Winter Birthday Party for Ages 12 and under. "Reindeer Games" Party

Send out invitations with pictures of reindeer of course.

Here's a suggestion for sequence of events, with allotted times for 15-20 kids:

1. As soon as kids arrive, have them work on a "Rudolph" ornament craft. Supplies for each child: 1 long pine cone, 2 long brown pipe cleaners, glue, 1 small red fuzzy ball, black sharpie, 5" string. First, twist 1 brown pipe cleaner around top end of the pine cone several times and twist the ends up to shape the antlers. Cut two 1" pieces of the 2nd brown pipe cleaner to twist onto the formed antler to make more antlers. Glue on red nose, draw eyes and smile, attach string to top to hang as an ornament. Set aside to dry. 30-60 MINUTES

2. Eating time! Tiny pb&j sandwiches with tag "Reindeer Bodies", Cherry tomatoes with tag "Reindeer Noses", Carrot Shreds with tag "Reindeer Bedding", Popcorn with tag "Reindeer Pillows", Pretzel Sticks with tag "Reindeer Antlers", Cheese Cubes with tag "Reindeer Teeth", Chocolate Morsels with tag "Reindeer Footprints" 30 MINUTES

3. Pin the Nose on Rudolph Game! Have a poster with Rudolph drawn on it with the nose missing. Provide each child a red paper circle with their name on it and tape on it and cover their eyes and try to pin the nose on correctly. 15 MINUTES

4. Dress the kids warmly and head outside for "Find the Missing Rudolph Nose" scavenger hunt! Before the party starts, have your helper hide one red paper Rudolph nose per child on shrubbery, trees, etc. Have the kids each find one red nose! 15 MINUTES

5. Another animal game outside. Divide the group into an even amount (solicit another parent to even out the #). Whisper a different animal into each child's ear (horse, cow, duck, etc.) on each team. Do the exact same order of animals into the second team's ears. The kids have a blast running around making "horse" or "duck" sounds to find their "mate". 15 MINUTES

6. Head back into the warm indoors for "guess the # of M&M's in the jar." Choose red & green M&M's or other candy for the Christmas colors. Do more than 1 jar and amounts for excitement, winners take the jars/candy home. 15 MINUTES

7. Cake time (reindeer cake of course!) and then open presents. 30 MINUTES

8. "Hot Rudolph Nose" (variation of Hot Potato) Have the kids spread arm length apart in a large circle. Play music while the kids pass a soft red ball or red balloon to each other. When music stops, the child with the ball leaves the circle. The winner can keep the red ball. 15 MINUTES

9. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Song. Teach the kids the hand motions that go along with this classic song and "sing out loud!" Kids love to sing, sing it several times! "You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer…" 15 MINUTES

10. Crazy Reindeer Dance Game. Get out the boom box and have the kids spread out arm length apart. Play fast-paced Christmas music and have the kids dance goofy until the music stops and yell "Freeze". Kids have to stay still till you continue the music. Everyone giggles and even the boys dance.

15 MINUTES Before everyone leaves, they get a reindeer antler headband (dollar store $1.00), and reindeer pine cone ornament