Kitchen Essential

Children’s parties should be fun and lively and very much geared to the particular likes of the child whose birthday it is. One of the best ways of creating an entertaining, lively atmosphere is to choose a theme which follows through from the invitations to the table decorations, food, drinks and even all the party games.

Decide first on a theme by discussing with the birthday boy or girl what they would like. They may have an interest or hobby that is the obvious topic; otherwise try and choose something that will give plenty of scope for games, fancy dress, a novelty cake, table decorations etc. Here are a few ideas: outer space; ghosts and monsters; castles and dungeons; a favourite television character; the circus; a Disney character; a visit to the Zoo.

Having decided on a theme, and having set the date and time, send out the invitations. You may find that there are commercially produced cards that fit your theme. If not, make your own by decorating a plain, coloured card with suitable pictures or drawings. For a monster party the cards could be cut out in the shape of an ugly monster face; for a circus party it could be a clown’s face.

Next, decide on a cake. If you don’t have the time or flair to make a novelty cake yourself, order one from the local cake shop or cake-maker in plenty of time. Almost anything is possible and there is a good range of books on the market to help you. For a Disney party, a Mickey Mouse cake or Donald Duck cake would be ideal; for a castles and dungeons party, create a castle with towers and fortifications; for a circus party, a clown or decorated elephant would be wonderful; for an outer space party, why not have a space rocket or space shuttle?

Then comes the menu. Decide what foods will suit the children who are coming, and try to create names for the food that fit into the theme. For example, for a space party, little meatballs stuck all over with potato chips could be `meteorites’; and sandwiches cut with a star cutter could be ’shooting stars’. For a circus party, you could serve ‘monkey nuts’, `giant’s sandwiches’ (made with four or five slices of bread put together one on top of the other with different fillings), and ‘lion tamer’s supplies’ of sausages on sticks or hamburgers. The drinks can be given names too: ‘inter-galactic fuel’ for a space party; ‘dragon’s blood’ for a castles and dungeons party, and so on. Get the children to help dream up the names.

The table layout should continue the theme of the party and you may need to raid the toy cupboard for this. If possible, use tableware that won’t be damaged by the children. Better still, use disposable cloths, plates, cups, etc. There is a good range available, and if you can’t find anything that fits your theme, buy plain paper cups and plates and decorate them yourselves. Choose a table-cloth in a suitable colour or design. For a Disney party use a paper table-cloth and draw some of the characters on, or stick cut-outs all over it. If you can find some models of Disney characters, build a scene on the table and place the cake in the middle as the focal point. For a space scene use a black or dark blue cloth (you can always dye an old sheet) and stick sputniks, stars and moons all over it and place the space shuttle cake in the middle. Or create a moonscape on a brown background and use models of astronauts, rockets, space creatures to build the scene. Buy or make table napkins to match the cloth or use white ones.

Adapt standard games to fit the theme of the party. At a space party for example, simple charades could be based on the titles of relevant well-known films or television programmes which will be familiar to all the children present and therefore easy to guess.

Whatever you choose to do for your children’s party, do remember that they make a mess — that they can get very excited and noisy and a little wilder than usual — so hold the party in the kitchen or the garden, if the weather is fine. Don’t use furniture or china that will damage easily. If you do, and there’s an accident, make light of it and don’t ruin the party!

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