Cupid’s Cafe Valentine’s Day Dinner

If you are looking for a fun way to celebrate Valentine’s Day with your kids then you are in the right place.  Today I am going to share one of my favorite childhood traditions with a Valentine’s Day twist.  Pull up a chair and join the party, today we are celebrating with Cupid’s Cafe Valentine’s Day Dinner.

My mom always had the best ideas.  She was always creating fun scavenger hunts or hosting silly dinners for our family and friends.  One of my favorite ideas was the silly dinners.  Early in the month we were trying to come up with a birthday party idea for my daughter and my mom suggested doing the silly cafe. We did and everybody loved it!  It reminded me of how much fun I used to have when we would do them as a kid so I decided to create a Valentine’s Day version and share it on the blog so you can have fun with your kids too!

I’m sure you are asking yourself what makes it so silly? Here is how it works.  Everyone gets a menu and order card for Cupid’s Cafe, you can download our version HERE.  The dishes are all given fun names like X’s and O’s or Heart Strings.  The utensils are written in the language of love and everything is in French.

When we do this we usually have someone act as the waiter, this just adds to the fun. The kids love being waited on and feeling like they are at a fancy dinner.  Have the waiter explain that at Cupid’s Cafe everyone needs to order 3 courses from the menu, and they must also order their utensils with each course (and they can’t repeat anything).  That’s right, at Cupid’s Cafe you aren’t allowed to eat with regular utensils, they have to use crazy ones like giant slotted serving spoons, corn cobb skewers, or chop sticks.  I like to have the waiter remove the regular utensils from the table, the kids usually start giggling and acting shocked when you start explaining this part and take away the forks and spoons.

Once everyone has their order card filled out have the waiter gather them up for the “chef” in the kitchen.

Our menu consists of two appetizer options, two main dishes and two dessert. For this menu we had spaghetti, chicken and rice casserole, salad, soup, ice cream sundae and strawberry cheesecake. But, since the kids don’t know what they are ordering they could get dessert for their first course, or for that matter they could end up with dessert for two courses. When you download the free printable Cupid’s Cafe Menu and Order Cards you will also find the dinner guide sheet that tells you what everything is.  Here’s a tip, if you want to change up the food you serve just edit the dinner menu guide sheet to correspond with whatever you are serving.

Now, here is where the silly part comes in.  Once everyone has ordered the waiter will serve them.  They may get ice cream and corn on the cobb skewers or they might get spaghetti with a straw.

It is hilarious to watch them try to figure out how to eat spaghetti with a straw. Will they be successful at slurping it up?  Or will they figure out how to wrap the noodles around the straw?  One thing is certain, the task is much more challenging when you can’t stop laughing!

This dinner is super easy to plan and you really don’t have to put much more effort into it than you would a regular dinner.  It is the perfect way to spend a fun filled evening with your family.  Or invite friends over and make it a real party!

Add a few festive touches like fresh pink and red flowers, a pretty table cloth and valentines napkins and cute Valentine’s paper straws to make it extra special.  I promise that you will have so much fun that these silly dinners will become a special tradition your kids will ask for, and hopefully one day when they are grown up and have children of their own they will pass it on just like I have!

Make sure you download the free printables so you can get started on plans for you Cupid’s Cafe Valentine’s Day Dinner!

Now that we’ve given you a great party idea for Valentine’s Day we hope you check out one of these other amazing Valentine’s Day party ideas from our friends.  We’ve teamed up with 9 other bloggers for a fun Valentine’s Day party blog hop and know you are going to love all of the creativity these gals share!  We are also giving one lucky reader $200 so they can plan their own amazing Valentine’s Day party!  Enter for your chance to win below, good luck!

Chocolate Fondue Party by Fun-Squared ~ Dolly and Me Tea Party by Fawn Parties ~ Valentine Making Party ~ Follow Your Heart Galentine’s Party by The Party Porch ~ Shabby Chic Valentine Tea Party by Pretty Twinkle Party ~ Galentine’s Kisses by SNAP Creativity ~ Valentine’s Day Card Making by Make Life Lovely ~ Donut You Know I Love You Party by Your Everyday Family ~ Galentine’s Party by Tatertots and Jello ~ Cupid’s Cafe Dinner Party by Giggles Galore

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