Baby Party Activities

Finding the perfect activity to keep guests happy at your child’s first birthday party can be challenging. After all, a child that age is likely to have few BFFs. What’s more, the guest list for most 1-year-old’s birthday parties tends to include a huge age range, from elderly grandparents to infant cousins. Given the wide range of guests’ ages, it is nearly impossible to come up with a game or activity that the entire group can enjoy. At least that’s what I thought as I made my way to my friend’s house last weekend. Her baby boy was turning one, … Continue reading →

Mommy Beach Party

Mother Nature decided to gift your daughter with torrential rains and hurricane-strength winds on her birthday–the day you planned to celebrate her special occasion at the beach. Now what? Instead of drowning your sorrows in pounds of pasta salad and soggy streamers, encourage your daughter turn off the indoor waterworks, and help you transform your home into Mommy Beach. The party can go on as planned with these simple projects: INDOOR SAND CASTLES Ingredients: 1 cup of cornstarch 2 cups of sand 11/2 cups of cold water 1 old pan (Use one that you can sacrifice for this project as … Continue reading →

Planning a Pooh Bear Birthday Party

Being big Winnie the Pooh fans around here, we have thrown several “silly old bear” themed parties. Because there is so much Pooh related stuff out there, it is an easy party to put together. You won’t have any trouble finding Pooh plates, Pooh shaped cake pans, or even Pooh piñatas. All of that stuff is fine, but it’s more fun (and cheaper) to get a little creative. And making your own party stuff gets the children involved. For invitations think about brown honey pot shaped paper, or a red shirt shaped card with the word “Pooh” on the front. … Continue reading →

Birthday Parties Can Be Fun

I know a lot of parents who dread birthday parties. They don’t like the noise, the expense, or the amount of presents. I will admit that I don’t either. I have been to some very out of control parties. Over the years the parties seem to get more and more expensive and hyper. My brother emailed a story of a family who spent over $2000 on a birthday party for their son, who was turning one! Birthday parties don’t have to break the bank though. And they can be fun though, for everyone. Or at the very least, they don’t … Continue reading →

Gloves, Hats, and Necklaces – Craft Ideas for Tea Parties

What’s a tea party without gloves? I have several ideas for decorating gloves, depending on the age group of your guests and how many adult helpers you have. If you are lucky you can sometimes find old dress gloves at thrift stores and garage sales. If you can’t find them or don’t want to glue things to almost antique clothing, gloves meant for keeping lotion on your hands, or those one size fits all stretch gloves that cost about a dollar work just fine too. Plain gloves are fine and will feel fancy to the children. But gloves with decorations … Continue reading →

Tea Party Birthday Parties

Tea party themed birthday parties can be loads of fun, and aren’t hard to put together. For invitations consider a teacup-shaped card with a string and tag attached mimicking a tea bag. You can write your party details on the tag and on the cup. Dressing up is the most fun part. You can invite your guest to come dressed up, or consider it a party activity. Position a mirror in the party room so the girls can see how they look. Provide boas, tiaras, and loads and loads of beaded necklaces and bracelets. Thrift stores and garage sales are … Continue reading →

Birthday Traditions

Since my twins turn ten tomorrow, I thought I’d share some birthday traditions. All day today I’ve been getting in my last nine year old hugs. I do this every year, it’s a fun excuse to hug and kiss the kids. I make a big deal out of their last whatever year old bath, and breakfast, and bedtime. It is just a bit of silliness that adds to the excitement of the coming birthday. And on birthdays I am quick to get in that first birthday hug and kiss, too. We’ve been busy with cakes today, too. I’ve always let … Continue reading →

Harry Potter Party

This is a big summer for Harry Potter fans. The Order of the Phoenix movie comes out on July 13th in regular theatres and in IMAX. The final book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be released on July 21st. Since it’s such a big summer for Harry fans, I thought I’d share a few ideas for parties with a wizard theme. A few years ago my oldest had a Harry Potter birthday party. Some of the kids wore costumes from Halloween, others wore t-shirts. For drinks, we had “potions”. We used a word processing program … Continue reading →

On Turning Three

My little lady turns three today, at 12:14 PM (Eastern Standard Time) to be specific. It has been a remarkable three years. We have seen so much together (Florida, Maine, North Carolina, New York, Rhode Island and France) and shared a countless array of hilarious moments. So what amazing activities do we have planned for her big day? Well, nothing really. Sitting around the house, coloring, baking a chocolate cake (with white icing) and general silliness. And for her party tomorrow? Immediate family, two close friends, pizza, soft pretzels and selections of hot hors d’oeuvres and fruit. Wow, we are … Continue reading →

Laser Tag Birthday Party

Laser tag is cool. My boys had a great birthday party at Laser Quest. The staff was friendly, helpful and polite. What a change from some other places we’ve had parties. We had time for a game of laser tag, then pizza and presents, another game, and then cake and ice cream. I would recommend breaking up the games like we did. The kids need a little while to compare scores, go to the bathroom, and settle down. The minimum age for playing is seven. There are good reasons for that. For one, you wear a heavy vest, and the … Continue reading →