Dragon Training School Party - Guest Blogger Lisa Kothari

How To Train Your Dragon is the upcoming release from DreamWorks this March.  It’s all about a Viking teenage, Hiccup, who must join his tribe’s heroic dragon slaying.  However, when Hiccup has his chance to slay his dragon, he instead befriends him and takes on the task of teaching his fellow Viking tribe that they shouldn’t be slaying the dragons any longer.  What a great movie to take the kids to over the spring break.  If you want to continue the fun before and/or after the film, how about creating your own Dragon Training School for the kids to enjoy and to celebrate the movie.

So, what does Dragon Training entail?  How about these ideas:

1. Create one very large dragon as a craft.  Using heavy card stock, egg cartons, glitter glue, markers, and crayons, create a large dragon to hang on a wall.

2. Read the original book and compare it to the movie.

3. Play Dragon Tag.  Have the kids form one line and hold on to each other’s waists.  The first person in line must try and tag the last person in the line while the people in the middle must try to keep this from happening.

 

4. Have the kids search for Dragon’s Eggs in a bowl full of spaghetti noodles.  Use small meatballs for the dragon’s eggs and see who can find the most.  You can also hold a Dragon’s Egg Eating Contest, but watch that the kids eat safely.

5. Create a Dragon Obstacle Course with chairs, furniture, rope, and any other items you have around your home and set up an obstacle course that the kids must complete for their training.

6. Create a set of Dragon Commands to train your dragons.  It could be anything and everything: sit, stay, wag your tail, screech, etc.  Encourage the kids to be as creative as possible and have everyone follow the commands.

7. Dragons are slayed with swords.  Have the kids use cardboard and tin foil to create their own and hold mock sword contests with one another.

Serve the kids Dragon Juice, red punch, with lime green ice cubes (use green food coloring) and serve a batch of cupcakes with a dragon’s tail atop each one created out of small chocolate candies.

Happy Dragon Training, but remember they can be friends too just like Hiccup learns!

--Lisa Kothari
Peppers and Pollywogs, Inc.
www.pepperspollywogs