New Year's Eve Family Night Activities

Although New Year's Eve is most often reserved for adult partying, the night can also be filled with fun and entertainment for the whole family fun at home with just a little planning.

Keep food easy and appealing for everyone, i.e., chips and dip, a veggie platter, chicken fingers, deviled eggs, shrimp cocktail, or simply order in a pizza! Also have plenty of champagne ready for the adults, and fixings for 'mocktails" for the kids such as Virgin Pina Coladas or Shirley Temples.

In addition, follow these tips and suggestions for a New Year's Eve party game & activity ideas that will have family and younger guests cozying up to loved ones and family friends as they welcome in the New Year ....

New Year's Eve Predictions

For older teens and adults familiar with how to play, break out the Ouija board or tarot cards for a spooky night of fortune telling.

Introduce the younger kids to "Magic 8 Ball" and stand back for the giggle-producing results as the classic novelty toy mysteriously answers their questions about the future.

New Year's Eve Scavenger Hunt

Scavenger hunts are a great ice breaker, and usually result in lots of laughs - as holiday revelers compete to find items hidden throughout the house, in the backyard, or around the entire neighborhood. (Tip: alert the neighbors so they don’t think there are intruders in their backyard!)

Depending on how well you’ve hidden your ‘treasure”, items in a New Year's scavenger hunt can be awarded separate points for ease, or difficulty. The party contestants who amass the most points are named the winners, so be sure to have prizes ready for the highest scorers.

Suggestions for items to hide for a New Year scavenger hunt might include: a party hat, streamers, noise makers, plastic champagne glass, a clock, Happy New Year card, Happy New Year balloon, drink stirrers, coasters, chocolate coins, a calendar, or silver bells to ring in the New Year.

New Year's Eve Pinanta

Who doesn't love a pinata? No reason not to have one on New Year's Eve for a fun kid competition.

Make your own homemade pinata using 1. a large shopping bag, 2. New Year's Eve clip art 3. paper glue 4. stapler.

Instructions: download and print out a picture of a New Year's Eve party hat, Father Time, or other holiday clip art and glue it to the shopping bag. Further decorate as you please with tinsel or glitter. Fill your decorated shopping bag with candy and staple the bag closed. String up from the ceiling using heavy cord. Provide a pinata stick or plastic baseball bat, line up the contestants - and stand back!

Happy New Year!

More about New Year's Eve family night games & activities around the Web:

New Year's Fun and Games - Family Fun

Best Mocktails Recipes

Printable New Year's Eve Party Games

New Year Coloring Pages

Gross Halloween Food Ideas & Recipes

Sure, everybody likes gross-out food at Halloween, but what are the easiest recipes to follow for homemade yucky food ideas guaranteed to make your guests giggle and (hopefully), gag?

Here are some quick instructions and ingredients for making truly disgusting snacks and spooktacular party treats that will make any Halloween party a hoot:

Mummy pizza

Follow any simple recipe for English muffin pizza, but instead of just sprinkling mozzarella cheese over the top, use strips to make a "mummy wrap" topping. Use slices of black olives and bits of pepper for the eyeballs.

Wormy pudding

Grab a bunch of gummy worms and hide them inside chocolate pudding cups (homemade or store bought). For an added touch, stick more gummy worms on top to make it look like "the worms crawl in, the worms crawl out..."

Witches' fingers

Buy plain premade cookie dough. Roll small pieces of dough out in to a ball and then in to a log shape. Making regular notches to resemble knuckles. Make an indentation at one end and fill with raspberry jam. Top with a slivered almond piece for the fingernail. Bake for 8-10 minutes until golden brown.

