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.