Tips for Hosting and Bringing Kids to Holiday Parties {& Free Printable}

Tis’ the season for holiday parties galore! We hosted a kids party last weekend, have parties this weekend and plenty of celebrating next weekend. Below are a few party tips. Whether the party is at your house or you’ll be bringing the kids to a party, it’s always good to have a few holiday tricks up your sleeve.

1. Favorite Craft Kit 

This craft kit from Mindware has everything you need to make beautiful painted ornaments. It’s so easy having everything in one box and the ornaments come out so pretty after baking. It says for ages 8+ but (in my opinion) with an adults help younger children can make them too. I used the kit at a holiday party with kids 5-7 and they really enjoyed it.

2. Kid’s Tableware 

Every year I try and find cute holiday paper products for the parties we host and for my kids for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. This year I decided to invest in a cute set of plastic kids’ holiday tableware, place mats and flatware. I did the math and with all I spend on paper products (and just throw out) every year, it was a good purchase. If you wait for after-holiday sales, you can really save. This set is from Pottery Barn Kids. I love the Santa shapes and plaid!

3. Consider Brunch or Lunch

One thing that’s always tough around the holidays, for my kids, is staying up late enough to enjoy holiday gatherings. The past few years, I hosted Christmas Eve at our house and we were eating dinner and exchanging gifts way past my kids’ bedtimes. It’s a recipe for disaster + meltdown central. This year we are switching it up and hosting Christmas Eve at lunchtime. This will be a great time of day for the kids and give them plenty of time to wind down after the excitement of opening gifts with relatives.

4. Easiest Scavenger Hunt Ever {Free Printable}

Here’s something to print and store in your purse over the holiday season. It’s the world’s easiest scavenger hunt because they are pictures of things that most people have in their house somewhere around Christmas. I made this in just a few minutes and tried it out on my kids. They thought it was a blast and ran around out house checking items off. If there’s no decor with the items, tell them to look at the ornaments on the Christmas tree. SO when you take the kids to someone else’s house and they are driving you crazy/ breaking everything in sight, pull this out. hHopefully it will help them be entertained or at the very least, stand still and stare at the person’s Christmas tree for a while!

Click here to download and print.

5. Easy Reindeer Cookies

I’m not a great baker but love festive Christmas cookies. I made these reindeer cookies using the “slice and bake” roll of chocolate chip cookie dough. Bake the cookies for 1 min less than the suggested time. Take them out and add: broken pretzels for antlers, a red m&m nose and candy eyes. If you don’t have candy eyes, just use another color m&m. Then put them back into the over for a minute or 2. Note: I tried these with whole pretzels for the antlers and they fell off as soon as the cookie cooled. If you break the pretzels and stick them into the dough they stay a lot better.

6. Christmas Bingo {link to a free printable}

At our kids’ Christmas party I wanted a fun game the group could play together. I found this Christmas Bingo on Pinterest and it was a huge hit with the kids. Click here to go to Crazy Little Projects, the blog where I printed bingo from.

Whether you’re hosting a party at home or heading out to a party with kids, enjoy it. Have a joyful holiday season!