Are you throwing a party for kids who love storybooks and movies about princesses, knights, and dragons? Medieval will never go out of style! A fairytale theme based on the Middle Ages is perfect for boys and girls of all ages.
This quick guide will help you through the face-painting portion (even if you've never painted before) and will suggest a few fun games and activities to round out your party plans. Once you start planning, you'll never run out of awesome medieval party ideas to try!
Prepping for Medieval Face Paint Fun
Face painting for kids and grownups is the highlight of any party! Start by choosing a few face paint designs so you can pick up the right supplies. This section will list some classic easy-to-paint characters along with the paint colors and techniques required.
Knight – Shimmery metallic colors for the helmet. Take inspiration from Spartan and Crusader helmet designs. These are the easiest knight helmets to paint because they cover almost the entire face! Use white highlights to give the helmet a shiny 3D look. Add rivets and gems for more detail!
Princess – Tiaras are super easy to paint! Use silver or gold for the tiara itself, and ask about the child's favorite color for the gems. Apply sparkles and maybe a little fancy eye embellishment to complete the look. If it's an all-princess party, consider picking up a pack of feather boas for everybody to wear!
Dragon – You'll want at least two different colors of green for your dragons, one light and one dark. Load your brushes with half of each color so you can make easy one-stroke scales. Don't forget to add big scary teeth! If you don't want to do a full-face design, just make wings over the eyes and paint a dragon body on the nose.
Fairy – Fairies are another super easy design! Just make wings around each eye, and add a little more sparkle and swirls. Elemental designs can be fun: fire, water, and ice wings are pretty but simple themes. Don't be surprised if even the boys become interested in the fire design!
Do you need more ideas, or want a few ‘abstract' designs to try on the parents and adults in attendance? Consider face paint designs inspired by wizards, court jesters, kings, queens, griffins, unicorns, elves, castles, Vikings, etc. Just pull out your favorite story about the medieval period and get creative.
Accompanying Games and Activities
The kids are sure to be energetic and imaginative after seeing their cool new face paint designs. This is a great time for general playtime or guided games, but you might want to snap a few pictures for the parents while the face paint is fresh.
Need party game ideas? For simple horse races, substitute the traditional stick horse with foam pool noodles or long balloons so younger kids won't get hurt. Or you can go in an arts-and-crafts direction like having kids make their own coat of arms, goblet, or shields. Make shadow puppets out of heavy cardboard stock so kids can put on their own performances.
“Slaying” a dragon piñata is the perfect medieval party activity, especially if you can find a lightweight plastic sword long enough to reach it! For higher-budget parties, an inflatable bounce castle would be almost too perfect to pass up. If you have time and supplies but not much cash to invest, consider building a big castle playhouse out of cardboard boxes!
Wrap up the evening with a favorite knight, princess, or medieval-themed movie. Of course, if the party theme is entirely devoted to a particular movie, you might even find the movie to be a good place to start! You can substitute a movie for story-time if outdoors: make it even more fun by having the reader dress in period costume.
Enjoy Your Adventure!
Don't worry too much about the details: you just can't go wrong with a medieval party theme. After all, it's a legitimate classic! The face paint helps to spark imagination, the games keep everybody entertained, and the historical theme can even help kids understand more about their favorite stories and movies about the middle ages. The party attendees will be telling stories about their enchanted adventure for years to come!