Mardi Gras doesn’t just have to be for adults. with a few simple preparations you can have a fun and educational Mardi Gras party for kids. Mardi Gras originated in Europe hundreds of years ago as a way to welcome the spring season. It was also the last feast before Lent began. Mardi Gras was brought to the united states by the French. It is now celebrated in many countries all over the world.
To get prepared for your kid friendly Mardi Gras party get started by checking out a couple of books about Mardi Gras in the children’s collection of your local library. You will need to buy bead necklaces and noisemakers.You will also need to have masks for the children to wear. You can either make them or buy some. I bought colored plastic eye masks and let the kids put stickers on them. The masks can be as simple or as elaborate as you want. Younger kids will be best if you keep it simple but fun, older kids will want to be more creative.
Start your Mardi Gras party by setting out appetizers or everyone’s favorite comfort food. Tell your family and guests about where Mardi Gras started and how it was the last feast before Lent. You will need to have read the books first, preferably with your children. During the party have the books handy in case someone asks a question you aren’t sure about. To make this event even more of a learning adventure have your children find Europe on a map.
Tell everyone that you are going to have your own Mardi Gras parade. tell them that people dress up and ride on floats during Mardi Grass parades. For your floats you can cut the bottom out of a box and have the children decorate it using green, purple, and yellow (or gold) construction paper. You can also print out a picture of an ox to put on the side of your float. An ox represents the last meat eaten before lent. Give your children a variety of materials such as feathers, glitter, ribbon, markers, and crayons to decorate their floats.
After they finish their floats have them dress up in crazy or fancy clothing and then decorate the masks. Once everyone is in costume have them get in their floats and parade around the house making lots of noise with their noise makers. You could also get out all your toy instruments (or make some) and have a marching band for your parade.
Have adults hand out beads. Give out awards for things like craziest costume, best float, best musician and so on. This will be a Mardi Gras celebration to remember.
