The Family Groove "Easy Bake"

EASY BAKE
THE FAMILY GROOVE’S RESIDENT EXPERT KIDS’ PARTY PLANNER LISA KOTHARI SERVES UP
HER HOW-TO FOR A FUN HOLIDAY PARTY THAT’S MORE THAN COOKIE-CUTTER

If you are looking for a kids’ holiday party idea that can be used as a stand-alone party, as part of
a birthday party or as just a traditional gathering during the festive season, why not make cookies?
Simple and fun, this baking-themed party is a treat for the kids—and the parents, too.

HERE ARE THE SIMPLE STEPS TO THIS SWEET PARTY:

For the Planning
When throwing this type of party, be sure to take into account the ages of the kids who
will be attending to determine how much actual baking will be done. If small kids will attend, prepare the cookies beforehand and have them decorate them. Older children can handle rolling out chilled dough, cutting it into shapes with cookie cutters, doing an activity while the cookies bake and cool, and then decorating. Older kids will also appreciate taking on the challenge of making the cookies themselves from start to finish.

For the Invitation
Cut out holiday shapes—gingerbread men are a great idea—from colorful construction paper using your cookie cutters. Place the party details on the invitation. Attach a candy cane to the invite if hand-delivering.

For the Setting
The heart of this party will take place in the kitchen and dining area. Have enough seats available for the kids to sit down and decorate. Line the kitchen table with wrapping paper for a festive feel. Set out red aprons on each chair for the kids to wear during the party. Santa hats are a fun, additional goodie to give the kids to wear. And definitely play those holiday songs.

At each seat, have a plate where the kids will decorate their cookies. In the center of the table, place all the frosting tubes, sprinkles and candies for the kids to use to decorate. Again, this type of setup is best for small kids who will only be decorating. The older kids will most likely be spending a good amount of time in the kitchen cutting out the dough with the cutters and placing it on the baking tray and/or actually making the cookies from scratch.

For Other Fun
During the idle time while the cookies are baking, try these fun—and yummy—activities:

	Hold a taste test. Place all of the ingredients that are needed to make cookies into individual bowls. Have the kids taste or observe the different ingredients and guess which is which.
	Have a spice taste test. Place different spices that are used in holiday baking into small spice bowls and have the kids taste each one to determine the spice.
	Set up a cocoa station with hot chocolate, whipped cream, candy cane sticks and chocolate shavings for the kids to create a sweet treat.
	Have your recipe books out for the kids to browse, as well as 3-by-5 cards and pens. The kids can copy a recipe or two that they would like to try during the season. They can take these recipe cards home with them as well.
	After the cookie cutters have been used, wash them up, and have the kids use them to draw festive pictures, to create Play-Doh shapes, etc.

For the Goodie Bags
When the cookies have been baked and decorated, wrap them in red saran wrap for the kids to take home, and put them in a bag along with their recipe cards, aprons, hats, etc.

This is an easy party to put together—even at the last minute. If you find that you are watching some of your friends’ kids one afternoon as a favor while they get their shopping done, you certainly can get out an easy cookie recipe, assemble the ingredients, bake a batch and have the kids decorate. And it’s relatively economical, too. No need for extra goodies because sending them home with some cookies is treat enough. All done up or just thrown together, this party aims to please—your kids and their friends will love definitely eat it up.

Happy holiday baking!

Lisa Kothari is the founder and president of Peppers and Pollywogs (www.peppersandpollywogs.com), a kids’ party-planning company that provides parents with ideas, entertainers and interesting web-based tools (customized rhymes and cards for your invitations!) to make kids’ party planning easy. She has recently written and published Dear Peppers and Pollywogs… What Parents Want to Know About Planning Their Kids’ Parties, which is available at www.amazon.com and www.peppersandpollywogs.com.