Christmas Party 2013

Last year the girls in our troop planned their Christmas Party.  We devoted an entire meeting to sharing and voting on ideas.  This year the girls were busy earning badges, and our schedule did not allow for a party planning meeting.  The troop co-leader and I decided to plan the party for them.  We relied on Pinterest for inspiration.  The girls were invited to my house on a Friday night in December.  Due to heavy snow, we rescheduled the party for the following Wednesday during our regular meeting time (early evening).  I must remember that a Wednesday in December worked really well for the girls and all of our families.  

When the girls arrived, they started making Shredded Paper Art.  Each girl chose a piece of construction paper.  I provided paper scraps that has been sitting in our shredder for months.  The girls were instructed to use glue and the paper to make a winter scene.  They could use crayons and markers to add details.  Here are two of my favorites:  

As the girls created their winter scenes, they were called over to the kitchen sink individually to start on a light bulb snowman ornament.  Please check out this post for the details and photos.

At this point in the party, the girls were ready for a snack.  I made Melting Snowman cupcakes, using Cool Whip, half a large marshmallow, half a bite-sized peanut butter cup, and half a mini peanut butter cup to make the snowman and his hat.  I used mini chocolate chips for the eyes and an orange sprinkle for the nose.  I decided to bake a peanut butter cup inside the cupcakes.  The girls seemed to enjoy the surprise when they took a bite!

Once their bellies were full, it was time to start the games.  We started with the Minute-to-Win-It version of Pin the Nose on Rudolph.  I cut 12" lengths of red yarn and tied a piece around a large red pom pom, one for each girl.  We divided the troop into two teams.   We put a dab of Vaseline on their noses.  One girl participated from each team at a time.  She donned the antler headband, and they raced for one minute to see who could get the pom pom to stick on her nose without using her hands. This game is sure to elicit squeals of joy from a grade-school crowd.

We followed this crazy game with a quieter activity.  Each girl was given a 12" piece of foil and four pipe cleaners.  We chose red and green pipe cleaners since this was a Christmas party.  They were instructed to come up with something creative.  They were not allowed to use scissors, glue, crayons, or markers-just the foil and pipe cleaners.  Here are a couple of my favorite creations:

After they had shared their creations, we played the Guess Me Icebreaker Game.  I made labels for characters the girls would most likely know:  Rudolph, Santa, Frosty, Buddy the Elf, Nutcracker, Grinch, Scrooge, and Tiny Tim.  The girls had all played the game Hedbanz, so they were familiar with the rules.

Once everyone discovered the characters, we cleaned up the space.  We had several minutes until the parents were to arrive to pick up the girls, so we played one last game.  A troop favorite--Stack Attack.  This is the cup stacking game we introduced to the girls at the Christmas Party last year. 

This year's party was super fun and relatively inexpensive.  With the exception of the cost of the cupcakes and paint for the light bulb ornament, we had the supplies on hand.  That is my kind of party!  Thanks for reading.