# A dinner party for 6 year olds - Opinions please **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 27, 2009, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-dinner-party-for-6-year-olds-opinions-please/494571 "2009-04-27T23:53:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-dinner-party-for-6-year-olds-opinions-please/494571/21 "2009-04-28T13:29:30Z")
> [@lee](#): > > The cake and cupcakes to bring to school are going to be [rainbowiffic](http://www.mrsdoll.com/?p=305). I practiced this week and feel I have that part under control. I liked rainbows as a kid, and I would have loved those cupcakes. ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-dinner-party-for-6-year-olds-opinions-please/494571/22 "2009-04-28T13:43:00Z")
food coloring and Mac 'N Cheese… inexpensive, rainbow-themed, and the kids can learn something about perception altering taste. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-dinner-party-for-6-year-olds-opinions-please/494571/23 "2009-04-28T17:10:03Z")
Pasta is always a big hit with kids. Keep it kinda plain, maybe a cream/butter sauce with a little basil. . . You and I have similar taste in kids parties! Celtling’s second is this Fri, and I got big and little bubble wands, sidewalk chalk and fairy wings for everybody. That oughta keep 'em busy 'til the cake is served! LOL! ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-dinner-party-for-6-year-olds-opinions-please/494571/24 "2009-04-28T17:45:57Z")
> [@missred](#): > > Instead of pin the tail on the donkey, how about put the gold at the end of the rainbow. You may have an extra rainbow in the decorations and most craft stores or the parent teacher store will have something in the line of a pot-o-gold type wall decoration. The gold can be chocolate coins with a bit of stickum on one side. The upside of this being mmmm…chocolate. 🙂 This is a good suggestion, I don’t know if I will be able to pull it off this time, but I do like it. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-dinner-party-for-6-year-olds-opinions-please/494571/25 "2009-04-28T17:58:50Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > You could also do the ice cream thing with plain vanilla, and then offer multi-colored fruit toppings. Cherries, blueberries, strawberries, pineapple, kiwi, bananas, etc. Set up the bowls and let them choose their own favorites. > > I preferred to do an activity with 15 minutes or so between so the kids could screw around on their own for a bit, but then you can draw them back to Earth with something structured. I only had a son, and they seemed to always want to bounce each other off the walls if there wasn’t something organized to do. Girls may do things differently. > > We also did a little magic at one of his parties. My dad messed around with it when he was young, and he had a couple cool tricks to show the keeblers. > > By the way…I like the Friday after school party. I think its very courteous to allow the parents the entire weekend to do their family stuff. **Kalhoun** , that was part of my motivation for keeping it on Friday, it seemed nicer to parents. It one thing having the party on a weekend when the birthday is on a weekend, but co opting a Saturday for my convenience seems a bit much. My daughter is also very conservative in this manner and doesn’t believe in having birthday parties not on birthdays. I like this suggestion of rainbow sundaes, easy enough if we are also doing the rainbow kabobs. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-dinner-party-for-6-year-olds-opinions-please/494571/26 "2009-04-28T18:00:52Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Make sure you talk to the other parents about allergies. You never know when some kid with a peanut allergy will show up and spoil the party by dying. Well, I can’t do that because I don’t know the parents. I gave them my number in the invitation, so I hope they would call me ahead of time if there is some deadly allergy. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-dinner-party-for-6-year-olds-opinions-please/494571/27 "2009-04-28T19:31:52Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > One old-fashioned game which my kids (and their friends) loved to play: Fishing. You can do this indoors or out. Indoors, just stretch a sheet across a doorway halfway up. Put up a poster saying "old fishin’ hole’ or something. Fix up a fishing pole with string and a clip on the end. One person hides in the room and, when the kids toss the end over the sheet, clip a party favor on it. This is a huge phenomenon in Sweden. They even have it at street fairs. One fun variation is to grab a bunch of silly junk that aren’t prizes but will mess with the kids’ heads a little. Last time I pulled prize duty I had things like an onion, a banana peel, crumpled-up paper and the like. The important thing is to have an adult on the other side to say things like “The fish are bein’ naughty today!” and encourage them to try again quick so they get the goods. Fun and entertainment for the whole crowd. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-dinner-party-for-6-year-olds-opinions-please/494571/28 "2009-04-28T19:41:55Z")