Skeleton bone cookies

Pinch off pieces premade cookie dough and roll into 8-inch ropes. Fold 1 inch of each end back to form a small ball and pinch ends to make bone shapes. Repeat to shape all the dough into skeleton bones. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

Kitty litter cake

The grossest of gross Halloween recipes, all this requires is a vanilla cake mix, crumbled cookies, and some Tootsie Rolls. Make the cake, top with cookie crumbs and add softened Tootsie rolls to resemble cat poop. Heighten the illusion by serving in a new, clean kitty litter box. Serve with a clean pooper scooper. Yuck!

More gross & disgusting Halloween food ideas around the Web:

Gross Halloween Party Food

The anatomy of disgusting (yet fun) Halloween food

Gross, Yucky, Creepy Halloween Recipes

Oktoberfest Party & Food Ideas

Nothing says autumn fun like Oktoberfest! A centuries-old tradition begun in Munich, Germany, the seasonal festival is now beloved the world over and celebrated everywhere from Tokyo to Milwaukee.

Host your own Oktoberfest party with these step-by-step tips and instructions, and get ready for some fall fun, feasting .... and lots of beer:

1. Willkommen friends over by printing your own invitations using German Oktberfest clipart of beer kegs, beer steins, beer glasses, bratwurst or party goers in lederhosen.

2. Decorate in the colors of the Bavarian flag, with lots of blue and white balloons. Also consider German travel posters, or printouts of Bavarian food and beer steins to hang on the door and walls.

3. To make your venue look like a traditional German beer hall, line up tables in a long row - for a fun night of communal feasting and drinking. Use a beer stein or beer pitcher filled with fresh flowers, and surround with small German flags as an easy and decorative centerpiece.

4. Search the Web for traditional German & Oktoberfest food and recipes which are a tradition of any German party or Oktoberfest theme - such as weiner schnitzel, bratwurst, sauerkraut, gingerbread, apple strudel and black forest cake.

5. And what would an Oktoberfest be without the beer? Just make sure it's German beer such as pilsner, wheat beer, stouts and lagers.

6. Get everybody in the party mood by playing a German music or drinking song collection CD, or if your budget allows hire a local German band for a memorable live performance.

7. Lastly, no Oktoberfest celebration would be complete without a traditional chicken dance to get everyone up and mingling. (It's even more fun after hoisting a few!)

Prost! – Cheers!

More about Oktoberfest party & food ideas around the Web:

Oktoberfest Party Ideas

Oktoberfest Party Foods & Recipes

Oktoberfest Party Ideas and German Theme Party

Elvis Birthday Party Ideas

Yes, the King still lives! His music and films continue to inspire Elvis themed weddings and Elvis birthday parties that are still going strong worldwide commemorating the rock n roll icon.

Celebrating Elvis is as easy as turning the ol' jukebox on (today, that's a CD or DVD player) and letting the good times roll. Decorate with Elvis posters, feature some popular 50's foods, add a party game or two - and you have all the makings for a hunka hunka popular party idea.

Set the mood by selecting a general Elvis theme, or center the party around one of his most popular movie hits like Viva Las Vegas or Blue Hawaii for a fun luau party theme.

To decorate, search online for affordable Elvis posters, rummage around antique shops for old Elvis album covers and records, or simply print out images from the Internet.

And what would an Elvis party be without the party games?

Since music is such an important part of any Elvis party, get the house rockin' with a round of Name That Tune or a hip-shaking Elvis karaoke contest. Prizes can also be given out for the best impersonation or dance moves during the performance.

For the non-musical guests, try "Pin the Tail on the Hound Dog" or an Elvis trivia contest. Finally, buy a life-size Elvis cutout so that all guests can gather round for a picture with the King!

Food ideas "Fit for a King" can include fried chicken, 50's burgers and shakes, chicken "love me" tenders, or the famous fried peanut butter & banana sandwiches that Elvis loved so well. And don't forget the guitar shaped cake for a sweet ending to your Elvis celebration.

Say "thank you, thank you very much" by sending guests home happy with a goody bag filled with Reeses Pieces, toy sunglasses, a CD of Elvis hits, and photos from the party for an Elvis party keepsake they'll long remember.

