Night Before Christmas Kids Party

Invitation Idea

For this invitation you will need red construction paper and white cotton balls. Cut large triangles out of the red construction paper. Glue cotton balls to the bottom and one at the top so that it looks like Santa’s hat. On the back put the information for the party. You could do something fun like “T’was the night before _____ (date of party) and all through the house children were playing.”

Decoration Ideas

Have the kids help you decorate. Get white butcher’s paper and tape it to a wall. Provide the kids with crayons and have them draw fun Christmas things such as trees, reindeer, Santa and so on. Tell them to put their names by their pictures. At the end of the party have someone cut out the different pictures and have the kids take home the pictures they drew. Decorate other areas in a Santa Clause theme. Use red and white streamers, have a small Santa doll be the centerpiece for the snack table.

Activities

Santa: Have someone come dressed as Santa. Let the kids talk with him and be sure to have a camera ready. After everyone has talked to him have him tell a few stories about his favorite adventures or he can read a couple of Christmas stories.

Gift Exchange: On the invitation ask each child to bring a small under $5 gift and have a gift exchange. If the children are older you can have the kids sit in a circle and place all the gifts in the middle. Then each child takes a turn choosing a gift and opening it.

Cookie Decorating: Have already baked sugar cookies in fun shapes such as stars, trees, and gifts. Provide frosting, sprinkles and small candies and let the kids decorate and eat their own cookies.

Night Before Christmas musical chairs: Play the Night Before Christmas musical chairs. Have someone read the poem. Each child will have one word that is assigned to them such as chimney, and other words that are in the poem. Every time that word is said the kids with the word get up and change seats (it works best if at least two kids have the same word). Every time Santa or Santa Claus is mentioned they all change seats. The one left out gets to help read the story.

Toss the Goodies: Play a game called toss the goodies. The main idea is similar to piñatas and the kids will love it because they can do it over and over. Have the children all hold on to a sheet. Put small wrapped candies in the center. The kids say, “"Toss the goodies up and down, Up and down, up and down, Toss the goodies up and down, Goodies for you and me." While they are saying the first couple of lines they just bump the candies around in the sheet. Then when they say “Goodies for you and me” they all do one big toss and the candies will fly all over then they can run around and gather them up.

Food Ideas

Serve some fun treats that the kids will enjoy eating such as eggnog, vanilla covered pretzels, and party mixes. Give the items fun names like Santa’s milk, snowflakes, and reindeer food.