May Day Party

(Ages 4-10)

Help your children welcome spring with a May Day celebration. Take advantage of the warm weather and hold the party outside, decorating with flowers and, of course, a maypole.

Decorations:

• Maypole: Stick a pole in the ground -- the taller the pole, the better. Fasten long, colorful ribbons to the top and let them stream down to the ground
• Flower crowns for the guests
• Flowers
• Pastel-colored crepe paper

Food:

·         May Pole Cake-- Place a frosted double-layer cake in the middle of a platter and frosted cupcakes around it. Attach ribbons to a dowel and place the dowel in the center of the cake. Attach the ribbons to the edges of the platter. Decorate the cake and cupcakes with candy fruit.

·         Fresh fruit

·         Fruit punch

Activities:

Dance around the Maypole -- Before you start, assign each guest a partner to stand next to around the maypole. Use colors (blue and green are used in the dance instructions), to label all the children. Partners should have opposite colors. Play music for them to dance to.

• Circle Dance -- Have everyone skip around the maypole. When it gets almost all the way wrapped, skip the other way to untwist it. This is great to do at the beginning so everyone learns to skip to the beat and at the end, so you can store the pole twisted.

• The Barber's Pole -- The green dancers move to the inside of the circle. The blue dancers circle around clockwise until they reach their starting positions. Once they reach their starting positions, they move in and the green dancers move out. The green dancers then circle counterclockwise. This continues until it gets difficult to keep going. Then repeat it the opposite way.

• The Spider's Dance -- Have the blue dancers stand in one place with their ribbons taut. Have the green dancers weave in and out of the blue dancers, counterclockwise, starting with the green dancers going on the outside of the blue dancer next to them and then the inside of the next blue dancer. After it gets difficult, have them unwind and let the blue dancers try it, moving in the opposite direction.

Mother May I

Hobby Horse Relay

Hide the Gingerbread Man

Decorate Gingerbread Men -- Give each guest a cooked gingerbread man to decorate with frosting, sprinkles, icing, raisins, etc.

Back to Party Ideas

Home