Q: My daughter's Brownie meeting is at my house next month. What kind of snacks can I serve to make the girls and their parents happy?
A: When planning snacks for kids, remember: it's all about fun and interesting things! For instance, how about grilled cheese sandwiches cut into various animal shapes?
A few other fun possibilities:
- Consider serving a colorful, exotic punch. For an easy, tasty version, try a combination of Hawaiian Punch, Pineapple Juice and 7-Up. Add a few scoops of rainbow sherbet to create a creamy top on the bowl. Then, serve the punch in cool plastic, "adult-like" glasses -- what a great kid-pleaser!
- Pre-freeze ice cubes in the shape of hearts and store them in freezer bags until the event. For an even more creative approach, freeze pieces of fruit -- such as strawberries -- in each ice cube.
- For the adults, try a fresh onion dip with gourmet potato chips such as Terra Chips. (These yummy -- and relatively healthy -- snacks are available in the gourmet sections of most grocery stores as well as in many specialty food markets.)
- And one final option for the grown-ups: French bread rounds topped with goat cheese and roasted red peppers. You might even set up a small buffet, including linen cocktail and luncheon napkins with the necessary utensils wrapped in each.
Q: I'm hosting a big family party and want to set a table just for the kids. Do you have any suggestions for a fun set-up for a kids' table?
A: For younger children, use a 6-foot or 8-foot banquet table (leave legs folded flat underneath) and set it on top of milk crates on the floor. Cover the table with a bright tablecloth in red, yellow or another vibrant color. Select and tear out pages from a coloring book, mount each one on a cardboard backing, then glue rhinestones around the edge of the cardboard pieces to add sparkle. Place these at each seat to serve as placemats. Next, lay a large pillow on the floor in front of each place setting and add a box of scented crayons for each child. Arrange stuffed animals from your child's room in a fun way down the center of the table for decoration. This allows kids to color until the meal is ready, and the look is fun but polished.
Q: I thought a sleepover birthday party for my 10 year-old daughter would be a fun idea for her. What kinds of activities could I have for her friends to do?
A: No pajama party is complete without the perfect pajamas -- find a fun, comfortable, inexpensive style that you can give each girl to change into when she arrives. For a cool, creative project everyone will love, set up a craft table with tank T-shirts, rhinestones, hot glue and other decorations for each girl to design her own top for the party. After the craft activity, present each girl with her own Pajama Party Survival Kit, complete with a pair of booties, a music CD and a midnight snack of pink popcorn.
Featured materials for these projects:
Mounted coloring book pages with rhinestones
Scented Crayons
Colored plastic tumblers
Heart-shaped ice cube trays
Terra chips
Linen cocktail and luncheon napkins
Boxes for survival kits
"Do Not Disturb" signs
Sleeping masks
Booties
T-shirts
Pajamas
Rhinestone Craft Kit (Michael's)
