Family Valentines Parties

"We don't accomplish anything in this world alone ... and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of one's life and all the weavings of individual threads from one to another that creates something." ---Sandra Day O'Connor ---

With a little ingenuity, family valentines parties can be more than extensions of a day for cards, hearts, gifts and chocolates. Make this holiday more special by working with your family to brainstorm ideas, plan, prepare and throw a family Valentines party as a team. Working with your family on a plan can provide them with a new experience and, teach younger family members how to plan and prepare for a party. It also provides quality time together planning and preparing.

Take an evening and get your children to work together to brainstorm a theme. Evaluate a number of themes and pick one that suits your family team. Many themes are possible like a Pretty in Pink theme for the teenage girls, a Cupid's Challenge theme with games to catch your Valentine, etc..

Once you determine the theme, you need to determine what food will be served. One good food idea is Valentine's Heart Pizza with heart shaped cookies for desert. Pizza hearts can be made using toasted bread or pre-made pizza crust from the grocery store and cutting heart shaped pieces which are topped with pizza sauce, mozarella cheese and toppings. Use a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut the individual pizzas from the toast or pizza crust.

Set Some Guidelines

• A spending limit of no more than $4.00 per person attending the party.
• Each of your children can invite as many as 4 of their friends

Prepare a Budget

Once your family has a theme and determines the food you will prepare, have the kids create a shopping list for the needed items. Help them price out all the ingredients calculating the cost for each ingredient used (if one tablespoon of sugar is used, calculate the cost of a tablespoon of sugar). Have them organize these expenses in a worksheet so they can total the expenses. Mothers and Fathers should provide them with a brochure of prices for normal kitchen items: salt, sugar, etc. Make sure they don't forget about the costs for decorations, invitations, paper plates, napkins, paper cups, and other party items. You might need to provide a little guidance on the costs or encourage them to lookup the costs on the internet.

Buy the Food and Decorations

Once your kids have a budget for their party, take them to the grocery store to purchase the food. Go with them and help them find each item. Let them pay the cashier.

Prepare for the Party

A week before the party, have your kids prepare and mail invitations to the friends and relatives they are inviting to the party.

On the day before, let them decorate the area for the party and make final plans for preparing the food and drinks. They should also start preparing those parts of the foods that can be pre-cooked and put in the refrigerator for warming just before the party.

Throw the Party

Thirty minutes before the party, your kids should re-heat the food prepared yesterday and make final decorating preparations.

Valentines Party Ideas|Valentines Fun