Dragon Tales

Invitations
Make a tree out of construction paper and add this poem:

Dragon Land (last name) is a wondrous place
Where at (place) dragons and kids fly through space.
From Rainbow Canyon to Dragoon Lagoon,
Discover a world beyond the moon.
School is open (party time)

Activities

Dragon Badges
Each dragon in Dragon Land wears a unique badge. When a dragon overcomes a personal challenge, his or her dragon badge glows. The "Make-Your-Own" Dragon Badge activity can be used to set challenges for the children throughout the party as they play various games and activities. Or just make them as name tags for each child to color and decorate. To make dragon badges, visit http://www.pbs.org/dragontales/dragon_zak
/dragon_badge/badge.html

Cassie Necklaces
Give the children a piece of elastic cording approximately 18-inches long and a bowl of dry Fruit Loops cereal. Help them sort the fruit loops into colors and decide on a pattern to string on the elastic cording (example: red, yellow, red, green, red, yellow, red, green, etc.)
Ensure that there is adult supervision for toddlers!

Quetzel's Finger Paint Pudding
Just mix instant pudding and place approximately one-quarter cup on a "new" Styrofoam meat tray for each child. Let them have fun drawing and licking as they go!

Using this bread dough recipe, the children can make dragon mini loaves and decorate with Cherrios or other cereal.... OR... make up individual turtle breads for each child to take home.

Bread Dough Recipe
1 tablespoons quick-acting yeast
1 cup water
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon oil

Preheat over to 400 degrees. Measure the water, sugar and yeast into a bowl and mix. Wait two or three minutes for the yeast to soften. Stir in one cup of flour, then add oil, salt and remaining cup of flour. Sprinkle flour onto a wooden breadboard and place the dough on it. Knead dough for about five minutes. Place dough in a bowl and cover it, letting it rise for about 45 minutes in a warm place away from drafts, open windows, etc. Punch the dough down and work it into a ball. Next, separate the dough into smaller portions and let the children use their hands to roll the dough into ropes or snakes to mold dough into different shapes.

Cookies in the Kitchen
Make a cookie cutter template and bake cookies ahead of time and let the kids decorate their own very special Dragon Tales character.

Directions: http://www.cakeworkscentral.com/Cake-Tips/templates.htm

Games
Adapt these game ideas to your age groups...

Scavenger Hunt

List of suggested items for the hunt... since the children will primarily be toddlers, you might want to consider having plenty of each item, instructing the children to only take one. If you handle the Hunt in this manner, then there are no winners, just kids having fun! Many of the items are named "Dragon" even though they aren't the real things!

For very young children, the list can be made with pictures rather than words...

Dragon Berries (blueberries or strawberries)
Dragon Balls
Dragon Badges
Doodle Fairies (construction paper fairies)
Do Re Mi's (construction paper birds)
Treasure Chest (construction paper)
Dragon Jewels
Dragon Key
Use inexpensive party favors and name them "Dragons ______".

School in the Sky Playground -- Pin the Character Game
Using a construction paper tree, give each child a character or star to pin on the tree, a la Pin the Tail on the Donkey type of game. Printable characters can be found at a link shown at the end of this party plan. Write each child's name on their character or star. When the game is over, they can wear yet another badge.

Singing Meadows
Group singing... such as the ABC song, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and other action type songs.

Mushroom Meadows
Backyard Olympics
Set up an obstacle course to play these fun challenges. Prepare Mushroom "badges" for each of the events so that as each child completes one event, they receive a badge of honor. While there are winners in these games, it is NOT necessary to have winners but just recognize they have completed an event.

Suitcase Relay:
Requires at least two teams...

2 suitcases
2 articles of clothing alike...2 hats, 2 scarves, 2 mittens, 2 sweaters,
2 pants
2 wigs
2 pair boots
etc...

Have each team form a line and give the first person of each team a suitcase full of clothes. Ready? Get set? GO! -- each team takes off to a line across from them, drops and opens the suitcase and put all the clothing on. When they are dressed, they bring back the empty suitcase to their team, take everything off, put it back in the suitcase, shut it and hand it to the next person. Play continues until every child has had a turn. The team that does it first wins!
Compliments of http://www.boardmanweb.com/

Bike-a-Thon
Arrange an obstacle course (around a tree; down a straight line; around a table, etc.) and instructions (make three circles; get off the bike/put up kickstand/run around the bike/get back on/continue on course.

Shoes, Shoes, Shoes
Ask the children to form a large circle sitting on the ground. Ask them to take their shoes off, put them in the middle of the circle and go back to their seat on the ground. An adult should then mix up all the shoes. At the start of the game (ready, get set, go!), the kids have to find their shoes and put them on. The first one that does is the winner.

Other event ideas...
Relay races, ball toss, Frisbee toss, sack races, peanut scoops, musical hats, egg hunt (use plastic colored eggs... "dragon" eggs), etc.

Other Activity/Game Ideas
for Toddlers:

Max and Ord Towers
Provide various size cardboard boxes, Lego blocks, etc. Let the children build towers as high as they can and knock them down.

Stars Seeds in the Forest of Dark
Hide some glow-in-the-dark stars in dark places or use colorful construction paper to make the stars.

Zak & Wheezie Talk to Emily about School
Provide paper and crayons and ask the children to draw pictures.

Mushroom Hopping
Simple Simon game -- clapping, hopping on one foot, sitting down, getting up, turn around, etc.

Centerpieces
Make a dinosaur cake, add wings at the shoulders and scales on the back/tail or a castle and let this be the centerpiece in the middle of the table. There is a centerpiece available at
Dragon Tales Party Supplies
(photos)

Food
Use shaped cookie cutters to make sandwiches and Kellogg's Rice Krispie Treats. Make popcorn balls and call them Dragon Balls.

Loot Bags
Make your own using colorful lunch bags or let the kids make their own by providing them with colored marking pens, stickers, construction paper, etc. Dragon Tales has pre-made loot bags -- to see a photo, click on
http://www.thepartyworks.com/partyshop/Kids/
birthday/dragontales.asp

Zak & Wheezie's Edible Play Dough
Ahead of time, make up a batch of this wonderful play dough that is okay if the artists prefer to eat their art supplies!

Ingredients:
1 part flour
2 parts Oatmeal
1 part water

Directions: Mix ingredients together and form into balls for each child.

Note: The items made from this play dough recipe can be painted when they are dry.

Coloring Book
(print and color pictures)

http://www.ctw.org/preschool/dragontales/fun/0,4265,,00.html

Have a great party!