weaving the rainbow

Friday, February 6, 2009 ;

4:30 PM

Party snacks and craft

Ju and ds2 attacking the snacks.
Snakes in choc pudding.

Cutlery, bowls, plates are all green and gold too.

The moms sure did have a good time catching up. They were seated in that position from start till end, almost. Chatting away.

1st craft - Pail decor
They were handed a green pail with the label "Supply rations" and they can print their names on the label and decorate it with pop up stickers, feathers, paper or pipe cleaners.

2nd craft - making a pair of binoculars
Using paper cups that Dh had already knifed holes in, the kids drew pics on the paper cups, decorated them and taped them together, then taped some string to the cups.

Y said her son loves it so much, he is still using it at home now, playing with his sisters. That's the 3 boys working on their binos. A picture of concentration.

3rd activity - face painting
This took place anytime, own time, own target. I told the moms where the face paints were (on the craft table) and they are free to use it at anytime. I had wet wipes and cotton wool for anyone who wants to change design too. ds1 for example, wanted a camouflage pattern right from the start. He wanted to be a soldier.

ds2 didn't want anything to do with the face paints, recoiling in horror when he saw how ds1 looked. ha. But when Ju and others got their faces painted, he wanted to be alligator. Funny.

Ju and Val.

4 - Petting zoo
Forgot to mention about the petting zoo. The bunk bed was decorated into an animal area. The bedspreads were all those I already had (somehow everytime Aussino has a sale, I happen to buy animal sheets) and were suitably bright and featured very adorable animals. Our own stuffed toys and the guests' were placed in the petting zoo, and the kids can play with the animals within the "zoo".

It seemed like a popular area too, because at various times, I will see the younger girls inside, playing with the animals, or the older ones having an animal meeting or animal fight. Good self-entertainment station.

5th activity - Bugs in drinks
How do we get bugs in the drinks? The boys especially love such icky yuckky stuff. I was a bit hesitant, because kids might get choked on it, so be sure to keep a close eye on the kids!

What I did beforehand was to put M&Ms, gummi bears, gummi bugs into ice cube trays and make ice cubes with the bugs and bears inside the cubes.

Then I gave the kids all the cubes in a box, with spoons. They had their personalised plastic cups (with their names written on it, and their fav stickers), and they are free to spoon as many cubes as they like into the cups. Then pour their favourite beverage into the cup and wait for the bugs to appear in their drink.

This effectively occupied ds2 for the most part of the party later on, which was ideal for me!

Initially, as I was reading up on party ideas before this party, I read many suggestions on how to involve the other siblings in parties because they often felt left out. Suggestions included buying them presents as well and also letting them invite some of their own special friends. But I thought ds2 is old enough to understand that it was his brother's party, and I didn't want him to expect to have anything special on his brother's bday as well. So I just had some extra pails and such so he could join in the activities also, even though it was geared for the 6 yr old group.

Thus, there were some games and activities that really did not interest him, like the charades or Lion Hunt. I let him be, and he occupied himself at the ice and drinks area. It was going on swimmingly well for me until I saw his drink had like 10 gummies inside! He wasted all the gummies cos he didn't eat them, he only wanted to play. The rest of the kids ate their gummies and M&Ms.

Btw, a note: the M&Ms fade in the water, so the ice cube took on the colour of the M&M. You'd get blue, yellow, red ice cubes. Good if you like colour, but not so good if you want the M&M to stay coloured and the ice transparent.

The others having their bug fun.

Being silly in the zoo.

The parents also became crafty at the end of the party. Z was making pipe cleaner roses and her hubby made goofy glasses. M got one of the glasses, and doesn't he look so cool and funky?

ds2 had so much fun of his own too. Now, he says he wants the same Jungle Party in March. Only, he'll be celebrating it with just us and our neighbors. I think the younger the kids the less friends they need at a party since they parallel play most of the time. An article I read said a good guide would be to invite the number of friends corresponding to the birthday child's age.

That would make for a more meaningful party for the bday child instead of too many kids at the party.

When ds1 was younger, 2 or 3, we had big BBQs cos we invited our friends instead of his friends. He didn't have his own friends, but then we realised it was difficult to have meaningful interactions with everyone. We also didn't enjoy the BBQ so much because we had to prepare a lot of food beforehand and it wasn't as fresh and yummy as it should be.

Thereafter, we have preferred to have small cosy BBQs. Don't know whether ds2 will say it's unfair in future, but I think it is for the better that he only invite his own friends when he grows older and has real close friends? Before he can decide that, the parties should be between the immediate extended family members and some close friends. At least, that's what Dh and I decided.

rainbows every day, do not worry for the morrow
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