Birthday Part 2- Party With Friends

The invitation

The rainbow decor.

 
 Yesterday was Red Fish's birthday party.  It was quite a production.  She has been planning it for two years.  I tried to convince her to have a party someplace easy (for me) but she wouldn't hear of it.  She wanted a rainbow/unicorn party with art projects.  Unfortunately I couldn't find anyplace that hosted one of those.  She also has a ton of little friends and it was very important to her that nobody be left out.  The guest list was extensive. I had to convince her to skip the preschool crowd and stick to neighborhood friends and the cousins closest in age to her.

Red Fish was thrilled with the results of the party and making my kids dreams come true is always a lot of fun. I had help from Two Fish, his Mom (who always saves me when I plan kids parties), my Mom and some friends who stayed to help.

We started the party with fruit loop necklaces.  The kids were actually much more interested in making these than I thought they would be.  Some of them spent most of their time eating but that was fine too.  While Two Fish cleared the tables, we played duck duck goose and acted out some little stories.

 Next we decorated paper mache treasure boxes with do a dot markers and foam stickers.  These are the perfect art supplies for large groups of young children.  We had ages 1-8 at the party and everybody enjoyed this activity.  I thought briefly about doing air dry putty activities but thankfully decided against it.  Keep it simple and use only washable products.

Next we sang some songs and played with our parachute.  I love the parachute.  Kids always go crazy over it.  Red Fish's little friends and cousins are so adorable.

 We did a treasure hunt through the house.  (Originally I had hoped we could go outside but it was too snowy and cold.  The kids had to hunt down each color of the rainbow with a series of clues. When we found the end of the rainbow there was a rainbow poster painted by Red Fish and a treasure box of prizes for the guests to pick from.  Next we played pin the cloud on the rainbow.

 We opened presents.  I am always so overwhelmed by the generosity of the gifts given at children's birthday parties.

 Red Fish received so many sweet and thoughtful gifts.  It was fun to see how well people know her and how over the top generous everyone was.  She was spoiled.

 We managed to include a unicorn in the party with this darling cake made by my uber talented friend Nancy.  Let me know if you want her contact info.  She is amazing.  Red Fish LOVED this cake.  It was exactly what she wanted.

 Red Fish loved her party.  She said it was everything she imagined.  I'm so lucky to be her Mom.  I'm glad I could make her so happy.

The inside of the cake was a rainbow as well.

Here is what I learned from the party this time- An hour and a half is the perfect time for a kids party.  Two hours is too long.  I need at least 6-8 activities to keep them busy.  Nothing takes as long as I think it should in my head.  Simple activities are best.  I tried really hard to be organized with the activites and have everything sitting out and prepped ahead of time.  This party went better than the last one I planned.  Hopefully I am getting better at this.