If you have a birthday party to plan and you're looking to avoid the indoor kids venues and hold it at home, there is a huge variety of options to keep kids entertained for hours (though you may only prefer to have them for two at most!).  This year, Frozen is still hugely popular, and it is the perfet season to throw an indoor Frozen-themed party.  If hosting an activity- or craft-heavy party isn't your thing, you can also take the more relaxing route of a Drive-In Movie Party, where kids will make their own "cars" and watch a movie together in the comfort of your own den or living room.  Here are more details for those parties, and even more ideas to get you started on throwing an awesome party that your kid will not soon forget!

Tea Party: For a tea party, ask guests to come in dressy attire, and serve weak tea on some of your more durable (or less worried about) teacups and saucers.  If your kids are artsy, add a craft component by buying them each a teacup or saucer to decorate themselves, which are available at Michaels or A.C. Moore, along with special paint pens.  Tea parties are all about finger foods served cold, so you can get them ready in advance and refrigerate them before the party.  For the meal, serve finger sandwiches with cold cuts, cucumber, or even peanut butter and jelly for your more finicky guests, and be sure to cut off the crusts! Be sure to have lots of other finger foods available, including pastries like éclairs, cookies, small brownies, meringues, and bite-sized cupcakes.  For the final touch, put out flowers and other garden-related goodies for a quiet, gentle afternoon.

Drive-in Movie:  Bring out your large boxes, put a sheet on the wall, and get ready to have fun! For this party, have kids decorate their own “car” or large box to sit in, so have lots of markers or construction paper at the ready.   On the flipside, this can also be prepared for your guests before they come if you have the time.  You can rent or borrow a projector from a friend, and connect it to your computer or laptop to show the movie to the kids on the sheet “screen” on the wall.  Serve popcorn in retro boxes or bags, and give out soda or water in fountain drink cups as if they ordered out. These retro boxes or bags can also be used as goodie bags, which you can fill with sweets and items related to the film they watched together.

Frozen Party:  Since it is all the rage, you very well may have already been asked by your child to throw a Frozen-themed birthday party.  These parties can be remarkably simple since there are so many Frozen-themed products already out there, and you don’t have to actually freeze outside in the winter to have fun!   Invite your guests with invitations or movie tickets directing them to Arrendale, then let the crafting begin!  First, set up the Olaf craft, where you will fill a Ziploc bag for each child with all of the materials necessary to make an edible snowman – marshmallows, pretzel stick arms, chocolate chip eyes, and an orange candy nose.  Put them all in a basket with the sign, “Do you want to build a snowman?” Then, have white frosting and dull knives at the ready for them to glue the whole thing together, and let the whimsy begin!  You can choose to show the movie, or just enjoy crafts and snacks together with special touches like a hot cocoa bar, where kids can make their own hot cocoa (with help pouring the hot water or milk), and add toppings like sprinkles, candy cane bits, mini marshmallows, shaved chocolate, and whipped cream.  Kids can also decorate Elsa crowns or Sven antlers, which they can wear throughout the party!

Camping Inside:  Bring your outdoorsy kid inside for a camping party with all of their friends, where you’ll set up small tents and sleeping bags inside the house for them to crawl around in and share laughs.  Take some white holiday lights and string them on the ceiling to create a starry night-effect.  Cut out flames from orange and yellow cellophane, and put a fan and a spotlight in the middle to blow the flames and create light, then arrange sticks around the fire. For snacks, set up a “Make your own trail mix” station with a variety of nuts, chocolate, and raisins or craisins, or make it more of a snack mix setup where kids can mix chips, cheese doodles, and other junk foods. For the meal, kids can enjoy typical camping foods like hamburgers and hotdogs, and for dessert, make a tray or S’mores brownies, or have kids make their own S’mores in the oven, the microwave, or an electric griddle, with supervision of course.

Carnival/Circus Party:  If your kids are game-oriented, consider a carnival or circus theme that would allow them to play for a few hours with their friends in a nice controlled setting. Have those retro popcorn boxes or bags at the ready, and rent a popcorn popper to keep it flowing as your kids play various games in the den or living room.  Use baskets to make a ball toss game, and give them various point values, or do a bean bag toss with a large piece of cardboard with various shapes cut out from it. You can also have a game to see how many cans/bottles they can knock over from a distance with a beanbag or ball, or try to get a hoop around the neck of a bottle   For competitive kids, put a dry erase board by each game so they can record their scores at each one, and you can give out prizes to the highest scorers at each event.  You can also have a photo booth area where kids can dress up in carnival props, like clown wigs, noses, animal wigs, and more and you can take their pictures, then show them on a screen while they eat their meal later.