The Fairy Party - Cupcake Competition

After all the initial excitement of arriving to the party, why not let the children have some calm time (and some time for the parents to sit back and relax) by allowing them to bring out their creative sides! Decorating already baked cupcakes is not only fun for the children but they also get the pleasure of tucking into their masterpieces after making them! 

Furthermore, you can make this little party activity a fun and friendly competition by offering a prize to the best cake decorator! 

Getting prepared...

*Pop down to a nearby shop (Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsburys) and find your way to the cake and bakery aisle! 

*Buy decorative icing that the children can easily squirt onto the firm cupcakes

*To keep in with the Fairy theme, look for all things sparkly, such as edible glitter, hundreds and thousands, and of course, everyones favourite, silver balls! 

Allow the children to get messy and have some fun with this activity- it is a chance for them to explore their creative side!

Give the children some ideas when decorating such as making pictures such as the letter of their first name (E for Emma) or a love heart, flower and any other simple patterns. 

Maybe even provide them with little aprons so they don't ruin their fairy outfits. You never know this may inspire them to become little chefs when they grow up! 

Recipe 2: Fruit Stick Ideas

Chocolate, sweets, ice and candy-floss ALL taste better on a stick (according to children anyway!) so why not choose fruit stick recipes to make with the children, either at a party or in my recipe take home gift book that I discussed a few blogs back!

Not only is fruit super healthy, the array of colours, shapes and sizes make fruit a kid friendly ingredient and there is no need to do any actual 'cooking'! I hope you will find joy in the recipes below:

Blingy Bananas

Ban boring bananas from the kitchen and instead jazz them up with some colourful sprinkles and all round yumminess...  Simply freeze some bananas on a lolly stick and then let the kids decorate them by rolling the frozen banana in their favourite chocolate sauce, sprinkles and nuts!  

Frozen Fruit Kebabs 

Fresh, sweet, juicy and refreshing... Get with the frozen fruit trend NOW! These frozen fruit kebabs are a proven hit with kids and so easy and healthy.

Use any fruit but a favourite of many is frozen grape and frozen berries.  Simply pierce fruit onto the skewer (cut the ends to make them child friendly and not to sharp) and freeze for a couple of hours - perfect for Summer days!

Chocoholic Fruity Treat

One sure way to get kids to eat more fruit is to add chocolate to the mix! Simply cut up an array of tasty fruit, add yummy chocolate sauce, a couple of skewers and get dipping! Children and adults alike will love this treat, and there won't be a single piece of fruit left over!

Recipe 1: Yummy Ideas for Home-made Take Home Cook Book

As promised, I have compiled some of my favourite easy peasy recipes that you can include in your home-made, take home cook book after a cooking party!

Whirligigs

Delicious hot or cold, sweet or savoury.  Other fillings can include cheese and tomato, chocolate spread or peanut butter!

For cheese and Marmite whirligigs you will need:

- 9 ounces puff pastry (pre-made)
- Marmite - more or less depending how much you love it!
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 ounces cheese, grated (cheddar, red leicester)

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 220 degrees/Gas 7. Line baking sheet with non stick paper
2) Roll out puff pastry to about 15x10 inches
3) Spread Marmite thinly on the pastry, leave a 1cm border
4) Brush the edges of the pastry with a beaten egg
5) Sprinkle cheese evenly over the Marmite
6) Roll up pastry as if it is a swiss roll for a whirli effect, starting from the long edge. Brush the outside with beaten egg.
7) Cut the roll into thick slices and place on baking sheet.
8) Cook for 12-15 minutes until pastry is risen and golden.
9) Enjoy hot or cold!

Tip: These also make a great addition to any event including children's parties, picnics, entertaining guests and canapes!

Glittery Take Home Gift

A child's Birthday Party is never complete without a take home gift or party bag and is something that finishes the party off wonderfully and can be a lovely reminder of the party.

However, all to often these party bags are full of expensive tat that serve as a 5 minute wonder to the children and an extra expense to the mum and dad.  A lovely idea which is particularly effective at fairy and princess party themes is take home fairy dust.

All you need for this is: 

• Vials with a lid, jar or a drawstring bag (small sizes - think Tinkerbell sized!)
• Different coloured glitters. Craft stores will stock these in abundance and they are cheap!
• Sequins
• Dried flowers
• Ribbon
• Labels or tags

Step one: Fill the vial with different coloured glitters, sequins and dried flowers such as little roses.

Step two: After putting the lid on securely, tie a ribbon around the neck of the vial. Again, craft shops will stock pretty ribbons of all colours.

Step 3: Put a label, or cut out some fancy shaped tags using card and write the party and the name of the child who will take home this particular gift.

Et voilà! A simple, cheap but pretty and sweet take home gift.

Another idea that works really well with slightly older children (6+\) is to set out a fairy dust making station at the beginning of the party and get them to fill their own vial with glitters and sequins, much like a coloured sand activity.  To get the glitter into the vial with the least amount of mess, use a long thin spoon (latte) and put the different coloured glitters into separate containers.

                                    

Easy Party Game!

What do children and magpies have in common?

They LOVE shiny things! Be it jewellery, sparkly lights, christmas decorations or glitter, one thing is for sure, anything that shines is a winner.

So what more could they want for a party game than glittery shiny shapes!?  Not only are these shiny shapes super cheap and available from craft shops, art stores and online, the little sequins are actually incredibly versatile and can keep the children entertained for hours!

Here are my top tips for incorporating these sequins into your child's Birthday party:



1) Remember my earlier post when I discussed the importance of having a theme? Well sequins can really add to that. Describe them to the children as fairy dust or princess sparkles, or if you are having a pirate party the shiny shapes can become the treasure or they can even be a superhero's secret power!

2) I like to use my shiny shapes at the beginning of the party.  Tell the children you have some magic on you and show them the shiny shapes (extra points if you make a special pouch to hold them in!) and sprinkle a few into each of their hands.  When all the children have the sequins in their hands, say a simple 'spell' all together and throw them up in the air at the same time.

3) When all the shapes are on the floor, start a dancing game where each time the music stops, the first child to bring you, for example, 3 blue shapes is the winner.

4) An excellent way to clear the shapes up before moving onto another party game is to simply run a contest where whoever has the most shapes and brings them to you first is the winner!

5) To make the Birthday tea more exciting for the children, give each of them a small handful of the shiny shapes to decorate the table before they begin eating.

6) If you decide to break halfway through a party for party food, I would suggest having a non-energetic party game afterwards.  By providing some glue, paper and colouring in pencils, encourage them to use the shiny shapes to stick onto their drawings.  Again, a theme really comes in useful here as  you can tell them to draw a princess, fairy, superhero etc and use the shiny shapes to decorate them.

Thanks for reading!

Emma x