“Let it go, let it go”… If you can’t hold it back anymore, then perhaps it’s time to stop resisting. Make this Christmas one to remember with an Anna-Olaf-Elsa fest that’ll melt your kids’ hearts. Here’s how to do it in style.

Frozen food

Frozen, the film that got everyone gaga, is set in Scandinavia, so go for a Nordic Christmas dinner. Appetisers might include cheese, crackers and liverwurst; use Olaf’s nose (mini carrots) to scoop up creamy dips. For the main course, traditional foods include baked ham with apple sauce, meatballs and smoked salmon with the feathery taste of dill. If you can get hold of some pickled herring, so much the better.

Normal cupcakes fast become a snowflake.

Cardamom and saffron are extensively used for flavouring throughout the region; try saffron with new potatoes or use the cardamom to make Nisu, a sweet bread. Berries are also an important food here (although good luck finding cloudberries in Malta; you might have to make do with whatever is round and vaguely orangey-red at the supermarket). Piiraka are a popular Finnish dish, tasty little pastries that go well with strong coffee.

If you suspect that the kids will balk at all this no-nonsense Nordic fodder, you could whip them up an Olaf pizza (a little disc of dough joined to a big disc will create his approximate shape; mozzarella cheese grated on top looks sort of snowy).

Drinks, at least, are easy. A pitcher of Melted Olaf (yes, that’s water) will offset all the sweetness to come, or you can compromise with a hot chocolate bar.

Sit back, relax and try to banish those annoying songs from your head

Desserts are the main event for this celebration. Make cupcakes pop with stand-up cake toppers of all the characters; 24 cost just €1.90 from Harold’s Bakeware (www.amazon.co.uk).

Dip pretzels in white chocolate then sprinkle with coconut snow for a wintery effect. Blue jelly sliced into oblongs looks a lot like ice (pile it up in a glass bowl) and the kids can help you make mini Olafs out of healthy banana slices with pretzel arms and legs on a skewer (marshmallows would work too). A traditional Christmas cake with marzipan and white icing can be given the Frozen treatment by adding white snowflake sprinkles (available from www.cakecraftworld.co.uk, €2.90 for a 100g bag).

A snow-topped cake is a must.

Presenting… the presents

There is no shortage of Frozen-themed presents to choose from. Without even trying, my daughter has acquired a Frozen backpack, lunch bag, extensive selection of dolls and a book with a floor-scape and rubberised characters. And you know what? She loves them all. In terms of Euro per play, they’re the best value toys she’s had in a while.

Amazon.co.uk have everything from stickers for the stocking (€4.40) to pyjamas (€12.70) and wall stickers (€16.70). The six figure playset is €31 and if you’re going all out, a Disney Frozen Magical Lights Palace Playset costs €58 while the Castle and Ice Palace Playset is a whopping €153. International shipping by Amazon is reasonable.

Freezing fun

It’s absolutely obligatory to have a round of pin the nose on Olaf. Drawing the snowman couldn’t be easier; all you need to play is his nose, a drawing pin and a blindfold. You can also play Snowball Sweep; fill a bowl with mini marshmallows, or little balls of cotton wool, and see who can pick up the most, using chopsticks for older kids or spoons for little ones.

Pass the Snowball makes a good game, with a prize wrapped in multiple layers of snowy white paper; the children pass the snowball round in a circle and when the music stops, the child holding the ball unwraps a layer (you can put a sweet inside each paper for added hyperactivity or snowflake sprinkles).

Pump up the Frozen beat for a game of musical corners. Designate four spaces as locations from the film (eg Arendelle Castle, The Southern Isles, Elsa’s Ice Palace and The North Mountain). When the music stops, the kids have to run to a corner. You will then designate one corner as ‘out’ each time, putting the kids in that corner out of the game.

Repeat until your ears bleed, or you have a winner (whichever is sooner). Cool them down afterwards with some heart-shaped frozen ice cubes. Whoever melts the heart the quickest is the winner (or you could put a sweet in the centre).

Cold crafts

Snowflakes are an easy craft win. Get the kids to cut out large white disks and then fold them in half, quarters and eighths. Cut out little notches; when you open the paper up again, it’ll have a wonderful snowflake pattern. Add glitter and glue for extra mess.

Frozen wands are also easy to do, requiring a stick, glue and paper to create a star on top. Or buy long spools of blue ribbon and make ribbon wands that the kids can twirl. On a similar theme, you can make an Elsa doll with a wooden spoon. Show them how to draw on the face, add white wool for the hair and wrap the handle in a gauzy blue material.

Let it snow

Malta isn’t known for its snow capped mountains, but you can make your own snow. You could order some of the powder online, but what they are going to send you is essentially the same stuff you’ll find inside a nappy, as long as its made of sodium polyacrylate (you can even educate your kids about polymers while you’re at it).

Simply scoop out the nappy innards and add a small amount of water. To stop it from being all mushy, add a little salt. Do not put the aftermath down the drain unless you want to try to find a plumber on Christmas Day to unblock your sink. If that’s too gross, try mixing three cups of baking soda with one-half a cup of white hair conditioner for a similar effect. Put the whole mess in a large plastic bowl and let the kids have fun finding hidden toys in the snow, driving Elsa’s sleigh through it and making snowballs.

If you’re the kind of person that thinks big, you can actually buy a snow machine. They’re less expensive than you might think, costing from around €50 on www.ebay.co.uk, plus the liquid required for them to make the snow. The less extravagant among us might make do with a long roll of paper, trimmed into icicle shapes.

A little something for the adults after the kids have gone.

A snowscape would also make a great backdrop to any party. Balloon Artistry have one that costs €17 (www.ebay.co.uk). You can hang your Frozen Christmas Stockings against it for full effect (www.notonthehighstreet.com/ellaandjoe).

Finally do what parents do in the evening

After all that frenetic Frozen excitement, parents need to wind down. As you slip out of your Hans and Ana costumes (or perhaps you’ll even leave them on?), get the grown-up party going with a Blue Curacao cocktail. Frost the rim of the glass with sugar and salt, then shake the Blue with a spot (or a lot) of vodka, pineapple juice, lime juice and some crushed ice; sit back, relax and try to banish those annoying songs from your head.