A hot cocoa bar party gives the children a counter full of toppings and a mug of their own, and families who hire a Santa Claus for the holidays in Columbus can make Santa the guest who arrives once every mug is finished.
A Hot Cocoa Bar Party at Home
Cousins, neighbors or a few friends with children come to the house on a December afternoon or evening. The grown-ups set the bar on a kitchen counter or a side table: mugs in a row, a pot or slow cooker of cocoa kept by a grown-up, and bowls of toppings such as mini marshmallows, whipped cream, crushed candy canes and sprinkles. Grown-ups pour the cocoa, and the children choose the toppings.
Put a strip of tape or a paper tag with each child’s name on every mug. That way each child keeps the mug they built. The name also gives Santa something to read when he greets them later.
Families who call from Bexley, Grandview Heights and Reynoldsburg often treat this as a small party at home, one house from the first topping to the last picture. The cocoa belongs to the children. Santa belongs to the living room after the mugs go back.
When the Mugs Go Back
The mugs go back on the counter before the children gather. Once they are empty and set down, the children go to the living room by the tree, and a grown-up sends Santa a text. Keep a path from the front door to that room so he can walk in while they are already together.
Santa comes in, greets each child by name, asks who piled on the most marshmallows, hears the wish lists and poses for pictures. He notices the cocoa on a lip, the sprinkle color, the candy cane that went in first. The children want him to have seen the bar they built, and he has.
Pictures of the Cocoa Bar, Then Santa
Take one picture of the cocoa bar itself before anyone digs in, then each child beside Santa, then all the children together around him. One adult takes all the pictures. Have a lamp on by the tree so faces show. Santa photos of this kind sit beside the bar picture, so the afternoon is in both rooms.
Gifts are optional, labeled by name and handed to a grown-up before Santa comes in if you want them passed out.
Tell us the date, about when the cocoa will be finished, and how many children. That is enough to start. Contact us with those three facts and we will confirm the rest on the call.
Close-up photos of a child beside Santa look better with a real bearded Santa, because the beard is his. The traditional Santa wears the traditional suit with a full styled beard and costs less, which suits a larger group of cousins. Mrs. Claus can join as an add-on and help the smallest children carry their mugs back to the counter.
Another way to gather the family at home before Santa comes is a Christmas brunch at home. That morning is a meal first, then the tree. This afternoon is cocoa first, then the same living room.
A hot cocoa bar party is the toppings, the named mugs, then Santa by the tree. Bexley kitchens, Grandview Heights counters and Reynoldsburg family rooms all hold that order. Grown-ups pour the cocoa. Children pick the toppings. Santa greets them once the mugs are back on the counter.
Have extra mugs for a late cousin. Keep a damp cloth by the bar so sticky fingers are wiped before the pictures. The living room can stay ready while the counter stays a little messy. Santa’s time is with the children by the tree.
Set the slow cooker on a back burner or a far corner of the counter so the children reach only the toppings. A grown-up stays with the pot the whole time. That keeps the bar moving and leaves Santa free to sit once he is in the living room.