Decorations:
Drape the walls with fabric to suggest a cave or other environment. Alternately, decorate the walls with paper dragons and dragon eggs. Or decorate with one large paper dragon that wraps around the walls. Invite guests to bring a dragon of their own invention. It could be a drawing, sculpture, or creation in any media. Set these around the room. Later, choose winners in categories such as most original, most regal, most fierce, etc.
Music:
Epic, heroic music
Activities:
Pin-the-Fire-on-the-Dragon: Play the traditional Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Donkey game, but replace the “tail” with “flames” that blindfolded players try to stick on the mouth of a paper dragon taped on a wall.
Polish Your Dragon: Dragons are quite vain about their appearance. They try to keep their brilliant scales as clean and shiny as possible, but sometimes they need their Riders to give them a hand with the project. Have guests pretend they are dragon riders and try to find creative solutions to this problem: how do you clean and polish your dragon’s scales? Vote on answers and give a prize to the winner.
Dragonrider Skills: Eragon had to practice to improve his reflexes and coordination. Try these games to do the same:
a. Throw beanbags through hoops, in baskets, or at bulls-eye targets.
b. Play a game of horseshoes.
c. Build an obstacle course. Then crawl, hop, jump, balance, run, and throw things at targets as you progress through it.
Riddles: Dragons love to tell and solve riddles. Compile a few that relate to dragons (Google “dragon riddles”) and see if your friends can guess the answers. Here is one to get you started:
I am always hungry.
I must always be fed.
The finger I lick will soon turn red.
(Answer: fire)
Feed the Dragon: Prepare a large batch of popcorn balls and wrap them in plastic. Label a large bucket or wastebasket with the words Firnen’s Dinner. Beginning across the room, have guests take turns hopping (feet together) up to a starting line, and then tossing the popcorn balls into the bucket until full. Let younger children stand nearer the bucket. At the end of the party, guests take the popcorn balls home. Alternately, you could play a relay game, passing the popcorn balls to the bucket on a large spoon or spoons.
Find the Rabbit: During Saphira’s first visit to Ellesméra, Glaedr taught her exercises to stretch and strengthen her wings and legs, which she practiced daily. Stretch out your arms and legs. Then holding a sheet or cape behind you with arms outstretched, practice soaring around the room. Have someone hide a toy rabbit or mouse in the room, and then have “dragons” soar about and try to find it.
Crafts:
Make a Dragon Egg: Design, make, and decorate a dragon egg, using paper maché wrapped around a balloon. Include a poem or paragraph describing what the hatching will look like.
Dragon Note Cards: Long ago, the elves and dragons were at war. Once an understanding was reached between the two races and peace established, the elves came to honor the dragons for their intelligence and for their inherent link with magic. Use your creativity to draw dragons on blank notecards.
Coat of Arms: You are a Dragon Rider. Design and draw your coat of arms. Choose colors and symbols to represent the best in yourself and your dragon. Draw your coat of arms on paper. Optionally, use the design to decorate a cardboard shield.
Dragon Rider: Choose a character from the Inheritance Cycle. Draw a picture of him or her riding a dragon.
Eldunarí Pendant: Choose a large acrylic bead to represent your dragon’s Eldunarí. Make sure the bead has a hole through the top. Thread a string through the hole and wear it as a necklace or hang it in your home. Alternately, decorate a construction paper gem with sequins and glitter to represent the Eldunarí.
Food:
Dragons are meat eaters. Meat substitutes can be made for vegetarians.
Dragon’s Mead: When Saphira drank mead, she thought it was very tasty. Its high alcohol content, however, soon made its effects known. In its stead, serve up a punch of sparkling fruit juices or fruit juice mixed with ginger ale or sparkling water.
Roast Beef: Dragons prefer their meat raw. Humans, however, like their chunks of beef cooked. Roast some beef and slice it thinly to serve.
Sausage: Dragons are not finicky about their dinners. They appreciate the human custom of making sausages, which use up the less appealing parts of animals so they are not wasted. Cook a batch of sausages and serve them sliced and skewered with a toothpick.
Boiled Eggs: One time in the Varden camp, a cook gave Saphira a plate full of chicken eggs. Saphira playfully blasted them with fire, only to jump back in surprise when they exploded from the intense heat! A safer way to enjoy eggs is to boil them, and then peel, dice, season, and mix them with mayonnaise, to make a yummy egg salad. Serve on lettuce, bread, or rolled up in thin slices of meat.
Ginger Cookies: Dragons really like the fiery flavor of cinnamon and ginger. Make a batch of ginger cookies, perhaps using a bit of extra ginger, to make a spicy cookie that even a dragon would love.
