Monster High Birthday Party

Planning a kid's birthday party is one of the funnest jobs I have as a parent, so I like to go all out and give them a party to remember. My daughter's favorite 'toy' right now is her Monster High dolls. At Halloween she was so excited to dress up as Draculaura, so I knew that when her birthday rolled around, I would surprise her with a Monster High birthday party.

Let me share some of my ideas with you ...

The thing that most of the girls love about the Monster High characters are their outrageous fashions, hair styles, and makeup.

• Ask your guests to come dressed as their favorite MH personality.
• Or, host a dress-up party complete with a couple of hair stylists and make-up artists (draft a couple of other Moms to help)

Be sure to have a backdrop ready for a photo session!

Do your girls love to dance and get crazy? Hold a Monster High Dance party.

Teach them the Monster High Fright song dance from the music video. Not a great dancer? Ask a family friend or a teen from your neighborhood to come over to teach the girls the dance.

Once they've learned it, film it and give it to them as a Thank You gift for coming to the party. If it is okay with them and their parents, you can share it on Facebook or You Tube.

Of course, you'll need a good playlist loaded on your iPod if you want to get them dancing. Here's a few ...

• Scavenger Hunt

Make a list of Monster High related objects and send them on a scavenger hunt. Be sure to specify where they are allowed to go (the whole house, a neighborhood, or just a certain room) when playing the game.

Here are a few ideas to get you started ...

1. Needle & Thread (to stitch Frankie Stein back together)
2. Dog Biscuits (snacks for Clawdeen)
3. Bottled Water (for Lagoona Blue)

• Match the Pet with the Monster 

This game can be played with the real Monster High dolls and their pets, but if you don't have them all, then you can just print and cut them out.

• Monster High Quiz Race

Use material from the books to create a list of questions. Have them all line up at the starting line and if they get the answer right, they get to take one giant step forward. First one to the finish line wins!

• Project Runway ... Monster High Style

Using the Monster High sketch pads, have each child design one or two outfits. Then put them on display in a Fashion Show.

Given that these dolls are soooo G L A M, you can turn it up a notch when it comes to serving the food and drinks. Think along the lines of a kids mocktail party. They will love it if you serve them drinks from fancy glasses (even if they are plastic!), and little appetizer types of food.

When it comes to the food, you can take any kind of sandwich and cut it into cute shapes like stars, hearts, and serve it on a decorated platter. Use fancy skewers for a fruit salad.

It is all in the presentation, not so much in what is served. These are kids afterall, and most kids I know aren't that likely to try new kinds of food.