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If you're looking to throw a fabulous holiday party this year, you might be stressing out at the lack of fun ideas you have come up with so far. I understand the challenges one can face from trying to throw a great party, especially when it is specific to a particular age group, including adults. So to help you out, I'm introducing a few holiday party ideas that will work well for the different age groups you may be faced with having to entertain.
For Children (under 10 years old)
Holiday party ideas are not easy to come by when you're trying to please the 10 and under crowd - you have to guarantee them all entertainment, all activities, all the time. You really cannot give them room to become bored because the moment you do that is the moment they will begin to create their own fun by climbing on furniture, jumping on beds, drawing on walls, and decorating your home with food. To ensure your entertainment lasts from the beginning to the end over your "under 10" party, I've provided a few holiday party ideas they will enjoy.
Craft Christmas Parties - Make your Christmas party adventurous by giving the children craft projects to work on as the theme of the party. To make sure you keep their attention, it is a good idea to incorporate contests with prizes at the end. This way they will have something to anticipate. If the party is set to last two hours, I recommend having at least three projects for them to work on. Depending on the number of children at the party, you can break them up into teams with ages distributed equally to make sure the challenges are fair. Then at the end, you can come up with the Big Game that allows all of the little party goers to win a prize. They'll love their crafty creations and especially enjoy their great prizes at the end.
Elves Night Out - This is one of the more popular holiday party ideas because it holds true to the spirit of Christmas. The party actually starts two weeks early when you invite your guests by placing cute little invitations in clear Christmas glasses and delivering them. When your guests arrive on the day of the party they will be sent to a room guarded by three elves to chat and drink beverages until all guests arrive. When everyone arrives they will be split into three teams and sent to rooms with crafts (one with Christmas cards, another with a gingerbread man to decorate, and the third with a gingerbread house to make and decorate). After the kids finish their projects they will all come to the family room to showcase their works then sit around the tree for storytelling time. Next, the kids will enjoy a sundae bar with a multitude of topping choices, and finally the kids will take part in a Cookie Swap, which is the child's version of a Yankee Swap and is used with cookies instead of presents.
For Tweens and Teens
The important thing to remember when coming up with tween and teen holiday party ideas is that these two groups are at very different stages of maturity. One group is in middle school while the other is in high school, so it is a good idea to never mix the two groups unless they want it that way.
One of the holiday party ideas that tend to work well for both tweens and younger teens are the traditional Christmas party with lots of up-to-date music and activities that are age-appropriate. To make sure the tweens and teens are happy, be sure to get lots of input from them. You can allow them to "plan" the party then "yay" or "nay" their ideas so that they feel they have creative control. What you don't want to do is go get a clown or spend too much time at the party trying to garner their attention for yourself. Your child will most likely resent you for it. And you already know it's impossible to please one of these boppers, so try to restrain yourself and let them have fun their way.
If it's snowing outside, you might want to encourage your tween or teen to have everyone go out for a snowball fight or sledding if there are hills nearby. And since many love to dance, you can hint at a dance contest - but only if your child likes the idea first!
Adults
When it comes to adult parties you want to remember that these adults are trying to run, not walk, away from their children. So it is a great idea to make sure they feel as adult as possible. Incorporate lots of adult beverages (liquor), adult foods (shrimp), and adult entertainment (no, not strippers) to make sure it is truly a grown person event. Here is another one of the better holiday party ideas for adults:
Frostbite Party - A frostbite party is a combination of a holiday party and lodge party. You can have the party at your house but make it an outdoors event by shuttling everyone to the backyard. There you can get out the turkey fryer, create a (safe) bonfire to roast marshmallows, and sip hot chocolate, cider and coffee, and warming liquor beverages while listening to holiday music. And of course, if you want the real feeling of being at a lodge, you can always go to a real lodge or RV Park and recreate the experience.
Whether trying to come up with holiday party ideas for children, tweens, teens or adults, you can have your work cut out for you if you don't take into consideration the importance of catering to the different age groups. As long as you know who you're working with, you will know how to please them, then your party planning experience will flow much more smoothly. So feel free to use any of these great holiday party ideas; I just hope that they will make your holiday season even more enjoyable.
Jeffrey Meier at Jam727 Enterprises at http://www.thearticlehome.com blog offers even more detailed information on a wide variety of topics.
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