In the "Frozen" Zone

Eager Free Public Library in Evansville hosted a Frozen Family Party on January 17th that drew ~140 to our wee library (very big for a family event for us)! I thought I'd share what we did during the program, which was both a lot of work and a total blast.

The party was only an hour and a half long, with a kickoff that included a picture book (An Amazing Snowman by Barbara Jean Hicks) and a singalong to...you guessed it..."Let It Go" from the Frozen soundtrack. After we kicked off, there were five activities for kids and their families to choose from:

• Snow sculpting and painting outside (thankfully it was the PERFECT day for playing outside; ~40 degrees so great for packing!). Snow paint how-to from thesitsgirls.com.
• Roll-a-snowman game - printable on blissfulroots.com.
• Paper crown decorating - how-to found on meaningfulmama.com.
• Gluten-free snow clay with cookie cutters - recipe from growingajeweledrose.com.
• Ice boats - how-to found on alphamom.com.

Rolling dice to see what they should add to their snowman! 

Glittery, soft snow dough was a big hit.

An outdoor activity allowed us to spread out the action. 8 spray bottles of paint had to be refilled once for 1.5 hours.

We served "hot chocolate floats", a scoop of vanilla ice cream + hot chocolate + marshmallows that we sprinkled with baking luster dust. 

We had the movie playing in the background, projected onto the wall, but the sound was off so that kids could watch the action without getting distracted from the other activities. 

Decoration-wise, the only thing that we added to our program room besides tablecloths and station signs were ~25 of these lovely 3D snowflakes that hung from the ceiling. They totally packed a punch and changed the feel of the whole room, making it a really special occasion.

We had a crew of high school volunteers who helped manage the stations, while parents really helped with traffic flow, too, leaving library staff able to walk around, talk with people, and help out/get more supplies where needed. Due to warmer than expected weather, a lot of coolers became necessary to transport the ice boats and to keep the ice cream cold, but overall it was a fun event and went over very well with our library families, particularly in a gray time of year when we all need a little fun!