Celebrating a Family Burns Night with Kids

Burns night is not the most child-friendly activity (shockingly Whisky and Haggis don’t spring to mind in family meals), but here are some ideas if you do plan to celebrate Burns night and have a Scottish celebration at home with kids.

Dress the part and don the tartan

We cant celebrate a Scottish night without dressing like a Scot! Get out the tartan and wear it with pride!

Dont forget to dress the house too!! Can your children make some red and green paper chains or colour a large Scottish flag?

Kid’s Burns Night Crafts

Thanks to Pinterest for these fab Burns night craft ideas!

• Have a look at these GREAT ideas for Homemade Highland Games!
• Make a popsicle stick Scottish Thistle
• Lock Ness Finger Puppet
• This great selection of Scottish crafts

Have a Scottish Family Games Night (on Zoom!)

After toasting Burns together with a dram of whisky, it’s time to get competitive with a family games night of all things Scottish, get other Households involved with holding it all on zoom! Here are some things that you could include in Family Games Night:

• TEAM NAMES- Create your own clan name…. the more unusual the better (Our default is the Hairy Canny Lassies of Leeds).
• ROUND ONE- Quiz Round! A Family Quiz on Fun Scottish Facts. Download our Burns Night Quiz Here
• ROUND TWO- Dancing competition. Everyone to do their best effort at the Highland Fling
• ROUND THREE- Highland Games Stone Throw (well, sort of). Who can throw a bean bag the furthest?
• ROUND FOUR- Farmer’s Dash. Pop something heavy in two bags- perhaps large bottles of water. Hold a bag in either hand. Mark a race track (along your hallway/ around the kitchen table or in your garden). First one to complete the race wins!
• ROUND FIVE- Sheaf toss…use a broomstick or brush to toss a pillow.
• AFTER KIDS BEDTIME – get creative with the whisky. Who can make the best whisky cocktail?

Enjoy a Burns Supper

Before you even get to supper- make sure it’s a hearty oat porridge to start the day, and get some shortbread to snack on throughout!

Start a Burns supper by finding some bagpipes on Spotify as the meal starts.

Children may not be fans of Haggis (part of a traditional Burns supper), so why not make it interesting with a recipe of chicken stuffed with haggis or instead go for a meal inspired by the spices of haggis, such as these Jamie Oliver Lamb Shanks.  If they really cant be persuaded, try  a more traditional meal of a Roast, or a meat pie accompanied by the traditional Neeps& tatties. And remember, a true part of a traditional Burns Night is to read our one of Burns’ most famous Poems; ‘Address to a Haggis‘.

If you’re enjoying a child-free Burns night, this Tipsy Trifle looks like a rather tasty dessert!

More a fan of cheeses? Scotland does cheeses. Order a selection from your local deli and enjoy with oatcakes.

On Burn’s Night a key tradition is to raise ‘a dram’ to Robert Burns. If you’re not a fan, have a look at these great suggestions for Whisky cocktails!

Finish your Burns supper with everyone singing Auld Lang Syne.

Watch a Movie based in Scotland

Get all those glorious Scottish feels by watching some stunning scenery! Children may love to see the 1996 film Lock Ness. For the adults, well, I don’t ever really need an excuse to watch Mel Gibson. But if you do, now is the time to watch Braveheart!

Toast some Marshmallows out by the fire

Ok I agree this is absolutely not a Scottish Burns Night tradition. But it’s a great chance to get outside and enjoy some time by a fire pit. And whilst you’re there you might as well toast some marshmallows because who doesn’t love them?

Sparklers in the Garden

Again, not traditional. But it is fun. Make sparklers safer for little fingers by sticking the ends in a carrot to hold!