped. Give the other team members a roll of toilet paper. The team that uses all of its paper first wins. Tip: Buy inexpensive single-ply rolls for this activity.

An outdoor game of butterfly tag is a fun way to work off excess energy. Keep a close eye, so no one flies too far away.

Crafts: Have paper butterflies out of construction paper or card stock ready for your guests to color, stamp, sticker or embellish with glue, beads or glitter.

Food: Butterfly-inspired foods are a must for this event. Cut Jello jigglers with a butterfly cookie cutter. Serve butterfly-shaped mini ham and cheese sandwiches. Put out healthy snacks, such as baby carrots and celery with ranch dressing. If your group needs more sustenance add Butterfly Crunch. A perfect drink to complement this spread is Frosty Fruit Punch.

Cakes: Your guests will love to decorate their own butterfly cupcakes with bowls of frosting and items to create butterflies on top. Include jelly beans, mints, candy-coated chocolate, licorice strips and mini-pretzels. Another way to go is to create a Butterfly Cupcake Pull-Apart Creation. And if you are feeling more ambitious Wilton has three options for you; a butterfly cake made from a butterfly cake pan; butterfly mini-cakes and a butterfly flight cake crafted from heart pans and cupcakes. Check them out.

Favors: Send the butterfly kids home with butterfly or flower shaped lip gloss kits, bright nail polish, butterfly-attracting flower seeds to plant at home, butterfly stickers, flower pens or bubbles. Squares of netting wrapped around the party favors and tied with a pretty ribbon always make a fun goody bag.

Butterfly Cupcakes

Parties with kids call for cupcakes. Cupcakes are easier to serve than cake and every child gets his or her fair share of the decorations. To make butterfly cupcakes frost a batch of cupcakes. Use jelly beans to form their bodies. Add a Junior Mint or a candy-coated chocolate candy for the head. Use snips of string licorice for antennae. Finish off your butterfly creations with mini-pretzels for wings. Martha Stewart features a more elaborate version of this cupcake on her website. Martha pipes the bodies with icing and uses a fancy Swiss Meringue Buttercream to frost her cupcakes. Whatever route you want to go with this treat, you will want to see the picture of the pretzel butterflies. Click here.

Butterfly Cupcakes Pull-Apart Creation

Did you know that 24 cupcakes can be iced and put together to form one giant butterfly? On a large serving tray or cookie sheet covered in foil, arrange your cupcakes in the shape of a giant butterfly and then frost with the color selections of your choice. For more vibrant icing colors, use paste icing colors. Push cupcakes together slightly to frost the entire body and antennae and the entire wings. Then complete with decorating frostings and candies and sugars, as desired. At party time encourage the kids to grab one of the delectable cupcakes making up your beautiful butterfly. Go to Betty Crocker to see a sample butterfly pull-apart creation. The sample is made with chocolate icings and orange accents. Feel to choose a color scheme that matches your taste and party decorations.

Frosty Fruity Punch

You are only three ingredients and 10 minutes away from a delicious, refreshing punch. Serve drinks in colorful cups with fun straws. Any sherbet will work in place of the raspberry. Rainbow sherbet is the perfect choice for those who cannot pick just one flavor.

2 cups cran-raspberry juice, chilled
2 cups raspberry sherbet
3 cups (24 ounces) ginger ale, chilled

Pour juice and ginger ale into punch bowl. Add scoops of sherbet. Serve immediately.

8 servings

Butterfly Crunch

This great tasting snack is easy enough for kids to make. It can be made up to a month ahead of time and stored in a covered container or resealable plastic food-storage bag. This snack can be served in party-themed baking cups. Put cups in a muffin tin, fill with snack mix and serve! Or for a greener approach, serve in colorful ice-cream cones. There will be nothing to throw away as your guests can eat the serving piece.

1 cup animal crackers
1 cup teddy bear-shaped chocolate graham crackers
1 cup small pretzel twists
1 cup yogurt-covered raisins
1 cup candy-coated chocolate candies

10 servings

Butterfly Jigglers

This recipe comes from Kraftfoods - and requires only two ingredients: 2 1/2 cups boiling water and 2 packages of Jello Gelatin, any flavor for 24 jigglers.

To make stir boiling water into dry gelatin mix in large bowl at least three minutes until completely dissolved. Pour into 13x9-inch pan. Refrigerate at least 3 hours or until firm. Dip bottom of pan in warm water 15 seconds. Cut into 24 butterflies using a small cookie cutter, being careful to cut all the way through gelatin to bottom of pan. Lift jigglers from pan. Reserve scraps for snacking. Store in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

Fluttery Butterfly Wonders

This is a terrific craft to make to decorate for a Butterfly Birthday Party or for party-goers to make during the party. It is also an excellent way to recycle old magazines.

