When my daughter suggested inviting friends over for a caroling party I jumped on the idea. It’s been a minute since we could do anything like that and I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to have a holiday party this year. Then my mind got around to food/drink for the kids and a hot cocoa bar idea was formed. It was a super-fun idea for younger kids and teens to celebrate the holiday season.
There are a lot of great reasons to do a hot cocoa bar for a kids holiday party.
- You can invite a lot of people with very little work or stress
- It’s another activity for kids after the main event is over. The kids had so much fun creating their hot cocoa concoctions
- It’s not costly to provide and everyone leaves happy!
I searched online for a delicious hot cocoa recipe that I could make in a large quantity. I made this recipe (borrowed from littlespicejar.com) in my crockpot. I feared it might not be enough for the size of our group so we filled a coffee pump pot with hot chocolate too. We had just a little bit left over so it was the perfect amount for the 20 kids that came.
Next, we got to work on planning the hot cocoa bar. We used a variety of sizes of mason jars. I ordered red and white bakers twine to wrap and wooden scoops from Amazon. We wrapped the twine around the tops of the jars to create a festive feel. The scoops helped to keep things safe during this time. I also had fancy paper straws for stirring that contributed to the festive setting. I made a trip to Wegmans knowing they had a huge self-serve candy aisle. I made sure I had chocolate syrup, caramel sauce, and whip cream. These are the items we used to fill our mason jars but you could choose anything.
- Andes Mints
- Chocolate Malt Balls
- Hershey’s Kisses
- Crushed Peppermint
- Pirouettes
- Mini Marshmallows
- Candy Canes
- Chocolate Covered Pretzel Sticks
What’s hot cocoa without cookies? I put together a charcuterie board of cookie and candy for the kids to munch on. Trader Joe’s had everything I needed in addition to the items I had already purchased for the hot cocoa.
The party was so easy to set up and it was just the right amount of food and beverage for a two hour event. I’m already brainstorming other ways I can incorporate a hot cocoa bar into our holiday plans this year.
If you like this post please subscribe to receive regular email updates. Did you know that now you can follow a hashtag on Instagram? Follow #lunchwithagirlfriend. For more inspiration, you can also follow me on Facebook and Pinterest .
