Hockey Party -7yr- Medals Ceremony

HOCKEY (skating) PARTY:  Works great for a skating party theme.  Can use either an NHL team, or general "hockey";  we used Olympic Hockey as our theme and asked all guests to wear red/white/blue (Invitations read, "Evan the Hockey Player / Will soon be 7 years old!  So wear your red, white, and blue and join him... Together, we'll go for the Gold!") 

As party favors, guests can be given medals (we made ours; they can be purchased easily, too).  "Cups" would work too, if you go for a Stanley Cup approach.  (Plastic stadium cups in a team-appropriate color,; you could even use a paint-pen to write each guest's name on it and the date / event).  Glow necklaces (we got red/white/blue ones) are a great touch, too (especially in the darkness of the skating rink!  A BIG hit!) 

Again, you could choose a color that matches the NHL team of choice.  A medals ceremony is a nice touch too, perhaps making birthday child's medal bigger or more golden in some way.  (We used an old high school track and field medal of mine for our son!  Looked great!  The kids thought it was from the actual Olympics!

Games may be provided by your skating rink, but other ideas:  Bring a soft inflatable ball (like a beach ball) and hockey stick (perhaps a foam one or cardboard -- skating rinks frown on big, hard objects banging on the floor...) Have contests for "slapshots" (accuracy, longest distance, "most improved" from first shot to second, etc.)  Beach balls won't go too far, so it gets pretty funny. 

Another idea:  Pass the puck (a relay race between teams).  Place "pucks" (any disk shape... we happened to have the real things, which are pretty cheap in sports goods stores, but cardboard or canning jar lids would work).  Place "pucks" in a pile for each team; have relay to bring pucks to other side.  (If guests are not especially great skaters, you can make the distance very short.) 

For dessert, we served cupcakes with little flags in them (one USA flag, one Olympic rings flag), and little red/white/blue star sprinkles over the white icing.  We made other flags too from all the countries that have Hockey teams and put them on one center cake (the one that held the candles for blowing out).  (USA toothpick flags can be bought at party stores; however, we made ours by downloading pictures from internet flag sites and printing them out.  Not difficult at all, and the kids loved learning about all the flags / countries!)  I think NHL party stuff is available as an alternative. 

For party favors, we gave "hockey pucks and sticks" candy (red and blue pixie sticks, red and blue striped hard candy sticks, and red, white and blue round and star-shaped runts and sprees)  I got the candy at a bulk candy store.  You can do a similar theme with an NHL team (i.e., choose orange, white and black for a Philly Flyers team, Red and white for Red Wings, etc.) 

Along with the candy, the party favor bags also contained a sheet of hockey-themed stickers and an NHL pencil.  This, along with their necklaces and medals, made a nice set of treats for the guests. 

We added to our party decor by posting pictures of our son's face on a hockey player in a USA uniform with phrases like, "Go for the Gold!" and "Thanks for Coming The Team wouldn't be the Same without you!"  Similar décor' could be made with NHL team posters, a pennant, or such.       

NOTE:  If weather is not an issue (i.e. warm enough to be outdoors), you could do this party outside and have kids bring outdoor roller skates, or just opt for a skate-less street hockey type party.