Easter Party Ideas

With Easter just around the corner I thought you might like some ideas for your Easter get-together with friends and family.

Music sets the mood for any gathering and it is vital that the music is proper for the occasion. Here is a suggested list of Easter music to get the party hopping:

Peter Cottontail / Sing & Sway with Sammy Kaye/The Kaydets

The Funny Little Bunny (With the Powder Puff Tail) / Gene Autry

My Chocolate Rabbit / Rosemary Clooney

Egbert the Easter Egg / Ray Heatherton

The Horse with the Easter Bonnet / Gene Autry

Easter Parade / Judy Garland

On the Good Ship Lollipop / Shirley Temple

I Want Candy -- Bow Wow Wow

Sugar Sugar -- The Archies

Happy Easter -- Fed Astaire and the Mel-Tones

Food and drinks are next in order of importance, you will want food and drinks to reflect the occasion and make the photographs taken reflect the occasion by their existence in the photographs.

Depending on the number of adults at the party, you will want to increase this recipe, to make enough to go around, or, if you are opting for the non-alcoholic version, you will need enough for everyone. I suggest making both versions, one for the adults, and one for the kids.

Easter Bunny (serves 4)

• 6 oz. dark crème de cacao
• 2 oz. vodka
• 4 tsp chocolate syrup
• 4 tsp cherry brandy

Add crème de cacao and vodka to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake, and then pour into 4 old-fashioned glasses. Float chocolate syrup and cherry brandy on top

Non-Alcoholic - lemonade, limeade, carrot juice

Tip: Make some non-alcoholic version ahead of time and freeze it into an Easter shaped container to put in the punch bowl to keep it cold. If you don't have an Easter shaped container, try a Jell-O ring. This keeps the punch from getting diluted when the water melts.

Food:

You will want traditional Easter foods like Ham or Goose, macaroni salad, potato salad, relish tray, all things light and springy. Make your rolls shaped like little bunnies or chicks for a nice added festive touch. Serve the foods in Easter shaped dishes available cheap at most dollar stores and disposable if you don't want to store them until next year. Make it as festive as possible. You may even want to put a few decorations around the house. Make sure everyone saves room for dessert.

Show-Stopping Easter Cake

Make a round layer cake. Shake some shredded coconut up with green food coloring to get what looks like Easter grass. Put it in a circle in middle of cake. Now put a chocolate Easter bunny standing up in the middle and put a marshmallow peep on each side of him and add some egg shaped candies around them. This cake makes your Easter pictures look great!

Games

See my "Easter Egg Treasure Hunt" article

Egg and spoon races

Volleyball - Dress up your volleyball with some Easter stickers!

Guess how many jelly beans in the jar - offer a prize for winner, like a giant chocolate bunny

Give the kids bubbles to blow outside, jump ropes, and sidewalk chalk

After the Easter egg hunt, have the kids take turns hiding the eggs again for each other