Need Party Ideas

You could do bingo for the classroom...it takes up a lot of time and kids love it. Use pictures instead of words since many of them probably can't read yet. You can use M&Ms as markers and eat those afterwards. I'm sure you could probably find already made bingo cards on line, but making your own wouldn't be too hard.

Also, for your family, try making some candied pecans (so easy!)and then bringing cheese and crackers along with your mimosas. The kids might like some sparkling cider or something too! I like to mix Juicy Juice with sparkling cider for a fruity kid-friendly cocktail!

A really easy snack is to make some rice crispy treats and roll them out into a shallow baking pan. Once they are cooled off take a christmas tree cookie cutter and cut them out. If you want to while they are hot you can add some green sprinkles to them. You can use m&m's for the christmas ornaments and glue them on with store bought frosting.

Pin the Carrot on the Snowman....just drawn on poster board or cut out from white poster board & glued onto another sheet. The carrots are simple triangle shapes cut from orange poster board. You can make this as creative or as simple as you wish!

M&M counting/sorting game: give each child a paper towel, a bag of M&Ms (buy in bulk & just separate into holiday ziplocs). Let the kids sort them into the colors & then let them count them....to see who has the most of each color. The prize then is a snack size bag of M&Ms to take home....for each child.

Reindeer snacks: take a Little Debbie oatmeal pie & regular size pretzel twists. Let the kids use a red M&M or Skittle for the nose, brown M&Ms for the eyes....& let them break/bite the pretzels into antler shapes. They have a BLAST with this game! & as a heads-up, this goes easier if you have the kits prepackaged into ziplocs.

Now, for your family party: I agree with the snack idea! I use 1/2 margarine or butter & 1/2 fat-free cream cheese for all of my dips. The combo creates a creamy dip & can be tailored to whatever taste you're going for.
Taco: just add a taco seasoning pack, a can of green chilies &/or some roasted red pepper in adobo sauce, & some diced green onion. This can also be rolled in wraps, sliced & served....if you don't want to do vegies/chips.
Garden: (my fav) one packet of dry Ital. salad dressing mix. Diced red onion, pepperoncinis, black olives, shredded carrot...& then I add ground radishes (a whole bunch) & some crumbled bleu cheese. Very rich, very tasty!
Pineapple Pecan: one can crushed pineap, drained & 1/2 cup of chopped pecan....it's that simple & is my sister's fav. Very good with vegies, crackers, & plain gingersnaps!

Actally, any variation of this dip is good & can be used for days! Have fun....

We had the kids decorate sugar cookies - gives them something to do and takes care of the snack all at the same time! The dollar area at Target has Christmas theme sprinkles and I buy the generic brand of frosting. Put them in small groups and have supplies for each group.

You may also want to check out the website familyfun.com for more games.

Good luck and have fun!

some game ideas for the school party:
Pass the Present - a box wrapped in many layers, the kids sit in a circle, pass the present, play music, when the music stops the kid holding the present unwraps a layer - the last one opens the box and passes out things for all (Nativity stickers, candy canes...)

Two teams race across the room holding a cotton ball on a spoon which you drop in a bucket.

Hi T.,
When my daughter was in kindergarten here's what we did for the Christmas party. We played Christmas bingo - one of the moms found the cards at US toy. We used pennies for markers and I couldn't believe how well the kids sat and listened!! Then we did a craft - one of the moms bought a foam craft kit at Michaels and we had plenty for all of them to make a foam decoration. Then we had the snack. Good luck to you!

Oh, I'd definitely go with the mimosas!!!

One thing my daughter's class is doing (3-4 y/o) at their Christmas party is to decorate their own cupcakes before they have them as a snack. The parents signed up to bring things like unfrosted cupcakes, white frosting, red/green food coloring, sprinkles. Broken up like that, it's not a burden on one parent, and the kids are going to love it! Of course, that's taking into consideration that you want to give them that much sugar.

For your family Christmas get-together I think an appetizer for later is a good idea. When our office had potlucks they used to ask people to bring breakfast foods, then the main sign up was for lunch, and then a couple people brought snack type foods for the afternoon. I would suggest a vegetable/dip type dish that isn't too heavy, since it is for the afternoon. Or maybe pita chips and spinach/artichoke dip.

Have fun!