Only two materials are needed to craft these vibrant creatures - Colorful magazine pages + pipe cleaners.

The instructions for winged wonders can be found on the Family Fun website. They are so easy to make even primary schoolers can succeed!

Lil' Slugger Birthday Bash

Hit a home run with this party! It is easier than you think to throw a big-league bash.

Invitations: A simple DIY idea for invitations is to cut circles from white card stock. Then print or write out party details down the center. Using a red marker trim with red stitching to resemble a baseball. Or use a craft glue to attach two strips of red ric-rac to get the same effect. Ask guests to wear a shirt from their favorite team.

Family Fun Magazine has a free printable invitation with a baseball theme. Oriental Trading Company has pre-printed Baseball Jersey Party invitations with matching party packs available. Birthday in a Box has invitations that can be personalized for your birthday child and party.

Decorations: Focus your decor on colors to match your child's favorite team. An easy way to decorate is with one-stop shopping by purchasing a "party set". The Birthday Express Deluxe Party Pack includes a themed center piece, a faux grass table cloth, a Mylar baseball balloon, 18 balloons in three colors with matching curling ribbon and crepe paper rolls and baseball candles for the cake. If you like, you can add an assortment of baseball gear (hats, bats, helmets, shirts), signs, banners, and posters of favorite players.

Activities: An excellent ice breaker is to take a photo of each little slugger when they arrive. Have an adult helper print them off during the party. Before serving the food, have kids make a craft foam frame for their picture.

Crafts: Cut out a frame shape from a sheet of craft foam (one source Jo-Ann Sewing and Crafts). Make sure window is large enough to fit the photo. To decorate, use pre-cut self-adhesive foam shapes and letters from Darice. To finish, tape photo to the back.

Games: A fun activity is a "guess how many" jar. Fill a jar with a secure lid with a known quantity of peanuts in a shell. Provide slips of paper for guests to write their name and their "guess" and a small box to collect the entries. At the end of the party award the jar of goodies to the child with the closest guess.

A good circle game for the party is "hot baseball" played like hot potato. Silly baseball drills can be played like Simon Says. "Do 10 jumping jacks." "Touch your toes five times." "Run in place."

Organize a ball target toss using a "nerf" ball (inside) or a real baseball (outside) to hit a target, or throw through a hoop. Oriental Trading Company sells a baseball-themed bean bag toss.

To work off some energy challenge guests with a long jump contest. This can be done indoors, but works better outside. If playing indoors clear the area of breakables and sharp corners. The idea is to complete a standing long jump, so running starts are not allowed. Mark a starting line with masking tape on the floor or ground. Measure or mark each jump. The player with the longest jump wins. You may want to allow one or several practice jumps.

Another good game for outside is to see how long the group can keep a balloon up in the air.

Food: Fun foods for a baseball party include mini ball park dogs and popcorn. If your crowd is extra hungry add another ball park favorite - soft pretzels with or without mustard. Excellent beverage choices include root beer or sport drinks like Gatorade.

Cake: Several choices work with this theme. Choose the one that matches your skill level. B is for Baseball Cupcakes can be decorated by your party guests. Supply bowls of white frosting and purchase red decorating frosting tubes.

There are two choices for a baseball cake. One can be made in your own oven-proof bowl. The other is made with a Wilton Soccer Ball Pan.

If you are feeling a little more ambitious cap off your party with a Baseball Hat Cake. Or decorate a sheet cake to look like a baseball diamond. To streamline the process and cost ask your bakery to ice a cake plain with green icing so you can put on your own finishing touches. Make a "diamond" with crushed graham crackers or vanilla wavers. Outline the diamond with white decorating frosting. Use cut pieces of fruit leather for bases. Add tiny baseball figures to complete.

Favors: Fill an old-fashioned popcorn box or bag with some major-league treats, such as trading cards, bouncy balls, wiffle balls, wrist bands, baseball stickers, baseball gum balls, Cracker Jacks, Power Bars, or Fruit Snacks.

How to Train Your Dragon Party Update

Here is an idea to add to your How to Train Your Dragon Party Plan. Looking for an activity to calm your Vikings down before serving your party snacks? Try the Dragon Connect-the-Dots Game. This is from Family Fun Magazine and shows a fire-breathing dragon who can make his own s'mores - no training needed. Very cute. Supply crayons and your little dragon trainers can color the sheet as well.

Sweet and Salty Kettle Corn

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup popcorn kernels
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon coarse salt

In a large pot with a tight-fitting lid, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the popcorn. When the oil sizzles, sprinkle the sugar over the kernels. Cover and shake the pan until the popping slows down, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and toss with the salt.

