In need of crafty "castle" party ideas

[CrunchyParent]

DD decided that she wants a "castle" party for her fifth birthday. The guests will primarily be children from her Waldorf school. Historically we keep the parties pretty low key with some food and time for the kids to play. I'm wondering if this year the kids might be ready for/interested in doing some small craft in keeping with the castle theme, but I don't know what. I'm also thinking of maybe making wool felt crowns for party favors but am open to alternatives Additionally, I'm trying to figure out some fun way to make a "castle cake" out of cupcakes with a three-tiered serving dish....Basically, I'm looking for any ideas for fun things that I can make with a "castle/royal" feel for the party to have it be fun and special but not too over the top.

TIA!

[serenetabbie]

Ahh... we too are doing a "castle" theme! Ok, Princess really, but along the same lines. My DD will be 7, and all of the little girls attending are 6 to 7 years old. Since we are allergic to wool (although I saw awesome wool felted crowns I love!), and DD wants to have the guests create the crowns... we are making paper crowns. I asked for a crown at Burger King to use as a template (they will give them to you even if you do not buy something if you ask nicely ), since my attempts at free handing a crown kept turning out lopsided. I cut them out on card stock and picked up a bunch of glue, glitter, sequins, "jewels", and shiny star stickers. I will let the kids color and glue to their hearts content. DD also wants wands... I am thinking of cutting some plastic coated wire hangers, wrapping the handle with ribbon, glueing a bead to the ends for safety and bending the tops into a simple heart shape. I might try stars if I am feeling ambitious.

I am not even going to try to make a castle cake, but that sounds like an awesome idea! I was just going to make a sheet cake and draw a castle on with white piped icing... maybe

[rachdoll]

An idea I had for a castle cake (an idea that has not been tested) is to make a 2 or 3 layer cake, and use cupcakes and mini cupcakes stacked on top of eachother to make towers. If you serve it on a blue platter, it'll appear to be surrounded by a moat, pretzel sticks making a bridge.

Hmm, you could have undecorated felt crowns made, and the kids could decorate their own (with help, probably). Also, halos like this seem royal to me, and they could be made by you or by the kids. Wands made with dowels and ribbons would be fun.

If you want to get messy, you could do individual sand castles - on cookie sheets, or even paper plates. Yogurt containers, applesauce cups, little dixie cups, even candy molds could be used. Sand might be hard to come by, though, so you could make loads of little jello molds, and the kids could pick their own to build with instead. Hmm, or like gingerbread houses, build castles with graham crackers, frosting, various candies. So many options!!!

It would be cute if you and any other adult helpers were dressed as maids and butlers, to make the kids feel that much more royal.

Happy planning, it sounds fun!

[MtBikeLover]

check out www.birthdaypartyideas.com they have lots of ideas for princess parties.

And if you really feel creative, here is a site that will show you how to make a castle out of cardboard boxes:

http://www.mrmcgroovys.com/t-plans-c...rd-castle.aspx

[serenetabbie]

OMG that castle is so cool! I love it as much as I loved the boat out of boxes It's so huge though, but it might fit in my dining room if I took all the furniture out

[jenni22]

I saw a castle cake once that was a regular cake that had upsidedown sugarcones sitting on cupcakes for the castle part, I can't remember it exactly, but that was the idea, and it looked very cute and easy!

[MOM2ANSLEY]

try this site for cake inspiration
http://www.coolest-birthday-cakes.com/castle-cake.html

[CallMeKelly]

Ice cream cone towers! What a great idea! Neat link mom2ansley!

[Bird Girl]

For my daughter's castle/royalty party, we asked some friends of ours to bring their big wooden chair. We told the kids it was a throne, and took pictures of them sitting in it in their dress-ups. If you had a polaroid or photo-printer, you could pass them out at the party, even.