Hi, Sparkie-ga!
So great to hear from you again, and to know that you will be doing
something fun this weekend with a dinner party. Also, thank you so
much for your very kind words concerning my answers to your previous
questions. It is always so nice to receive encouraging feedback and to
know that my answers have proven worthwhile. It was also fun to hear a
bit about your life and the avenue you are pursuing. It sounds
fascinating!
I have divided your clarified question into three parts:
1.) Dinner party ideas for adults that include activities to occupy
young children (2-4)
2.) Exceptional dinner menus for important guests
3.) Activities for your handicapped stepson.
Dinner party ideas that are “child-friendly”
************************************
I used to be in a Gourmet Dinner group of young parents. We would all
bring our children along, but also wanted time to enjoy ourselves.
Often, the children would snack on something and then go off to play
in the other room. There would eventually be screams, crying and
generally loud and rambunctious sounds emanating from some far-off
corner of the house. Finally, the kids would succeed in their
mission…getting the frazzled parents to drive them home to bed!
Your approach certainly sounds much more organized and far less
chaotic. The trick is to occupy the children just enough so that they
will have a bit of fun with their parents, and then create an
organized way for them to play on their own while the parents can
relax and enjoy the evening.
Therefore, I have come up with some dinner party ideas that you might
work around.
Dressing for a decade:
Parents and/or child receive an assignment for a particular decade
before the dinner party, and must come dressed for that period in
time. You might have various dishes at dinner to reflect each decade
(that the parents would enjoy) and then a small, snack-type food for
each decade for the children. You might also have some simple games
selected that reflect each decade for parents and children to enjoy
together. (At that point, the children will probably go off and play
by themselves!) You can take an individual picture of each family to
send home with them for a memento.
Around the World Party:
Dinner menu can include dishes from several countries. Simple games
for parents and children can be included to represent different
countries. Decorate the table and room to represent the different
country themes. Or, set up the food table as a buffet, with the flag
and a decoration for each country behind each dish. You might also do
the same as the decade party, and ask the children (at least) to dress
as if they were from a particular country.
If the children want to play separately after dinner while the
parents talk, you can have different areas of a family room (or
similar) set up with country “representations” for the children to
play in. For example, a fake bamboo hut to play in (with newspaper
palm trees), a fake igloo, a fake grocery store from another country
with pretend money and plastic foods, etc. (All made out of cardboard
boxes, etc.)
For game, theme decorations and snack food suggestion for the
children, look at:
http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/html/miscellaneous_parties_6.html
http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/html/miscellaneous_parties_7.html
http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/html/miscellaneous_parties_5.html
http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/html/miscellaneous_parties_37.html
Make and bake your own pizza party:
You provide the aprons, chef hats, dough and all of the toppings.
Each parent and child (with the parents help) can decorate their own
pizza, and perhaps mark it with a non-food decoration (that will
survive the oven and identify it as their own). Or, you can have
little chef’s aprons for the children, have the parent’s help them
make their own pizzas, and then have them seated at a little “Italian”
decorated table while the adults enjoy a more ornate and sophisticated
Italian meal.
Fort or Castle Party (for the kids to play in after dinner)
This seems like the ultimate way to occupy the children while the
adults are having dinner! You can use variations on this theme, but I
can attest to the fact that after raising three children, this would
be tons of fun and keep them occupied.
Refer to http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/html/miscellaneous_parties_73.html
Other ideas to occupy children: (ages 2-4)
1. Have a large array of play dress-up clothes (both men’s and
women’s, costume jewelry, purses, briefcases, hats, etc.) Let the
kid’s play dress-up in another room and take some photos of the
children in costume with their parents as a memento. (It might be nice
to send the photo in the mail a week later with a “Thank you for
coming!” note.)
2. A round or two of musical chairs for the children is always fun.
3. Coin or ping pong ball toss: toss coins/balls into small bowls
floating in tubs of water. Have the parents involved by watching,
cheering, and make sure each child gets a small prize!
4. Freeze dance. While someone plays music all the children (and
parents, if they want) must be in motion. When the music stops, anyone
that is still moving is out. Keep playing until there is only one or
two left. Have a few silly prizes!
5. Bean bag toss through a large face with holes for eyes, nose and
mouth painted on cardboard or plywood. Distance away from the target
would be determined by age.
6. Scavenger hunt. Have identical numbers of each item per child,
hidden in different places, within one or two rooms, so that each
child has an equal opportunity to find items. Make the items suitable
for recognition by a 2-year old, such as a little rubber ball, pencil,
tiny book, party-favor type items…and allow each child to keep what
they have found in their own bag to take home. (Parents can “help” a
little bit by following their child and making sure all items are
found) The winner gets a little bonus prize.
7. Toy walk. Have numbers on the ground for as many children (1-10).
Walk on the numbers until the music stops. Have numbers on some small
toys. If a child is standing on the number of the toy, they win the
toy.
Exceptional Dinner Menus
*************************
Any “exceptional” gourmet dinner menu will certainly exclude most
children ages 2-4 (and probably up through their teens!!!) Therefore,
I included the suggestions above as ways to involve children by
providing them with their own little dinner table, complete with
“gourmet” snack-type items, little home-made pizzas, etc., playing a
few games, and then finding a means for them to play while the adults
enjoy their own, separate meal.
As for suggestions for actual recipes, I am the last person to
provide recipes from personal experience. To me, the term gourmet and
dinner party means sitting around the couch, laughing and talking
while munching on chips and dip!
Therefore, I had to rely on some sample, real-life gourmet menus!
Quisine Unlimited Catering Service has four complete menus for review
online at http://www.cuisineunlimited.com/sample_menus/menu_pdf/all_menu.pdf.
Click on the tab for “Formal Dinner.” Unfortunately, the recipes are
not included.
Aardvark Catering also has some complete, mix and match gourmet menus
to review online at http://www.aardvarkcatering.com/dinner.htm#HORS
Hugs and Quiches Dinner Party menus are available at
http://www.hugsandquiches.com/social.html
The Gourmet to Go Party Guide menus is available at
http://www.hugsandquiches.com/social.html
I know that you asked for a list of caterers in a previous question.
The list that was provided in that answer may also have their menus
printed on their website. Unless you love to cook, and want to figure
out the recipes, catering the party seems like a wonderful idea. It
would also give you some more time to plan some activities for the
children.
Enjoyable activities for the mentally-handicapped, both individually
and with the family (Austin)
******************************************************************************
This was a very hard search for online resources within the Austin
area. However, when I thought about our town, which has an incredible
resource for the disabled and the mentally handicapped, called the
National Ability Center, I thought of a resource that might cover
every aspect you are looking for your stepson…….interest, challenge,
friendships, support, and family participation!
Have you/he ever considered the Special Olympics?
Has your stepson ever been athletically inclined? It is never too
late to start a sport! Texas has a whole host of special olympic
sporting events. An interesting article that combines some interesting
news about the special olympics and a wonderful facility called the
Marbridge Ranch, just south of Austin, titled “Home on the Ranch,” by
Stuart Pretidge. The Austin Chronicle. (4/20/2001) is available at
http://www.hugsandquiches.com/social.html
“The Special Olympics holds 184 events annually within Texas in
sports as varied as soccer, softball, and a veritable favorite, 10-pin
bowling, at area, regional, or state levels. There is also a Special
World Games staged during non-Olympic years. This past March saw 2,500
Special Olympians from around the world headed to Anchorage, Alaska,
for the winter games, and 7,000 global competitors will head off to
Ireland in 2003 for the summer games.”
Special Olympics Texas
http://www.sotx.org/sports/index.jsp
If you could get your stepson involved in Special Olympics, even if
just bowling or an easy activity, his whole world would open up to new
friendships. So would yours. Just the association with other mentally
handicapped individuals and their families would open your ears to a
whole host of other social and leisure activities that your stepson
could do individually, with new friends, or with you and other
families! I can’t think of a better way to find out what other
activities are available than through a peer group. Not to mention the
fact that you and your husband would have an instant support group.
There is nothing like sharing ideas and feelings with others who are
going through the same types of experience!
(As for your question regarding spell-checking. I don’t see any way
to do a spell-check when you enter the question into the question box.
However, if you compose your answer in wordpad or another
word-processing program, like Microsoft Word, use the Tool menu, and
highlight spelling and grammar, it will highlight your mistakes. That
is exactly what I do when I answer questions. I compose my answer in
Microsoft Word, spell-check it, copy it and paste it into the answer
box. Otherwise, it might be unreadable!
As for posting a tip, that is most generous of you. If you would like
to post a tip in the future, I will quote from the Google Answers
FAQ’s at http://answers.google.com/answers/faq.html :
“When you rate your answer, you can also tip the researcher who
provided it. Just enter an amount between $1 - $100 in the tip box
next to the rating. The researcher will receive 100% of the amount you
tip them; Google will not take a percentage of the tip. Tips are not
refundable. Thank you for tipping your researcher! They appreciate
it.”)
I hope this answer has been of some help! You sure are to be
commended for being such a loving person! Let me know how things turn
out for you!
Again, Sparkie, my best wishes to you. Hope to hear from you again!
umiat-ga
Google Search Strategy
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+Texas +special olympics
+austin texas +social interaction +mentally handicapped
Texas +mentally handicapped +recreation |
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