Alice in Wonderland Mad Hatter Tea Party with printable activities

You don't need to have a reason to throw a party. You also don't need to spend any money. I found that out, as a homeschooling mom with many kids, living in a cramped mobile home on a shoestring budget. So I declare today, Alice in Wonderland Day, for no other reason than that it is cold and dreary and Through the Looking Glass is a frabjuously good story. 

Here's a way to celebrate Alice and her friends with activities from Disney's the old cartoon version, Tim Burton's new versions and Lewis Carroll books "Through the Looking Glass," "Adventures in Wonderland" and "Jabberwocky." Start with free printable Alice in Wonderland activities from the Tim Burton version. Print Disney coloring pages from the cartoon here.  

Of course, have a Mad Hatter tea party with these Alice in Wonderland crafts, birthday party decorations. Use free printable valentines as Mad Hatter tea party invitations, thank you notes, greeting cards and party supplies. Or have a Valentine's Day party with a Red Queen of Hearts theme? How about a Mad Hatter tea for kids birthday parties or a Jabberwocky theme for tweens and teens. Or use as an inspiration for a Jabberwocky Halloween costume!

Have guests dress as the Red Queen, White Queen, Mad Hatter, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, Alice, the Cheshire Cat or Blue Caterpillar. Use free printable Lewis Carroll Alice's Adventures in Wonderland coloring pages for vintage images, clipart and crafts. Here are Alice in Wonderland movie activities and lesson plans,  free printable tea party crafts and Disney Alice in Wonderland tea party invitations. 

Check out recipes for tea party snacks, too. 

Kids party activities: Birthday party games, DIY party crafts, activity centers

While there are dozens of adorable preschool kids party activities to buy, I find it best to go with simple, inexpensive birthday party games for kids. Here's a DIY party planner for activity centers with cheap, homemade kids party crafts and activities. These activity centers--based on preschool learning centers--feature different kids party crafts and activities at stations or tables. Party guests circulate and try different kids party crafts and games. DIY party activity centers offer flexibility for hosts and plenty of kids party activities to keep over-active children busy. Activity centers avoid competitive birthday party games which can so often end in tears and frustration.

Cupcake decorating kids party activities. Instead of a birthday cake, give each child a plain unfrosted cupcake to decorate. Set out a variety of candies, sprinkles and frosting options. Give each child a disposable Popsicle sticks to frost cupcakes. Each guest should have her own little cup of frosting, so that when she samples, and she will sample, germs won't get spread around. Assemble the finished
cupcake on a platter and add candles for the birthday girl to blow out. Photograph and give each child her cupcake to eat.

DIY party tattoos and body art activity centers. Set out temporary tattoos, napkins and washable markers. Teach guests to apply tattoos by pressing damp napkin over tattoo until paper is wet. Remove paper to reveal tattoo. Child can also make their own tattoos by drawing on paper towel and pressing design on their arms. Older kids can draw their own.

Giant birthday card kids party crafts: Set out sidewalk chalk and ask guests to decorate your sidewalk or driveway with huge card for the birthday child. Each child gets a square of sidewalk to decorate. Or draw kids party activities on the driveway or sidewalk that children must complete, like a treasure hunt or giant board birthday party games for kids.

Fish pond birthday party games for kids. Set out a child's wading pool and inexpensive plastic fishing game. Children can fish for prizes for birthday party games. Make your own fishing game by tying a magnet to the end of a dowel. Fill little plastic bags or paper bags with treats and prizes. Attach a paper clip to the bag. Child catches a treat by getting magnet to attach to paper clip and 'reeling' it in.
Painting booth kids party crafts. This went over like a house afire at our youngest daughter's 5th birthday. My eldest daughter set out her array of finger nail polish choices and everyone got a manicure. For boys birthday party games for kids, buy little unpainted wooden vehicles for kids from Hobby Lobby. Or get small treasure boxes. Let guest paint these with quick-dry non-toxic paint and take home as party favors.

Face painting kids party activities. Our younger son manned this booth at our daughter's party. He made up a poster showing the different images he could do. He even learned some new ideas when guests asked for something different. Remember to use non-toxic face paint. Make your own face paint with lotion and food coloring. Or use non-toxic markers.

We were fortunate to have older children to run the activities. If you don't have older children, import some older neighbor children or family members. Older children love to help with these types of parties and will usually work for food and a treat bag. For more awesome DIY party ideas, come visit DIY Party Planner.

