Hey Party Mavens: Ideas for French/Parisian Theme for Eight-Year-Old Daughter? archived

Play Edith Piaf, How about some pictures of Audrey Hepburn from Sabrina?
The Eifel Tower, etc. Play a DVD of An American in Paris w/Gene Kelly and Gigi

Make Crepes and have a bunch of different things to fill them with, kids choice:

Lemon & Powdered Sugar
Nutella
Nutella and Banana
Ham & Cheese
All very authentic.

Sing "Bon Anniversaire".

This seems to be aimed more for teens, but you might be able to get some ideas here:

http://www.stumpsparty.com/catalog.cfm?cat=47589&StumpsTrackID=SPPERPS

http://www.shindigz.com/catalog.cfm?cat=14841

http://www.birthdaypartyideas4kids.com/paris-birthday-party-theme.htm (the 'menu' items are the best)

Recipe for making French Macaroons:

http://www.toppartyideas.com/french-macaroons/

Hope this helps! (What a pity my French friend isn't visiting....she even has her own accordion!)

And ideas for crafts (Eiffel Tower building) and favors (macaron pops) here:

http://www.stephmodo.com/2011/01/paris-birthday-party.html

There's an over-the-top Madeline party here:
http://katelandersevents.blogspot.com/2010/01/madeline-birthday-party.html

I did a Madeleine party for my daughter when she was 6. We didn't make crepes but I made a really cute cake with Madeleine on it. I have a crepe maker if you need to borrow it. I also just recently found a cassette tape of a 4 year old French boy named Jordy who sings in French and my kids used to listen to it all of the time. I also have a cassette for kids with songs in French with the Family Circus kids on the booklet of lyrics. If you want to borrow anything let me know!

We did this at about the exact same age... I am a little fuzzy on the details though (it's been awhile.)

The fun part was that we sent the guests "airplane tickets" as an invitation. We had something to do with stamping Passports, then we all sat in folding chairs in the living room and pretended to fly to Paris. I was the flight attendent and we described what we saw out the windows and everybody leaned together to the left etc.
I think we did dress-up in "Parisian Couture" and they absolutely paraded around the block once they were all decked out!
I remember Nutella, croissants, ham, fruit salad and Orangina.

Skip hiring the mime but have the kids try and do it themselves or turn it into a "Pin the beret on the Mime" game!

(I should add that we had Egyptian, Disco, scavenger hunt and Spring Flower themed parties as well. They are all blending in my memory...)

rent a Jerry Lewis movie for them!

Aristocats!!

Anatole and Barbar are possible alternatives to Madeline.

Tin Tin as well.

Could serve crepes and have each child fill her own. Whipped cream, nutello, strawberries etc.

A couple packs of Gauloise or Gitanes along with plenty of ashtrays?




Kidding, just kidding.

Get little berets and let them decorate them? Glitter, pom-poms, sparkle stuff? Might get messy, but could be fun. "Pin the Tricolor on the Top of the Eiffel Tower" in lieu of pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey? Disney's "Hunchback of Notre-Dame" had a great sequence of a flying tour over Paris, didn't it? (it's been a LOOOOOONG time since my kids were small enough to watch it). Maybe have that playing as a party starter? Sounds like a fun theme for a party!

How about getting the DVD (Amazon.com or Netflix) of the French animated movie "Les Triplettes de Belleville' aka "The Triplets of Belleville" for the kids to watch?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0286244/ (read the reviews - overwhelmingly positive)

http://www.amazon.com/Triplets-Belleville-Mich%C3%A8le-Caucheteux/dp/B0001IN0MQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1330381118&sr=1-1

Boomie: Tin Tin is from Belgium!

Oh what about Amelie?

johnlockedema said:

A couple packs of Gauloise or Gitanes along with plenty of ashtrays?

Kidding, just kidding.

Funny you should say that. I was going to suggest Gitanes and a nice cote du Rhone over a game of pétanque.

For the adults and anyone over the age of 13, that is.

Red balloons

I have a french cd Squeezeboxmama if you want to borrow it.

Costco has ready made crepes in their refrigerated section. They also have madelines and other pastry items. Trader Joes has many "French Market" items as well - the pink lemonade is pretty good.

You could do a poodle craft - make a poodle out of pom-poms.

The Red Balloon would be a fun movie for that age group.

Yet another blog post for some ideas - a "Paris in the Snow" birthday party:
http://www.karaspartyideas.com/2012/02/paris-in-snow-birthday-party.html

Thank you all you creative types and party planning geniuses! I now have a plan for the party--still more details to work out but here it is
Here’s the tentative lineup:

Invitations: vintage plane tickets to Paris with "Passport"

1. KMK's Flight to Paris (sound effects, accordion music, landmarks)
2. Arrival: get into "couture" costume (accessories provided?)
3. pipe cleaner Eiffel Tower project-with pre-cut pipe cleaners and instructions
4. Party games: musical chairs to French music loaned by Brooklyn Lady, learn a French song "Sur Le Pont D’Avignon" or "Frere Jacques" (sing in round!)
5. BabFab's crepe extravaganza using Sheltimum's electric crepe maker and Costco as backup
8. Cake—do we need one?

Party Favors: the Eiffel towers or poodles; macarons on a stick (Thanks Miss_L_Toe). Should kids take home a Passport stamped with activities they completed at the party or am I thinking like a teacher?

Keep the suggestions coming.

Sheltimum, Brooklyn Lady: I'll be in touch.
Just ordered the Eiffel tower favors and will post pictures when they arrive.

MSLT, Boomie and Hank Zona, I loved your movie suggestions. Just in case these zany, chatty girls burn up all the party time making a mess with crafts and Nutella and parading around in costumes, I'm putting these on my must-see family movie list.

Get the girls to do the "Can Can" while in costume!

johnlockedema said:

A couple packs of Gauloise or Gitanes along with plenty of ashtrays?

Kidding, just kidding.

Well then, maybe rounds of Kir Royales or Pastis!

boomie said:

Oh what about Amelie?

We loooove that film but I'm not sure an 8 year old would "get" it.

Hugo - now out on DVD to play in the background.

KMK-Love the Can Can! That can follow the "Parisian" fashion show!

This party sounds tres bien! I used to do great parties for my own kids (if I do say so myself) when they were young, and this really sounds like a winner. I would suggest going on line to find out what french children do at parties! When one of my kids was around that age we did an "asian" themed party. Went on line and got a few traditional games from South Korea, Indonesia, and Japan. It was really fun.

Good luck, it will be awesome!

SqueezeboxMama said:

KMK-Love the Can Can! That can follow the "Parisian" fashion show!

The key is to turn it into a Texas drill-team kind of high-kick routine (not the overt-sexual-panty-glimpsing number I think it really was!)

That is just way too much crotch!

Parisian fashion show: The boys at this party are going to be totally marginalized! There is one of them that will be down with the beret thing.

How about hiring an amateur cariacature artist or portrait artist to sketch each guest a la Monmartre? The sketch could be the party favor.