More about Elvis party themes around the Web:

Elvis Party Ideas

Elvis Party Ideas for Preteens

Elvis Fan Site

80s Party Food Ideas

Sure, it's easy enough buying the 80s posters, or jammin' to Duran Duran and just letting the good times roll.

But what food does a party purist serve at an 80's party?

Check out the following ideas and suggestions for an 80s party menu guaranteed to be not only authentic but, like, totally mondo:

80s drinks - Two words: wine coolers. A fashionable mix of wine, fruit juice and soda water, they were a huge hit with 20-somethings when they were first introduced in the 80s. And those who attended college during the 1980s will definitely remember jello shots. Seriously trendy cocktails of the day also included Long Island Ice Tea, Kamikazees, Grasshoppers, and Fuzzy Navels.

For the teetotalers, fill the cooler with Fresca, Tab, Crystal Light or Capri Sun.

80s party snacks - Although invented in 1964, buffalo chicken wings really only took off in 1981. And the rest, as they say, is history. Also think about serving heaping bowls of a relatively new-fangled snack called microwave (wow!) popcorn. "Lite" low calorie versions were huge.

80s party food - Sushi hit the scene! Veal or chicken francese suddenly became the favorite of 80s foodies in restaurants throughout the land, along with equally popular pasta salad - washed down with lots of cheap house wine - white, preferably.

80s cakes and desserts - Of course, no 1980s restaurant dessert menu would have been complete without mud pie or dirt cake. For a down-home (and easier to serve) dessert, try trendy 80s pudding pops. For the calorie conscious, remember that frozen yogurt stores could be found on every street corner in every major city, and was the decade's equivalent to Starbucks, at least for a few years.

Want to get your sugar rush on? Pass around favorite 80's junk food such as Skittles, Reece's Pieces, and Pop Rocks. Or, put them in a goody bag for guests to take home.

Gnarly, dude.

More about 1980's party food around the Web:

How to Plan 80s Party Food

80s party foods

Kids Pirate Party Food Ideas

Where did pirates live for most of their lives? On the high seas, of course!

Serve your hungry swashbucklers fish and chips, or fish sticks and french fries, with plenty of tartar sauce and ketchup.

For land lubbers, you can serve hot dogs or pizza decorated with with toothpicks and paper pirate sails, or serve pigs in a blanket and call them "Pirate Fingers."

Gold-wrapped chocolate coins, goldfish crackers or gummy fish are must-have snacks. Don't forget to include more nutritious tropical island fare (you don't want anyone catching scurvy or rickets!) with fruit kabobs or fruit platters of slice pineapple, oranges, bananas and mangos. (Also see: how to host a luau.)

A watermelon pirate ship is a fun and eye catching idea, and it's easier than it sounds. Fill it up with melon balls and colorul fruit salad and it's guaranteed to please the pickiest pirate.

Wash it all down with plenty of grog (apple cider) foamy root beer or Shark's Blood Punch (any red fruit drink.)

Birthday cake ideas

If you're handy with an icing tube, use your imagination to decorate with a treasure map with a big "X" to mark the spot, or try a chocolate and vanilla icing skull and crossbones. Want spectacular? Try this recipe for a Pirate Treasure Chest Cake.

More about pirate party food around the Web:

The Pirate Birthday Party

Coolest Homemade Pirate Cake Photos and How-To Tips

Mermaid Party Food Ideas

Party Hawaiian - Food & Menu Planning

Summertime...and it's time to host a luau! Think the theme is a little too exotic or not sure what to serve? No worries, brah.

Four main ingredients (actually five if you count the rum!) make up the summer's most popular party theme. That is - seafood, pork, pineapple and cocunut.

Let these basic Hawaiian "food groups" flow through your menu from appetizers, main courses to desserts, and you and your guests will be partying Hawaiian in no time.