10 cups

Mini Ball Park Franks

Two 12-ounce packages refrigerated biscuit dough
One 12-ounce package mini cocktail franks
Condiments, as desired

Step One: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Separate the biscuits and cut each in half. Pull each half into an oblong shape to resemble a hot dog bun. Place the dough on 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper and bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Cool, then split in half lengthwise, being careful not to slice all the way through.

Step Two: In a microwave, heat the cocktail franks; place one in each bun. Serve with condiments as desired.

40 mini dogs

Mini Ice Cream Cookie Cups

Sue Compton of Delanco, NJ won the 44th Pillsbury Bake-Off on April 14, 2010 with this easy make-ahead recipe. It will make a fun and impressive dessert at your next party. Click here for the details.

How to Make a Baseball Cake

Grease and flour a two or three quart oven-proof bowl. Mix the birthday child's favorite cake mix according to package directions and pour the batter into the prepared bowl. Bake the cake a little longer than the recommended times on the package. Determine doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cake. Also, check the bounce back factor. When you press lightly on the center of the cake, a well-baked cake will bounce back quickly.

Sprinkle green-tinted coconut on a platter. Flip baked cake onto platter after it has cooled awhile on a wire rack. When completely cooled, frost the cake with white icing and use red licorice strips for the baseball stitching.

How many kids to invite?

Shannon of Rockville, Maryland asked me if she should invite her son's whole Kindergarten class to his birthday party. He is turning six. Frankly, there are a lot of reasons not to invite the whole class. One school of thought suggests limiting the number of guests to the age of the child. That is, for a six-year-old invite six guests. Even with this guideline, I recommend parents consider the preferences and temperament of their child along with their own preferences and temperament - not to mention the family's financial situations and the space available for a party.

Parents should also be mindful of any guidelines the school may have on the subject. My daughter's school (K-8) has a rule that parents should invite either the whole class or limit the guest list to no more than six. The intention of this rule is to avoid situations where only one or two children are not included.

No matter how many children are invited, always have enough supervision. (Tweens/teens can make wonderful party helpers.) The Girl Scouts recommend one adult for every four brownies for sanctioned troop activities, one to three if the activity is a field trip. You may be great with kids and think you have everything under control - but you never know when one kid might get sick, freak out with some phobia (I witnessed this with a clown phobia), or break into a fight (I heard of a case where one ten year old girl punched another girl. Kid refused to simmer down and the birthday child's father had to keep her in solitaire until her parents came to pick the offender up.) So the bottom line is never host a party alone - call in back-up.

Any additional ideas for Shannon? Please leave a comment below.

Set a Green Table

When it comes to dishes and utensils, go for the real thing instead of disposables. If you are short on pieces, borrow from friends and family to create an eclectic look. And if the thought of doing dishes makes you crazed, look for bamboo products. They biodegrade in less than six months.

Please share your additional green party ideas in the comment section below. Thanks for stopping by!

Train Your Dragon Birthday Party

Kids have always been fascinated by dragons. Now that How to Drain Your Dragon is a hit movie, dragon parties are going to be even more popular among the school age set. Here are some suggestions for you to use to plan your dragon party. Choose among them those that suit your taste and match your budget. Let me know any additional ideas you have so we can share them with the other readers of this blog.

Invitations: There are several ways to go with invitations to a dragon party. One, cut gray card stock invitations in the shape of a castle or sword. Two, cut silver card stock invitations in the shape of a viking hat. Three, cut steel blue card stock invitations in the shape of a dragon or dragon paw print. Four, purchase ready-made Train Your Dragon invitations on-line. For added impact, tuck a miniature dragon in the envelope. For added party fun, ask the guests to come dressed as Vikings.

Decorations: Taking cues from the movie the themes for this party revolve around Vikings and Dragons. Add some stone wall back drops, black fish net, cardboard or inflatable dragons to the party space to get the desired effect. Trim the party room with blue, green, orange and black streamers, balloons, and curling ribbons. Carry this color scheme through to your tableware and tablecloths. Sprinkle Chocolate Coins wrapped in foil down the center of the table. Give your guests a Viking Hat ($0.89) upon arrival.

Activities: Having your guests pose for a picture in front of the Stone Wall Backdrop is a great ice breaker. Ask one of your adult helpers to print off copies during the party, so the kids can take the photos home as favors in a cardboard frame.

A treasure hunt can be adapted to any age. Provide a special map with clues so kids can find candy-filled dragon eggs, stuffed baby dragons, faux jewels, plastic necklaces, mini flying disks, yo-yos, fake gold coins or other trinkets. Some hunts mark objects with the names of the guests on them so everyone will find his or her share.

