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Another whirlwind weekend at The Adventure School– TWO parties back to back on Sunday. Semper Ad Extremum foreva! The first party, a 50th birthday celebration, took place in the impeccably landscaped backyard of a beautiful home near The Arboretum. Actually, we can’t really take credit for this party’s success; the props go to Rose Tatlow, the wife of said 50 year-old birthday party recipient. We just provided moral support, the adventure bike, and some muscle to go along with it. (Read: THE ADVENTURE SCHOOL ALSO DOES CONSULTING WORK!) Rose’s party was absolutely overrun by swarms of adorable children. To keep them all happy and tantrum free, Rose came up with some fantastic activities. The spin art bike made a splashy appearance, of course. Rose had seen it at the 4th of July Party in Cal Anderson Park and asked it rent it. In fact, it was actually the bike that gave her the inspiration for the party, which had a street fair theme. As usual, the bike was a huge hit; we spun art in an unceasing stream for three hours, the spin artists producing many masterpieces of creative expression. Rose had also set up a tattoo station (fake, of course) and a zucchini racer assembly area complete with a custom-made zucchini racer track! Provided with feathers, nails, pipe cleaners, googly eyes, and beads, the kids went to town and built some super sweet rides. Because Rose’s ideas were so great, we felt inspired to come up with a few more ideas of our own for cool activities that make celebrations kid-friendly. 1. Snow Globes Stress Level: Messy and requiring considerable adult supervision, but tremendously fun. Probably only suitable for causal parties where kids are wearing clothes they can get messy. Materials: Glitter, beads, tiny trinkets, water, baby food jars with the labels peeled off, glue gun The Deets: Save old jars, fill them with plastic trinkets, confetti, glitter, and water. Kids can also hot glue figures to the lid as well as put them in the snowglobe. Definite adult supervision required (probably more than one). 2. Gumdrop Architects Stress Level: Low-ish. The only thing to worry about is getting sticky from the gum drops and poking oneself in the eye with a toothpick. Materials: Gumdrops and toothpicks The Deets: Set up a station and let the kids go wild and make huge structures by connecting gumdrops and toothpicks. 3. Masked Avengers Stress Level: On a sliding scale, depending on how fancy you get with the materials Materials: Anything decorative! (Stickers, beads, feathers, ribbon, etc.) half-masks, adhesive agents for any non-self-adhesive decorations The Deets: We actually vetted this activity at Eliza and Steve’s wedding and it was a hilarious success– the kids made masks for the catering staff. 4. Adventure Packs Stress Level: Low. Everything is pre-assembled. Materials: Things that amuse children- snacks, parachuting people, crayons, bubbles, candy, small games, etc. The Deets: Hand out the packs at the beginning of the party and turn the kids loose. The best thing about most of these activities is that adults can do them too; they also help everyone loosen up and get in touch with their inner child, which can significantly can boost the success level of any party. We see this happen every time we break out the spin art bike– the adults hover 3-5 feet away until we cajole them to come over and try it out. At first, they hesitate, but once they get into it there’s no turning back. Because let’s face it: no one can resist spin art or the chance to be a kid again. Leave a Reply |