What about tricolor pasta with butter/oil for the starch? With “sprinkle cheese” for those who want it, of course. If you’re feeling adventurous, you could even sautee up some onions and tricolor bell peppers for people who want them on the pasta (the kid I babysit would eat all the veggies and leave the pasta and chicken, to be honest!) Sounds like a fun party! ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-dinner-party-for-6-year-olds-opinions-please/494571/29 "2009-04-28T23:16:35Z")
It looks like it will be an indoor party. The yard is soggy and forecast is for more rain. We just rearranged the room we will have the piñata in, and it made a space that would be great for the fishing game. I think I could convert the whacking stick to a fishing rod now that we have converted the piñata. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-dinner-party-for-6-year-olds-opinions-please/494571/30 "2009-04-29T05:43:37Z")
All I can say is you are so brave…the idea of having 7 seven-year-olds (mostly girls I assume) in one house is mind-boggling. I would imagine sitting next to a jet engine would be quieter. Good thing Uncle DMark isn’t hosting this party or the main game would be “See who can stay the quietest the longest!” Of course, I have to assume that would be the shortest game of the day. Aren’t most kids that age “nibblers”…meaning they eat a bite, then run around and then come back and eat a bite again, etc. etc. I think most people sort of put out food that tastes good at any temperature - doesn’t have to be eaten while hot or at a specific time. Pizza might seem to you to be the easy, lame, boring thing to do - but Chuck E Cheese has proven kids like it. Do kids that age play Twister? Very active, but in small space. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-dinner-party-for-6-year-olds-opinions-please/494571/31 "2009-04-29T11:01:46Z")
No reason to do pizza if the hostess doesn’t want to. (Both hostess in the sense of the birthday girl, and in the sense of her mama). I’m not seeing anything wrong with chicken fingers/tenders/whatever, so long as you have ketchup available for those who eat everything meaty with ketchup. And perhaps ranch dressing available for the veggies if you serve veggies. (or maybe it’s only my nieces who only eat food which is smothered in either ranch dressing or ketchup. Actually, that’s an unfair characterization of said nieces’ eating habits. But I do think having ketchup available would be a good thing). But, in general, modern American 6 year olds will not starve if they skip a meal–and many have parents who would see they had another shot at dinner if they did choose not to eat at your daughter’s party. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-dinner-party-for-6-year-olds-opinions-please/494571/32 "2009-04-29T19:42:49Z")
I’m thinking of serving clear soda in clear cups with colorful straws and a rainbow fruit kabob as a garnish. I will definitely have ketchup as a dipping sauce. Not only is it a safe fall back for the cautious, it is a lovely red. I am thinking of having cheese dip too and coloring it blue. ---
**Author:** ![Idlewild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8491ac/32.png) [@Idlewild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idlewild)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-dinner-party-for-6-year-olds-opinions-please/494571/33 "2009-04-29T21:17:16Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > All I can say is you are so brave…the idea of having 7 seven-year-olds (mostly girls I assume) in one house is mind-boggling. I would imagine sitting next to a jet engine would be quieter. > Good thing Uncle DMark isn’t hosting this party or the main game would be “See who can stay the quietest the longest!” > Of course, I have to assume that would be the shortest game of the day. When I was a volunteer at a day camp, we would get the kids to play “sleeping lions”, which involved lying down, absolutely still, and being quiet. Last one who doesn’t get spotted twitching or wriggling wins. It’s amazing how long you can keep kids quiet if it’s a competitive event. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-dinner-party-for-6-year-olds-opinions-please/494571/34 "2009-04-29T22:32:07Z")
> [@lee](#): > > I will definitely have ketchup as a dipping sauce. Not only is it a safe fall back for the cautious, it is a lovely red. I am thinking of having cheese dip too and coloring it blue. Be vigilant that these only get eaten at the table. You don’t want to have to be cleaning up ketchup and dyed cheese from the living room carpet, your daughter’s bedspread, the cat, etc. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2009, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-dinner-party-for-6-year-olds-opinions-please/494571/35 "2009-04-30T00:31:06Z")
