Unless you’re having your entire party at home, you’ll want to have a great winter-friendly place to celebrate. Depending upon where you live, you have a variety of options for places to host your birthday party. When choosing your venue, keep your budget and number of party guests in mind. Possible winter party venues include:  A bowling alley An arcade A restaurant A movie theatre A dance studio An indoor pool A studio with classes (e.g. ceramics painting or dancing) An indoor or outdoor ice-skating rink A local museum that hosts parties A great way to get inspiration for winter birthday party activities is to think first about what you want your theme to be. Then, you can think of activities that go well with your theme. Some examples of themes with corresponding activities include:  “Art Party”: Create drawings, paintings, and sculptures. You can even host a contest, choose judges, and have small prizes for the winners. Consider also making something the party guest will use, like a painted tote bag or t-shirt. “Nostalgic Disney Party”: Every one loves remember their favorite classic Disney movies. Play Disney Scene It! and trivia, and marathon watch old Disney movies. “Winter Wonderland”: If you live somewhere snowy, take advantage of it. Go sledding and have a snowman-building contest. You can even try to build a fort from snow. Just make sure all your guests  bring their snow gear. “Baking Party”: Use premade cakes or cookies, and let everyone decorate their own with icing, fondant, and sprinkles. Watch shows like Cake Boss to inspire your sweet creations. “Dance Competition”: Put on some music, and see who can come up with the best moves. Play dancing games on your Xbox or Wii, if you have one, to make it a bit more structured. Watch and comment on dancing shows like Dance Moms, So You Think You Can Dance, or Dancing with the Stars, when you get tired of dancing yourself. “Indoor Scavenger Hunt”: Scavenger hunts are fun and versatile. Make clues in advance and hide them around the party venue. Break guests up into teams. See who can follow the clues to the hidden prize first. “Dreaming of Summer”: Having a sunny indoor party when it’s cold and gray can be a lot of fun. Have beach chairs for your guests to sit on, and let everyone wear flower necklaces. Play summery music, like Jimmy Buffet or the Beach Boys. Turn up the heat, and tell everyone to bring beach clothes. Watch a classic surf movie. “Spa Party”: Throw a spa party, and pamper all your guests. Do each other’s nails and hair. Make homemade face masks. Light scented candle. Give everyone a gift bag with make up or a sleep mask. “Murder Mystery”: Having a murder mystery party can be a great way to make your entire party into a game. You can buy a premade game, download a free one, or make up your own. Give all your guests a character, and send them a small description of that character before the party. Tell them to dress up like the character. Throughout the party, as your characters, you and your guests will have to ask each other questions to determine who the murderer is. Having a roaring fire is a great way to have an outdoor party even during winter. Pick a spot in your backyard to have your fire, and set up camp chairs around it for your guests. You can roast marshmallows and hot dogs in the fire.  Keep safety in mind. After you build your fire, make sure your have sand and water on hand to put it out once the party is over. Keep a stack of wood handy to stoke the fire during the party. Provide blankets. Even though you’ll have a fire, it can be nice to have a bunch of wool blankets on hand to keep your guests comfortable. If you don’t have enough blankets, ask the party guests to bring their own. If you know someone who plays guitar, ask them to bring their guitar so they can play songs around the fire. No matter the theme of your party, you can always find a related movie or TV show to watch. This gives everyone a chance to relax. Creating a cinema experience makes watching a movie feel more like a party.  Hang up a white sheet on an empty wall.  Borrow a projector to project a movie up onto the sheet, as an inexpensive movie screen. Cozy up the movie area with lots of pillows and blankets. If you live in an area with mild winters, you can even have an outdoor movie, complete with lots of blankets and maybe even a campfire. Make popcorn, and serve boxed candy, just like the movie theatre. Let everyone know what movie you’re showing when you invite them to the party. Have a marathon. Consider making a night of it, and watching all the movies in a series. Board games are a great option for any home party. They are inexpensive, and provide hours of entertainment. You can even have prizes for the winners.  Play classic board games like Monopoly, Sorry, Life or Risk. Choose more interactive, creative board games like Balderdash or Cranium. When choosing board games, make sure you choose games that all your guests can play at once, or have different game stations. Consider also playing party games like Never Have I Ever, Musical Chairs, Charades, or Two Truths and a Lie along with your board games. Many games like this also have board game versions.

Summary: Choose a venue. Plan activities based around your party theme. Create a bonfire party. Create your own cinema. Play board games.


Keep in mind that during the spelling bee you may ask for the definition of the word, for its pronunciation, what part of speech it is, and more importantly, its language of origin. Knowing which language a word comes from allows you to see certain patterns, so that if you don't know how to spell a certain word, you can guess based on which language it comes from. English has adopted quite a few words from Greek and Latin, so it can be a great resource to learn the Greek or Latin roots of certain related words. For instance, the Greek root “tele-” means far, and “graph” means to write, so the word “telegraph” means to write from afar. While your parents had to make do with pencil and paper to memorize the spelling of words, nowadays there are a number of technologies to help you study. For example, you may want to use a tape recorder to help you memorize the pronunciation of certain words, or you may use a word processor to help you keep track of the words you have mastered and the ones you still need to memorize.  There are also a number of helpful apps for your iPad or Kindle available online, which allow you to make lists of words and have a variety of other helpful features. It might seem weird, but experienced spellers find it helps to trace the words they are about to spell in the palm of their hands. This allows one to visualize the word, and to break it down into syllables before spelling it out loud. As you get ready to spell out the word, pretend one of your hands is a piece of paper and “write” the word with your writing hand. Tracing the word keeps you focused and it's a great way to help you concentrate on how a certain word is both written and pronounced. You've studied, you've worked, you've done everything you can--now it's time to shine! Become familiar with the way your voice sounds on a microphone, as well as with the added pressure of speaking before an audience. But remember, stress can be your worst enemy, so try to relax and enjoy the competition. A spelling bee is supposed to be a fun activity after all!
Summary: Learn the roots of words and spelling rules from different languages. Use technology to help you study. Use your hands to trace the word you are spelling. Relax before the competition.