It’s that time of year again! Football season has been a cornerstone of fall for Dad’s across the nation but this year it’s time for the entire family to get in on the fun. A football tailgate party is the perfect way to bring the whole family together. Through coloring your own team helmet design, baking up some football-shaped treats, decorating a dream-designed party, and completing fabulous football crafts-everyone in the family is sure to have a blast.
My family is just getting into the exciting football years with my oldest joining the kindergarten flag football league, and we couldn’t be more excited to throw a tailgate party celebrating the start of the season! As a boy mom, the details of a football game often fly over my head, but I’m trying to learn more about the sport so that we can turn football into something the entire family bonds over. The most fun way for me to jump in feet first into football season is with a party! And these tailgate details all come together into a Pinterest-perfect celebration.
Design A Team Helmet
Use this downloadable printable to work together and create a family helmet design! You can put your teamwork to the test to make one helmet that represents your entire family or you can hold a contest and all vote for the winning helmet design-either way you are sure to draw in the attention of kids of all ages (and maybe bring out the competitive streak of mom and dad, too). Print these out and have spares ready to go for easy entertainment during the tailgate party.
Bake Football Crispy Treats
A great way to get little kitchen helpers involved is with kid-friendly snacks and treats! We love making rice crispy treats at home, and an easy way to turn those treats into a tailgate ready presentation is to turn them into footballs. Use a brown cocoa rice crispy to achieve the brown football color, and mix them in with melted marshmallow. Instead of letting them set and cutting them like a normal rice crispy, butter your fingers (to avoid sticking) and shape them into flat footballs! Once the footballs are formed and finally set, you can pipe on marshmallow or white frosting to create the laces and add the finishing touch.
Decorate For The Occasion
Decorate For The OccasionStellar decorations always take a party up to the next level. You can grab balloons from the local store or dollar spot and up the ante with letter balloons to really drive the theme home. Find green decorations and a tablecloth to tie everything together, and don’t be afraid to invite the kids to help. They can decorate a banner, make a paper chain, or help decide which snacks should go where on the table. Don’t forget to put your homemade football treats front and center!
Create A Fan Photo Op
Invite the family to create their own foam fingers to celebrate together. For this craft, you’ll need one cardstock foam finger outline to use as a reference and sheets of thin foam from your local craft store. Trace the finger (both sides!) onto the sheets of foam and cut them out to prepare the project. Glue the outer edges of the finger and stick two together so that there is an opening to fit your hand. Bring your creativity to the table and decorate the #1 Fan finger of your dreams! Once each one is dry and finished, snap an insta-worthy family photo showing off everyone’s creations!
Giveaway!
Join us at 10:30am CT Friday, September 6th for a Facebook Live for your chance to win the Yeti Cooler pictured above!
The National Football Foundation (NFF) launched Football Matters to celebrate the positive impact the game has made on millions of players, coaches, administrators, volunteers, and fans nationwide. Debuting in February 2018 at www.footballmatters.com and on social media, Football Matters spotlights and explains the many benefits that football brings to communities, schools, families, and individuals and the opportunities it provides to those on and off the field and at every level. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