I would PLAN twice as many activities as you think you need, but only actually DO half of them. What about some version of duck, duck, goose? (when Daughter was small, we had a dinosaur party theme and her ddg was Barney, Barney, Baby Bop–and you got to “bop” the chosen one on the head with a stuffed Baby Bop. The rest of the party was serious dinosaurs, but I digress). Maybe your party goers could tag with a rainbow colored stuffed animal nicknamed Roy G Biv… Ok, maybe not. 🙂 Can you get to a craft store and purchase inexpensive prisms or those cool cardboard " eye-glasses" that make all the lights turn into rainbows? That might be fun for the girls–tag with the glasses on or some such. It is always a good idea to have some few party ideas to be held “just in case”. The clothespin drop is a good one–and not a common one these days. What about writing down names of the colors and having one taped to each girl’s back and she has to guess the color by asking questions of the other guests? That may be too abstract, but work with me here… attitude is everything at these things. If you are having fun, chances are the kids will catch your enthusiasm. But they also don’t want to sit around waiting for set up etc. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2009, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-dinner-party-for-6-year-olds-opinions-please/494571/36 "2009-04-30T08:03:42Z")
> [@lee](#): > > I’m thinking of serving clear soda in clear cups with colorful straws and a rainbow fruit kabob as a garnish. > > I will definitely have ketchup as a dipping sauce. Not only is it a safe fall back for the cautious, it is a lovely red. I am thinking of having cheese dip too and coloring it blue. Do they still make green and purple ketchup? I haven’t bought ketchup in ages, I only eat it on my fries, and I generally only eat fries when I go out. I remember the oddly colored ketchup, though. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2009, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-dinner-party-for-6-year-olds-opinions-please/494571/37 "2009-05-02T17:16:14Z")
The party was a huge success. The boys were no shows, but the four girls came and they had fun. They played with the party favors, and played hide and seek. The piñata trap door jammed so we had to whack it with a stick, which was apparently great fun. They took turns beating the lion and scrambling for the candy which was flung out. **KellyM** helped and beat it to separate the head from the body, and then they paraded the lion’s head through the house and shredded the piñata into tiny pieces, including splitting the head in two. Although they savagely beat the piñata, they managed not to hurt anyone or anything else. Menu Starters: rainbow fruit kabobs, green and purple grapes pop with rainbow fruit garnish tortilla chips blue cheese dip crudities ranch dressing Dinner four color pasta with sautéed vegetables and butter Broiled Chicken tenders and legs 3 ways: tandoori, BBQ, and Soy and Balsamic vinegar rainbow fruit salad Desert Rainbow marble cake Rainbow sherbet Chocolate ice cream Strawberry ice cream Post Desert piñata candy! ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-dinner-party-for-6-year-olds-opinions-please/494571/38 "2009-05-02T18:41:28Z")
Can I come next year? Sounds like you had a great time. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2009, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-dinner-party-for-6-year-olds-opinions-please/494571/39 "2009-05-03T01:23:06Z")
And please give **WeeLee** my belated birthday wishes. Glad everything went well. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2009, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-dinner-party-for-6-year-olds-opinions-please/494571/40 "2009-05-03T01:46:46Z")
I think it is amazing that everything went so well. The party favors I bought and put in little buckets were hits; I think I saw someone playing with each type of favor, usually in little groups. Also, though not every girl wanted everything I had to serve, but no one looked negatively surprised by anything they put in their mouth, and everyone had something they were eating with enthusiasm. I had toothpicks out and was going to suggest building things with cruditiés, but there was never a lull, not even someone by themselves for a moment. The closest was when one of the girls was especially taken with my soon to be two year old son and played with him for a few minutes. She even asked if she could come over sometime again to play with him. We told her that she was welome to. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-dinner-party-for-6-year-olds-opinions-please/494571.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-dinner-party-for-6-year-olds-opinions-please/494571.md?page=3)