Thanksgiving party printables, cards, holiday activities for kids

As the fall holiday season counts down, you'll want free Thanksgiving printables and activities. Print Thanksgiving decorations, greeting cards, party invitations, place cards, place mats, coloring pages, activities, table décor, clipart, children's activities, games, worksheets, cut, paste and assemble activities and lesson plans. Use these printables for home, classroom, Sunday School, scout troop, 4H group, after school programs, library programs, PTA/PTO/PTSO, day care, home school, etc. These activities are perfect for activity coordinators of senior centers, nursing homes and adult foster care or home-bound groups.

Thanksgiving Fun Cards offers you access to many other printable Thanksgiving greeting cards plus cards for all occasions. Printables are primarily animated cards. Get your free Thanksgiving lesson plans at The Teacher's Corner. You'll find history activities on Plymouth, the Puritans, Native Americans and colonists. But it's not all worksheets! Print turkey crafts and coloring pages too!

Disney Family has Disney character Thanksgiving and fall activities to print. The Kidz Page is an online community where kids can play and learn. Print out Thanksgiving Day activities, games, clip-art, lessons, kid friendly video clips, puzzles of all kinds, coloring, flash games and much more.

Satisfy your inner colorer with lots of free printable Thanksgiving coloring pages which can be colored online or printed. Kids Free Crafts has loads more Thanksgiving crafts, activities, printables and more. Visit the printables page for a cross-referenced index of autumn holiday activities. For Thanksgiving clipart and cards, visit Pic Gifs. Print a huge packet of activities and when kids say they're bored, whip it out! Or pack in the car for long holiday travel.

Free or Crazy-Cheap Children's Birthday Party Activities: Ways to Save Money on Party Games, Crafts, Food, Decorations

I love party planning, especially children's parties. But I don't love spending money. Not because I'm a cheapskate--I just see no reason to support corporate greed overpaying for birthday party supplies when I can make my own better ones. Here's a DIY party planner guide for free or cheap kids' party activities, games, crafts, food and decorations based on  KISS (Keep it simple, sweetie).

* DIY kids' birthday. Birthday parties for children should be fun for parents, not just kids. But they won't be if you're stressed out. If mama and papa ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. And you can keep yourselves and your kids happy if you keep it simple. Contrary to popular belief, kids are very easy to please. Most (regardless of age) would rather just play with friends at birthday parties than have a bunch of fancy trappings.

* DIY party decorations. Run screaming from overpriced décorations at Party City, etc. For birthday parties for children. DIY it. Use free printable party supplies. Check this blog for printables on just about any theme. Put the money you save toward presents. Your kids will enjoy gifts more than throw-away decorations and so will the earth.

* DIY birthday parties for children at a park, beach or playground. Some kid party venues charge $15 per guest. Parks are free and often have bathrooms and trash cans for easy cleanup. Park parties mean less wear and tear on your backyard, too. You can run over-rambunctious guests and circumvent potential behavior problems. Choose one close to home with a pavillion, in case of emergencies or bad weather.

* KISS--Limit guest list at kids' parties. My kids party planning rule of thumb is one guest for every year the child is old, including siblings and the birthday child. I don't recommend making kids invite their whole class to parties. It's awkward and hurtful as guests who are invited only because parents force it often feel left out. And please, speaking as a teacher, don't let kids distribute party invitations at school. That's a recipe for disaster.

* Award everyone (or no one) a prize for party games. Competitive games don't work for several reasons. It's sometimes difficult to determine who won. It encourages greed and ruthlessness. Avoid prizes and also keep little take-home goody bags simple. If you do prize bags, give useful stuff like school supplies. Pick those up SUPER cheap at back-to-school sales and squirrel away for parties.  Make-it-take-it crafts do double duty as party activities and treat bags. If you're giving out goody bags at the end, skip prizes.

* DIY kids' party food. Picnic foods are great for a kids party-- hamburgers or hot dogs (precooked and stored in foil-covered, disposable pans). Make huge sub sandwiches and cut into single servings. Or let guests make their own pizzas--Dollar Tree has mini pizzas 2/$1. Provide water bottles or juice boxes. Serve individually-packaged ice cream novelties. Make cupcakes instead of a cake. Let kids decorate their own. Pop in candles before serving so you can sing to the birthday child.


These party planning tips make for win-win kids parties

Free printable Halloween party activities, crafts, games

Halloween is creeping up and children of all ages, even the young at heart are getting ready for the fun.Here are free printable Halloween activities for parties, school groups, etc. 

