How to Throw a Sledding Party | The Thoughtful Occasion

Celebrations Winter

Throw a Sledding Party

January can seem a bit dull after all the fun and festivities of the holiday season. A great way to liven things up is to throw a sledding party.

As we live in an area that rarely has any snow, we made the trek to my hometown in upstate New York one winter weekend. We rented a lovely lodge at a county park that has a designated sledding hill. It had everything we needed: a large common area with tables and chairs, bathrooms, and a small kitchen.

We planned our party for early afternoon and put together a menu of hot beverages we could easily make on-site and sweet snacks that could be made ahead and served at room temperature.

The highlight was the hot chocolate bar, which included stir-ins from caramel syrup to cinnamon Red Hots in addition to the usual marshmallows and whipped cream. (We had coffee, tea, and water too.)

Alongside, we had a cookie tray with some of our winter favorites: snowballs, coconut date balls, sugar cookie cutouts from Southern Living in the shape of snowflakes, and gingersnaps.

We also put out a big plate of brownies dusted with powdered sugar.

Our Snowy Day Chex Mix and Oven Caramel Corn rounded things out.

We threw in our Best Ever Peanut Brittle as well, just because it’s so delicious.

We had a couple of friends save their live Christmas trees and other greenery for us to decorate the lodge. Then, we cut off branches and laid them out on tables, windowsills, and anywhere else we could find. We even wound some together for a wreath for the door.

In addition to being economical, they made the whole place smell great. Just be prepared to clean up the inevitable dropped needles.

To entertain our non-sledding guests, we stocked the big round tables in the lodge full of all sorts of board and card games. Don’t forget that many games require pens and paper to keep score.

We of course needed to have cups, plates, napkins, serving pieces, etc., as well. You can download the full list of everything we brought along here.

Make sure your invitation lets everyone know what to expect and reminds people to bring all their sledding gear. Search for something along the lines of “sledding party invitation” on Etsy for cute options that will get you a customized digital file to send electronically or print.

To help you keep track of the invites, download our Guest List Tracker spreadsheet. (If you don’t have Excel, download the printable version instead.)

You can also download our planning checklist to help you get everything organized.