1. Who will thaw Anna’s frozen heart?

Let kids create their own ice sculptures with a simple cake mold purchased at a kitchen specialty shop. Fill the molds with water, add in a few plastic hearts found at craft stores, and let them freeze overnight. Now when you bring the frozen molds out, kids can try to melt the ice away to save Anna’s frozen heart. Whoever gets to the heart first wins! Cheesy? Perhaps a bit, but what kid isn't fascinated by ice?

Let them create their own sculptures after the hearts are retrieved. Add in regular ice cubes to the mix, and you have a new, readymade, albeit slippery, building block.

You might want to put a time limit on this activity as it can get pretty messy.

2. Magical snow dough

Elsa always has snow at her fingertips, and you can give kids that same feeling by creating super soft “snow dough.” Make this recipe ahead, so it’s ready for Olaf and snow monster sculpture building when the kids arrive.

Put kids in teams to sculpt tricky scenery like Elsa’s ice castle or ask each to make their favorite character from the movie.

Snow dough recipe:
2 cups corn starch
1/3 to 1/2 cup vegetable oil
3-4 Tablespoons of silver and/or blue glitter

A touch of veggie oil (if you have young kids who might nibble on the dough), or baby oil can help smooth the dough out. Mix the oil and powder together and viola, you’ve got snow dough. Double the recipe for groups over five, and have a few cheap plastic containers on hand so kids can take their dough home after the party has wrapped up.

Warning: Another messy activity, especially with the glitter! Use a plastic tablecloth to cover a long table or a few on the floor to catch the mess.

RELATED: 10 New Birthday Party Venues for NYC Kids

Photo credit: Loren Kerns via Flickr

3. Group sing-along and "Freeze Dance"

A sing-along is a must at any Frozen party; it’ll keep the kids well entertained, is easy to put together and creates very little mess. Yay!

Simply pop on the soundtrack and hand over a few plastic mics, so kids can really get in the mood. You can rotate between group sing-alongs to allowing a few of the braver kids some brief solo performances.

A round of “freeze dance” will burn off even more energy and get the giggles going. Let the kids dance it out, but cut the music every few moments when they’ll have to “freeze” in place just like recipients of Elsa’s ice-throwing fingertips.

If you have older siblings on hand, this can be a great activity to turn over to them to run while you’re relaxing with the other parents or putting together the next activity.

4. Where's Elsa?

Create a “Where’s Elsa?” scavenger hunt reminiscent of Anna’s hunt for her sister. There are a number of ways to set this up and it might depend on the average age of your guests. For example, I hid Frozen stickers all over the apartment and let everyone try to gather as many as they could. I handed out a small prize, frozen Dum-Dum lollipops, each time a kid found five.  This can also be done by putting kids into teams and creating a series of clues around the apartment to find one, larger item.

5. Olaf goody bags

Everyone loves Frozen’s charming, goofball of a snowman Olaf. Let guests go home with a little bit of his do-good spirit by getting crafty with the gift bags.

Set up a craft station where kids can put together an Olaf-inspired gift bag. You’ll want to purchase white paper bags, pipe cleaners, pom-poms, markers, glue and anything else you think might help personalize the art project, such as googly-eyes or the makings for mini sunglasses. (Pinterest is teeming with ideas, including this Olaf gift bag.)

The pipe cleaners work great as Olaf’s stick arms and legs, while a single pom-pom makes a nice nose. Markers can do the rest. Kids can then select treats from a basket that you've put together ahead of time. Carry on the Frozen theme with items like hot cocoa and blue-frosted cookies.

More ideas

Get creative with your food and décor options to really blow out the Frozen theme. For example, put out mini marshmallows for snacks or decorating, along with baby carrots (Sven’s favorite and a prop for Olaf’s nose). Buy an ice cream cake to keep things chilly, or try baking a castle cake (I used a castle mold.) Blue balloons and snowball decorations add to the snow theme. Try threading cotton balls along fishing line and then draping it from ceiling fans or doorways for DIY snowballs.

You might want to offer a few dress-up items, too, such as blue gloves that match the ones that Elsa wore, reindeer noses, princess dresses or perhaps a homemade Kristoff outfit like this mom did.

Keep the atmosphere light and fun, crank up the a/c and you’ll be in your own ice palace soon enough.

Check out more party ideas in our Birthday Party Guide.

Top image courtesy of Mommy Poppins staff.

This post originally published in August 2015.