Count down the days to Trick or Treat with dozens of free printable Halloween activities, coloring pages and crafts from Making Friends.com. Print free craft projects for all sorts themes. Making Friends has a really holiday activities, coloring pages, cut and paste, paper dolls, Trick or treat wrappers, worksheets, Halloween puzzles and mazes. Print word searches, crossword puzzles and word games, perfect for Halloween language arts lessons. Print Halloween card games, flash cards, dioramas, masks and pumpkin carving patterns and stencils.

Here free printable Halloween lesson plans, worksheets, games, coloring pages, activities and puzzles. Use for Trick or Treat themed math, reading, writing, literature, science, language, social studies and crafts. All Free Printables has free Halloween crafts, greeting cards, party invitations, decorations, cut-outs, coloring pages, masks, party invitations, name tags, treat bags, pumpkin cut-outs, book marks, picture frames and lots more. Puzzlemaker lets you create templates for printable Halloween worksheets, puzzles, mazes, jigsaws, dot to dot, Soduku, crosswords and activities galore.

Print Activities is another mega site for all your school and family activity printing needs. Look for units, printable worksheets and lessons focused around Halloween and trick-or-treat. Disney Family offers a plethora of free printable Halloween Disney activities, crafts and coloring pages. Coolest Holiday Parties has free printable Halloween party supplies. You'll find cards, invitations, treat and punch bowl printables, banners, place cards, name tags, wall hangings for a ghoulish party.

Stargazing party for kids: Eclipse and astronomy activities for children's backyard birthday party

Here's a fun and easy end of summer party for kids. To celebrate the solar eclipse, why not host an astronomy themed backyard birthday party? Enjoy a family stargazing campout  or backyard slumber party under the night sky. Here's all you need for this simple to plan, inexpensive (darn near free) stargazer fest.

Walk the beach if you can. Sleep on the beach if possible. That's the best sky panorama. Or just sleep outside under the stars. No need for a fancy-schmancy RV. You bring the backyard or apartment deck, Mother Nature does the rest.

Pitch a tent. Don't have a tent? Borrow one or make one by hanging a tarp over a suspended rope and securing with clothespins. Stay close to home in case rain drives you indoors.

Don't have expensive camping sleeping bags? Haul out old blankets and pillows and make a tent wall to tent-wall family bed. Plan on family pets nabbing the choicest napping spots.

Have a campfire. Campfires lend the ambiance. Portable fire pits are fairly inexpensive, like $35 at Walmart. Some communities allow you to dig your own (line it with a few old cement blocks). Collect brush and burn recycled paper to clean up the environment and do a little volunteer work too.

Sing camp songs. Ultimate Camp Resource has lyrics for all the old camp songs we learned as kids (and some we'd like to forget). Focus on songs about the sky, stars and nature. Play astronomy trivia. Check skymap.com for ideas.

Teach fire safety to get some learning time in. Have a bucket of sand at the ready to douse the flames and first aid kit. Discuss wildfires and caring for the environment. Show kids how to outen fires correctly.

S'mores and hot dogs are camping haute cuisine, but you can simply roast marshmallows if it's easier. Make your own roasting sticks by whittling down tree branches. (many pointed ends means more marshmallows). Teach knife safety and whittling for good survivalist-scouting lessons.

Dress warm. Summer nights can be chilly. Young children may wet the bed (or sleeping bag) if they get cold, even if potty-trained. Make sure they're bundled up. If it gets hot they can peel. Wearing long clothes means kids won't need as much bug repellent.

Have kids make stargazer survival kit (another great scout activity) Pack in waterproof container:
flashlight, cheap notebook (to draw stars, constellations, night sky), water bottle, midnight snack, field glasses, portable telescopes, cuddle toy (just in case) and umbrella. Allow nothing digital except a camera to take pictures (no texting, movies, TV, games).

Print an interactive night sky map from Your Sky that you can personalize for day and area. Here are free printable star charts, night sky maps and constellation maps. Here's a kids astronomy activities link with printables. Help kids track stars and learn the names of the constellations they're seeing. Provide notebooks and pencils and let them draw stars and constellations.

'Counting On' Joe Duggar, bachelorette Kendra Caldwell share odd bachelor party

Duggars, bachelorette parties, stag bashes and co-ed sleepovers: which of these don't belong? If you said the duggar family, you're wrong. People magazine showed the Christian morality experts of "Counting On" engaging in some pretty worldly activities since the fall of "19 Kids and Counting."



Joseph Duggar and his girlfriend, Kendra Caldwell shared a bachelor party. Joy-Anna Duggar and Austin Forsyth had a joint stag party with a co-ed slumber party. Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar were onboard for the unorthodox premarital events.   'Counting On' Joe Duggar, bachelorette Kendra Caldwell share odd bachelor party