Back when Maggie & Alex were in preschool, we had a Polar Express play date one December morning. It was one of my favorite Christmas parties (see that party post here). This season I decided to throw a Polar Express party for Tommy & Miles and a few of their cousins and friends. Here’s all the details!

Polar Express Party for Preschoolers

Polar Express Invitation

I found these cute train invitations on Minted and edited the wording myself to turn it into a Polar Express invite.

Polar Express Food

I got train water bottles from Oriental Trading and since it was t 9:30AM did croissants, fruit and cheese & crackers. Since preschoolers love snacks, I filled these canisters with snacks and tied bells to go with the Polar Express theme. The food highlight was this s’mores charcuterie board. I found this fun “log” food board at Indigo.

Polar Express Party Activities

For our activities, the boys mostly ran around and played in their pjs. Something about getting to wear your pajamas to a playdate makes it more fun! We also read The Polar Express and when they sat down for the story, each child got a “gold ticket” sticker (found at Oriental Trading).

Another great activity for a Polar Express Party is enjoying hot chocolate. I have planned to do that but after all the s’mores treats they were pretty sugared out! I sent the hot chocolate packets and cups home with them to enjoy later.

I also set up a craft table for the kids. Here’s the crafts it had:

Polar Express Party Crafts

All EASY crafts: I love these train sticker scenes from Oriental Trading and the wood train frames and wood ornaments I grabbed at Micheal’s.

Polar Express Decor

The house is already decorated for Christmas, but I did add some trains with some Minted train wrapping paper on the tables.

We also have a FREE printable in our Polar Express class party post. If you’d like to download and print it, click here.

Polar Express Favors

Wood train whistles with tags: whistles from Oriental trading and tags from Minted
Candy Canes
Pull Back Christmas Trains: Oriental Trading

I have also done a Polar Express party for a class party in my daughter’s 1st grade class. If you need ideas for that age/ a classroom party, visit this post.

We kept it small, which is pretty key for an indoor party of boys under 5 ha! We had so much fun, I think we’ll have to do it again next year. It might be because The Polar Express is one of my favorite Christmas books of all times, but this party theme really warms my heart. Merry Christmas to all!