"China" party - now updated with pictures!

[MommyPenguin]

My oldest will turn 6 next month, and since we've been attempting to learn Mandarin at home, she wants to do a "China" party.  I got a bunch of stuff from Oriental Trading Company that is really for Chinese New Year, the closest thing I could find, in terms of a tablecloth, plates, cups, and goody bags.  I also got Chinese fans and fortune cookies (yes, I know they're not authentic, but my daughter loves them) and chopsticks for the goody bags.

For the cake, I'm thinking to do a dragon cake like this:  http://salsainchina.blogspot.com/2012/01/make-your-own-dragon-cake-this-year.html  It would be a smaller version, just one bundt cake for the body, possible another cut in pieces to make the head and tail.

For the activities, I bought a paper lantern kit from OTC, and I was thinking I'd make a posterboard with a pin-the-tail-on-the-dragon game, with a picture like this:  http://www.sugarandspice.es/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/dragon.jpg  I'm also thinking to make a feed-the-panda, with a panda posterboard with a hole cut for the mouth, and the kids toss tootsie rolls (little chunks of bamboo?  ) through his mouth.  Also thinking to do some sort of chopsticks game.  Maybe transferring gummi worms from one plate to another?

Anyway, I'm hoping that everything will go smoothly!  I'm pretty excited, I think doing China will be much more fun than princesses or dinosaurs.  Or even "doggies," as my 4-year-old wanted for her party in November.

[Shakira]

I think that sounds like a lot of fun! That cake is gorgeous! Maybe instead of traditional goody BAGS get some of those Chinese takeout boxes that you can find in craft stores.

[MommyPenguin]

I really wanted to do Chinese food takeout containers for goody bags!  Unfortunately, the only ones I could find were too small to be able to fit the longer items like the chopsticks and fan.  I also really wanted to have the lanterns fit into the goody bags when they were done, for the kids to take them home.  So I went with Chinese New Year goody bags because they were bigger.  At least they have Chinese writing on them.  Otherwise, the takeout containers would have been really fun!

[Sophia]

Sounds fun and memorable

[Thipu1]

It sounds like a great party!

Why not ask the kids to wear something red?

If you can find them, Chinese candies are different from the candies most children get and are delicious.  The little haw rolls are like fruit leather and more nutritious than most other candies.  Sesame candies are also good as is candied ginger. 

Another activity idea could be origami.  MIL who is Chinese, kept several generations of family members happily engrossed for an hour one Thanksgiving afternoon. 

[MommyPenguin]

Ooh, is origami done in China, too?  We could definitely do that.

I like the candy idea, although I live in an area that is very monocultural, and there aren't many Asian grocery stores or the like.  That should improve after we move back to the East Coast, but we won't be moving until spring.  But I may keep an eye out.  My regular grocery store has a decent international section.

[Thipu1]

Ooh, is origami done in China, too?  We could definitely do that.

I like the candy idea, although I live in an area that is very monocultural, and there aren't many Asian grocery stores or the like.  That should improve after we move back to the East Coast, but we won't be moving until spring.  But I may keep an eye out.  My regular grocery store has a decent international section.

Oh yes.  China has a tradition of paper folding.  One year, SIL made origami boxes out of left over gift wrap and used them to cover a string of Christmas lights.  The result was beautiful.

When he was a child, Mr. Thipu loved to make the boxes from wax paper and use them as water
bombs.  I wouldn't recommend that for a party activity but it's fun to think about.   

[MommyPenguin]

Well, water bombs would be fun if it were a summer party, maybe.    Alas, my poor January child is stuck with an indoor party unless we move to Australia!

[mechtilde]

Some food companies do mail order- could that be an option for you?

[MommyPenguin]

Probably not.     I spent a lot on the party already, and while getting a few pieces of candy at a store might be one thing, but ordering stuff online is probably going to cost more than I'd like to spend.  I already bought a big variety bag of candy to go in the goody bags.  I probably *should* do something like a dragon pinata (how's that for combining China and Mexico?) but I honestly just don't want to spend all that time making one, and pinatas are so expensive.

Next step is to figure out how to make the invitations and choose a date.  We got an invitation for the birthday party for another kid in her class, and it was printed on something like cardstock and a homemade design.  I might try something like that, maybe with the Chinese characters for "Happy birthday" and some cute pictures.  Or something.

I'm wondering if I should have some extra activities on hand just in case.  When we get to China in our geography study, one of the crafts we were going to make were handprint dragons.  That might be reasonably easy to prep and make at the party if the kids need another activity.  Or maybe I'm overplanning things for a 2 hour party. 

[hannahmollysmom]

You know what might be fun? I'm thinking back 21 years ago when my daughter studied geography in kindergarten. The teacher had the kids sit in chairs she had lined up to be like an airplane. They pretended they were flying to the country, and a little snack was handed out while the teacher gave a brief talk about china. Might be a calming way to start the party as I know kids are excited when they first arrive. As they single file off the plane to head to the craft table, you might ask them if they have anything to declare. You could probably get some really cute answers.

Maybe I'm just thinking to much into this, but I used to enjoy doing my girls parties.  My oldest was born Dec 20th, so one year we made gingerbread houses out of graham crackers.

[Thipu1]

What a great idea for a game!

[bopper]

I think origami is too complicated for that age...unless you have one adult for every two kids.

http://www.thecraftycrow.net/2012/01/10-dragon-crafts-for-kids.html  has dragon crafts.

http://www.education.com/activity/article/dancing-chinese-dragon/  looks good too.

Could you do some kind of conga line that would be like a chinese dragon?
For example: Catch the Dragon's Tail
In this game, players line up in one line. The first person is the head of the dragon and the last person is the tail. Everyone puts their hands on the shoulders of the person in front of them. The dragon's head tries to catch the dragon's tail without causing anyone to remove their hands. If the tail is caught, that person is out. As the game progresses, the dragon's body gets shorter and shorter. The last player left is the winner.



Read more: Chinese Party Games for Kids | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/list_6701104_chinese-party-games-kids.html#ixzz2I4xL3TsB

Also:
http://www.ehow.com/list_6701104_chinese-party-games-kids.html

[DottyG]

hannahmollysmom said:

You know what might be fun? I'm thinking back 21 years ago when my daughter studied geography in kindergarten. The teacher had the kids sit in chairs she had lined up to be like an airplane. They pretended they were flying to the country, and a little snack was handed out while the teacher gave a brief talk about china. Might be a calming way to start the party as I know kids are excited when they first arrive. As they single file off the plane to head to the craft table, you might ask them if they have anything to declare. You could probably get some really cute answers.

Oh my goodness!  That is such a cute idea.   I love it.  And I bet the kids really enjoyed it as well.

[MommyPenguin]

The party was today, and it went fairly well!  I ran into one hitch last night... I tried the Chinese lantern craft, and it turned out to be something that needed hot glue.  So I made them instead and used them as a decoration.  But I really should have had another activity.  The kids ended up playing with some toys for part of the party instead, which worked out fine in the end.

Cute little pandas that my mom sent for the goody bags:




Goody bag contents:




Feed the panda game:



Pin the tail on the dragon, before tails:



After tails!



The table (the gummi worms are for a game with trying to move them with chopsticks from one plate to another):



The dragon cake: