Studio 5 Holiday, Party & Ideas Contributor Alisa Bangerter shares ideas that are sure to win you the gold!
The summer Olympics are coming soon! They will be held August 8-24 in Beijing, China. Why not host your very own opening ceremonies party or Olympic viewing party? Create a fun Chinese themed party or go athletic by hosting your own mini backyard Olympic Games. Whatever you choose, your party is sure to win gold! Here are a few ideas to kick off your Beijing Bash:
• The official Beijing 2008 Olympic website is: http://en.beijing2008.cn/ This website has a lot of interesting information as well as downloadable fun pages such as the five Beijing Olympic mascots, screensavers, etc.
• Have the Olympic theme song playing as guests arrive at your party and at other appropriate times. It is very inspiring! The music is available for purchase at itunes: www.itunes.com You might want to play some Chinese themed music to help create atmosphere as well
• A great source to get U.S. and International flags of all sizes is from Colonial Flag at: www.colonialflag.com They also have a retail showroom at 9390 S. 300 W., Sandy, UT or call toll free at (877) 935-3524.
• Have your own torch lighting ceremony using a tiki torch (or large candle).
• For a fun Chinese themed invitation, wrap a ribbon around a pair of chopsticks and add a tag with party information.
• Attach party information to a small Chinese, USA and/or Olympic Flag and give as an invitation.
• Have someone write guests names (or other information) in Chinese characters. Use these as invitations, place cards or as part of the table décor.
• A “sporty” invitation would be to attach party information to a new sweat headband.
• Create an invitation to your party using Chinese take out menus, travel brochures or maps of China.
• A fun invitation idea might be to send a postcard of China. Make your own using a photo of China or check with a travel agent.
• A unique invitation would be to deliver a gold medal with party information attached. You could make your own from paper or gold foil-covered chocolate coins or purchase pre-made medals from a party supply store. Medals also make fun prizes for games or favors for each guest. You could also wrap a medal around a napkin as a napkin ring.
• Fill a Chinese take-out box with fortune cookies and attach an invitation to your Olympic party. For even more fun, gently steam or microwave pre-made fortune cookies for a few seconds, remove paper fortunes and replace with your own fortunes. These can be the invitation itself or will make a great favor.
• A fun invitation that looks live a ticket to an Olympic event can be made online at: http://www.party411.com/theme126.html This website also has other invitation ideas and party décor for purchase. You could also create your own handmade ticket as an invite.
• A fun idea might be to ask guests to come dressed to your party in one of the five Olympic ring colors or come dressed as an athlete.
• Use the Beijing Olympic logo or mascots on tags for napkin rings, favors, etc. These also make great table accents, food picks, wall décor, etc.
• In China, red envelopes filled with money are often given at special of occasions and celebrations. Red symbolizes happiness and joy. A nice invitation or favor might be inside a red envelope.
• To make an Olympic ring centerpiece, purchase 5 Styrofoam rings and wrap each one with a color of the Olympic rings (blue, black, red, yellow and green). Glue together and use as a centerpiece. For a very large ring display, wrap hula hoops or paint them with the different Olympic colors.
• Several companies make Chinese themed scrapbook paper, ribbon, stickers, charms and other coordinating embellishments. Some of my favorites are the “Welcome to Asia Collection” made by Far and Away scrapbook company (www.farandawayscrapbooks.com) and the “Mulan Collection” by Piggy Tales company (www.piggytales.com)
• Make homemade fortune cookies as an activity during your party. This is fun as most people have never made them from scratch. For recipes and cooking tips go to: www.chinese-fortune-cookie.com/chinese-fortune-cookie-recipes.html
• Purchase some satin Chinese themed fabric to use as a table covering. Many fabric stores carry Asian themed fabrics perfect for this type of party.
• Line your sidewalk to your home with flags from the U.S. China as well as other countries to welcome guests to your Olympic themed party.
• Decorate with flags not only from China but from around the world. Many party stores (and Colonial Flag -see source above) carry various sizes of flags from large fabric flags to small food flag picks.
