A Simple Mardi Gras Celebration for Kids

Next Tuesday is "Fat Tuesday" and it is another opportunity to have a little fun with your kids and family. I don't plan anything elaborate for Mardi Gras, but my preschool-aged children and I enjoy dressing up in costumes (it doesn't take much to convince preschoolers to dress up!), making our own parade float from a cardboard box, and having a backyard Mardi Gras parade.

The cardboard box we used for our float had holes in it and we threaded a rope through those holes. I then was able to pull my kids around in the box by pulling the rope and they loved it. The rest of the decoration on the box was simply created with crayons, construction paper, and dot painters. We also got bead necklaces from the dollar store for them to toss from the float as we paraded around. Even though the only audience for the parade was little sister and dad, the activity was a hit with the kids!

We also always like to pick up a few books about Mardi Gras from our local library. My kids' favorite Mardi Gras book was still hands-down Mimi's First Mardi Gras that I shared in an earlier Mardi Gras post. Since that book is written from the perspective from a young girl experiencing her first Mardi Gras, my children really connected with it. They also love to look at the illustrations with all of the different costumes that characters wear.

For dinner last year, I cooked this Gumbo-style Chicken Creole. The recipe was much less intimidating than traditional Gumbo and a little more appealing to my family who prefer chicken over seafood. It was very delicious!

Also, check out the Mardi Gras masks and necklaces we made from construction paper a couple of years ago. A little glitter and construction paper go a long way with preschoolers!

And above all, my kids love eating beignets! Here they are all with big smiles enjoying their beignets last year...

The recipe we used can be found here:

We can't wait for more fun this year. If you have any other great ideas for celebrating Mardi Gras, I would love to hear your comments!

Mardi Gras Activities for Kids

Did you know that Mardi Gras is coming up on Tuesday, February 12?

We can never turn down another reason to celebrate. And my mother-in-law was born in New Orleans, so we have a special affinity for the city that celebrates Mardi Gras.

Here's what we did for our own little kid-friendly Mardi Gras party last year:


We printed this free mask template on construction paper and cut it out. Then, we decorated the mask with glitter, craft jewels, and feathers. I used a pen to prick a hole on each side of the mask and strung elastic thread through the hole. Then I tied the thread to form a mask that fit each of my kids. (You could use any kind of string or thread, but the elastic thread was nice because it was stretchy and allowed the masks to fit more snugly on my kids' faces).


We also made our own construction paper bead necklaces. I helped the kids cut construction paper into strips. They colored and decorated the paper strips with markers. Then, I helped them glue each strip to itself to form a cylindrical paper bead. We let those beads dry and then strung our homemade beads onto yarn to form a bead necklace. I tried to use Mardi Gras colors (purple, green, and gold).

Once we were properly attired in our homemade masks and necklaces, we danced around to some Jazz music. Then we pulled out a box of instruments and marched around with our own parade.

It was a simple, yet delightful little party.


A good book to go along with this holiday is Mimi's First Mardi Gras  by Alice Couvillon

This book has a lot of text, so younger ones might not be able to sit through it. But for those with a longer attention span, it is a very thorough and fun introduction to Mardi Gras. It follows a little girl who experiences her first Mardi Gras. Her parents answer a lot of her questions about Mardi Gras and her childlike excitement about all her new discoveries makes the book come to life. My kids especially enjoyed the illustrations with all of the different people in costumes.

Other fun family activities for Mardi Gras would be making some delicous Gumbo soup or beignets, watching a video about the history of Mardi Gras, or watching the Disney movie, The Princess and the Frog. I also have a Mardi Gras Pinterest Board if you want to check that out.

And Just for an FYI, here are the Mardi Gras dates for future years:

Mardi Gras 2014: Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Mardi Gras 2015: Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Mardi Gras 2016: Tuesday, February 9, 2016

-->