Browse the HP website and download How to Train Your Dragon activities and games at HP Creative Studios. All games and activities are free and easy to print at home.

Games: Traditional games can be tweaked to accommodate the Dragon theme, for example "Pin the Tail on the Dragon". With "Dragon Freeze Dance" the kids will dance around to music, freezing in a pose when it stops. Any kids who move are out. Last one dancing wins.

"Viking Says" is a twist on the game "Simon Says". Gather children in a space where they can spread out about arms distance apart. Children must do everything the Viking leader says. Use commands like "Flap your dragon wings," "Pretend to pick dragon berries," "Reach for the sky," Touch your dragon toes." Kids that don't follow the Viking's instructions are out.

Crafts: Kids can make their own dragons from cardboard egg cartons cut down the middle into two halves. Decorate them with paint, markers, glue and glitter. Add googly eyes, feathers and pipe cleaners.

Need an activity to calm your Vikings down before serving your party snacks? Try the Dragon Connect-the-Dots Game. This is from Family Fun Magazine and shows a fire-breathing dragon who can make his own s'mores - no training needed. Very cute. Supply crayons and your little dragon trainers can color the sheet as well.

Food: Viking "vittles" are in order. Serve Viking Chicken Fingers with Viking Bread Sticks. Consider dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets (dinosaurs look a lot like dragons) on a nest of macaroni and cheese as an alternative. Dragonberry Fruit Salad will round out the party fare nicely. Serve Lemon Slush with Dragonberries to quench the thirst of the little Vikings.

Cake: Your Vikings will enjoy a Dragon Cake. Betty Crocker offers a template and video guide to assemble a dinosaur cake. With a few adjustments and a little creativity the creation can be transformed into a very respectable dragon. If you prefer to serve cupcakes, try Rainbow ones.

Favors: Send the kids home smiling with their Viking Hats, group photo, treasure hunt goodies and dragon crafts. For a fun party bag idea make a balloon bag. Tuck an assortment of candies into a balloon, then blow it up. Everyone takes home a balloon as well as the treat.

Rainbow Cupcakes

Your little Vikings will love Rainbow Cupcakes.

Step One: Prepare your favorite white cake mix, then divide the batter evenly among six small bowls. Dye each bowl of batter a rainbow color:

Purple - 9 red and 6 blue drops
Blue - 12 drops
Green - 12 drops
Yellow - 12 drops
Orange - 12 yellow and 4 red drops
Red - 18 drops

Step Two: Line 16 muffin pan wells with baking cups. Evenly distribute the purple batter among the cups, then the blue, and so on, following the order above. As you go, gently spread each layer of batter with the back of spoon to cover the color underneath.

Step Three: Bake the cupcakes according to your recipe directions. Before serving, remove the paper wrapping, and if you like, top each cupcake with a whipped-cream cloud.

16 cupcakes

Viking Chicken Fingers

Even Vikings loved fried chicken! This oven-fried recipe cuts down on calories and fats. Bake it the night before, then serve it the next day at your dragon party.

2/3 cup buttermilk
8 boneless skinless chicken breasts - cut into 1 1/2-inch strips
1 cup corn flakes cereal, crushed
1 cup all purpose flour
2 packages (1 ounce each) ranch dressing mix (dry)
Cooking spray

Step One: Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray.

Step Two: Pour buttermilk into shallow glass bowl. Add chicken strips; turn to coat. Let stand 5 minutes.

Step Three: Meanwhile, in 2-quart resealable food-storage plastic bag, crush cereal with rolling pin. Add flour and dressing mix (dry) to cereal in bag. Remove chicken from buttermilk; discard buttermilk. Add chicken to cereal mixture. Seal bag; shake to coat.

Step Four: Place chicken on cookie sheet. Spray with cooking spray. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes. Turn strips; bake about 20 minutes longer or until chicken is no longer pink in center.

8 servings

Dragonberry Fruit Salad

This salad is cool and refreshing. Combine three kinds of delicious berries with creamy dressing for one refreshing dish.

Salad
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 cup fresh raspberries
1 cup fresh dragonberries (strawberries), cut in half

Dressing
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons honey
1 1/2 teaspoons orange juice

Step One: In large bowl, toss blueberries, raspberries and strawberries.

Step Two: In small bowl, mix all dressing ingredients until smooth. Serve fruit with dressing.

5 servings

How to Throw a Luau Birthday Party

Please go to Holidash.com and check out my recently published e-article on How to Throw a Luau Birthday Party. Thank you very much.