First, break the ice with these classic Hawaiian luau drinks:

Mai Tai cocktail recipe

Blue Hawaiian cocktail recipe

Hawaiian Punch

Appetizers - pass around a pupu platter filled with these tasty morsels:

Coconut Shrimp

Hawaiian Spare Ribs

Also, don't forget the bowls of macadamia nuts, or go all out with this dynamite recipe for macadamia nut hummus and chips.

Main course - pork, of course - but a whole pig roast? If you have the time, the patience and the room out in the backyard. go for it! However, here are some easier luau recipes to try without going whole hog:

Sam Choy's Oven-Roasted Kalua Pig with Sweet Potatoes

Kalua Pig in a Slow Cooker

Hawaiian Ham Bake

Dessert!

Free & Easy Coconut cake recipe

Macadamia nut cake

Hawaiian fruit kabobs

More about Hawaiin luau party food around the Web:

How to Throw a Great Hawaiian Luau Party

Hawaiian Luau Foods

Fast, Easy Graduation Party Food Ideas

Here are some of the quickiest, easiest and most practical ideas for throwing a graduation party without the hassles.

For easy cleanup afterwards, stock up on plastic forks, knives, spoons and serving utensils, paper or plastic cups, plates and table clothes.

Easy finger food suggestions

veggie tray and dip

tortilla roll ups

antipasto tray

fruit salad or fruit and cheese kabobs

shrimp and cocktail sauce (look for the prepacked party trays at your local supermarket)

deviled eggs

The main graduation party menu

6-foot long hero sandwiches - from Sam's or Costco.

Two words - Pizza party! Have it delivered.

Backyard garden party - A good idea for morning or early afternoon get-togethers, with guests filling up on finger sandwiches, scones, bite-sized desserts, tea and coffee.

Taco bar - Prepare the fixings the night before. Include shredded lettuce, cheese and tacho shells - set up the meat filling in a large crockpot or on a pan warmer - and let guests serve themselves.

Have a cookout - More work for mom and dad, but several pounds of hamburger and jumbo packages of hot dogs should do the trick. Don't forget the chips, dip and potato salad.

Drinks - Have plenty of ice on hand to fill up coolers with soda, water, beer or wine. Hint: label each cooler so guests know exactly where to find their favorite beverage without asking.

Graduation party desserts - Besides a quick graduation sheet cakes, cupcakes are the easiest dessert to serve. Buy them prepackaged and mound them in a pyramid on a serving tray and let guests serve themselves. Or try your hand at making the ever popular graduation cap cakes.

Your fastest, cheapest bet? Hit your local Dunkin Donuts.

More about quick and easy graduation party food around the Web:

• Graduation Party Menu Planning
  
  
• Graduation Party Food Tips
  
  
• Graduation Party Tips - About.com

How to Plan a Toddler Party

New to toddler party planning? Although it's not rocket science, here are Top Ten tips and helpful advice from moms in the know:

1. Enlist the help of as many adults as possible.

2. Keep your sanity by observing the golden rule of invites: "kids age + 1" ( 4 guests for 3-year-olds, 5 guests for 4-year-olds, etc.).

 3. Get the birthday boy or girl involved from the very start and treat them to  a party theme (Dora, Backyardigans) that you know they will love. 

 4. Have plenty of coloring pages, crayons and sticker books on hand for activities.

 5. Remember that 3-year-olds have attention spans of 3-year-olds. Keep party games and activities short and sweet.

 6. Arrange for party games where everyone wins something or get ready for crying jags and, at worst, full blown meltdowns.

 7. Observe the Finger Foods: pizza, chicken fingers, cupcakes, gummy bears.

 8. Make pinatas and/or scavenger hunts a party ritual.

 9. Make guests feel special with a party favor, and lead them happily to the door.

10. Say Thank You for coming.

More about toddler party planning around the Web:

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• Toddler Birthday Bash
  
• Preschool and Toddler Birthday Parties