• Decorate with posters from countries around the world or decorate with posters from landmarks in China. A travel agent might have these available at no cost. Another idea might be to decorate with sports posters or posters of Olympic athletes.
• A simple way to make Olympic rings that could be used on invitations, favors, place cards, etc. would be to use two circle paper punches in two different sizes. Simply punch paper with the smaller circle first. Turn the larger punch upside down and insert punched paper and line up so larger circle will be cut around first circle. Punch and a perfect ring will be created.
• Decorate with paper lanterns, origami, fans, parasols, etc.
• Another decorating option for your party would to base the decorations around the five colors of the Olympic rings.
• Have your children use sidewalk chalk or use tempra paint to paint Olympic flags, slogans, inspiring sayings etc. on your sidewalk and driveway.
• Check out books on China from the library. Use them as table décor or place around the room.
• Give Olympic themed merchandise, t-shirts, or pins to your guests as favors. Check out this website: www.usolympicshop.com
• Invite a person who is from or has lived in China to come do a presentation on China. Have them bring photos and memorabilia to show. If possible have them make some authentic food to taste/serve as well.
• Serve a buffet of Chinese food – American style take-out would be fine for this type of party.
• A nice favor/treat would be to make round sugar cookie “medal”. Immediately after taking cookies out of the oven (don’t under bake), cut a hole in the top of each cookie. Let cool and decorate as desired. Place a ribbon through the hole to resemble a medal.
• A fun favor would be to give chocolate dipped fortune cookies. Simply dip one half of a fortune cookie in melted chocolate and place on wax paper to set. Sprinkle with nuts, candies, etc. A fun idea would be to dip the fortune cookies in white almond bark and then sprinkle them with tiny candies that correspond to the colors of the Olympic rings.
• Use small Chinese food take-out paper boxes to place favors in. Red boxes with a red and or gold ribbon attached would be a fun touch. Red in China symbolizes happiness and joy and gold symbolizes prosperity.
• Decorate cupcakes with Olympic rings. Use tiny candies to make the rings on each cupcake or place a small flag/Olympic pick in each cupcake. Create your own picks using the Olympic mascots or logo.
• Wrap water bottles or sports drink bottles with personalized wraps. Make wraps using decorative paper or create your own using a computer/printer.
• Create a trivia game with facts about China and/or the Olympics and give a prize who can get the most correct.
• Have a “name the country by its flag” game. Hold up pictures or small paper/fabric flags of various countries around the world. Give a prize to who can name the most correctly.
• As part of your Olympic party, host your own backyard mini Olympics. Have guests come dressed in athletic wear and those helping with the party could be dressed as referees. Have events such as a torch relay, shuttle runs, swim events (if you have a pool), badminton, basketball shooting, shot put throws (use a ball, Frisbee, or water balloon), long jumps, weight lifting contests, obstacle courses, gymnastic contests, etc. You could create some very fun and unique events. Create a tiered awards platform using boxes or wood to present “medals” to the winners. Have teams make their own banners or flags, have t-shirts for the different teams, have a torch making station for the children (roll a tube of white paper and place red, orange and yellow tissue in the end for “flames”) etc. The ideas are endless. For more ideas for Olympic parties involving children check out: www.birthdaypartyideas.com/html/olympics.html
• A total patriotic Olympic party around a red, white and blue theme could be held to cheer on team USA.
• Create a fun photo station for guests to have their photo taken. This makes a unique favor. Draw Olympic athletes in a scene of some sort on a large piece of cardboard. Cut out the faces for guests to look through so they look like they are the athlete(s). These can be very fun! Another option would be to have some sports equipment and simple Olympic looking attire that guests can put on and pose for a photo. Another option would be to find someone who has lived in or is from China that may have some traditional Chinese clothing that could be used for more formal type photos. These photos would make a nice favor for a Chinese-themed Olympic party.
• The best activity for an Olympic party…. Watch the actual Olympic events together! The Olympic Games will be aired on KSL TV – check listings for specific times. Go team USA!
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