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Posts Tagged ‘kids’

Happy Birthday Rubber Ducky!

Posted by Katie on January 13, 2010 in General

1226410356.usr18053You learn something new everyday, right?

Well I bet you didn’t know that January 13th is Rubber Ducky’s birthday! Yes, I’m talking about the lovable Sesame Street character!

If you have a young one at home with a birthday coming up, why not celebrate with a Rubber Ducky-themed party? I went to kids-birthday-party-guide.com to learn how to pull it off!

Invitations:

For rubber ducky birthday invitations, you have a couple of fun options.

First, you can take a picture of your child bathing in a tub with his or her rubber duck toy. Print that image on the front of white invitation cards. Write your rubber duck birthday party details inside the cards. Then decorate the invitations with theme stickers.

The wording of the invitations can say “Splish! Splash! It’s (your child’s name) __th Birthday Bash!” For a different wording of your invitations, write “(Your child’s name) is All Quacked Up over her __th Rubber Duck birthday party!”

As an alternative, you can attach rubber duck party invitation to a toy rubber ducky. Then mail out the invitations along with toys to your party guests. This will definitely get the kids excited about attending your special event! Read more »

Theme Thursday: A WINTER Luau Party!

Posted by Katie on December 31, 2009 in Theme Thursday

Last week I gave you some tips on how to embrace the cold and throw a winter-themed birthday party — and today

I’m teaching you how to do just the opposite :)

Escape from the cold! Throw an indoor luau birthday party and remind yourself that spring is just around the corner!

Below are some of my favorite tips, but visit Suite101.com for more!

Invitations:

Printable invites are below. Print on regular paper or cardstock. Cut along the outer dotted lines and fold the inner dotted lines to form the invite. Fill in the appropriate information.

Decorations:

When you have a luau for your child’s birthday, the decorations are part of the fun. Now is the time to get creative! Use brightly colored streamers, seashells and raffia table runners. Pull out all of your tropical plants to set around the party room. No luau party would be complete without hibiscus flowers and raffia. Buy artificial hibiscus flowers and cut them off the stem. Spread them over the party table. You can almost always find luau themed tableware at your local party supply store, but if you can’t then bright solid colors work just as well.

Activities:

Make Your Own Lei

Of course when you have a luau birthday party, a lei is a must. Instead of buying cheap, plastic leis, why not have each child make his or her own? Collect artificial flowers and take them off the stem. Remove all of the plastic middles. You will be left with petals with holes in the middle. Next, cut brightly colored straws into 1/2 inch pieces. To start, string a piece of thin twine or kite string on large plastic needles. You can find these at almost any store that sells crafts items. These are easier for kids to handle than regular needles. Instruct the kids to string a petal, followed by a straw until the twine is full. Now each child has created he or her own unique Hawaiian lei.

Pass the Pineapple

Play this game like Hot Potato, except pass a pineapple (or coconut) around the circle. Find some festive Hawaiian music to play while the kids are sitting in a circle. As the music plays, the pineapple will pass from child to child. When the music stops, the child holding the pineapple is out. The last person left is the winner.

Cake and Snacks

Cupcakes are perfect for a kid’s birthday party because no utensils are needed and they are easy to make. Bake cupcakes and spread white frosting over them. Take graham crackers and crush them very finely. Sprinkle them over the frosting—it will resemble beach sand. Now add a little paper umbrella. For snacks set out bowls of goldfish crackers and plenty of fresh fruit. Make fruit skewers using strawberries, fresh pineapple and grapes. You can even cut off the bottom of a fresh pineapple so it sits up nicely. Put it in the middle of a large serving platter and stick your fruit skewers directly into the pineapple. This makes a nice table centerpiece that serves a purpose, too.

Goodie Bags

No kid’s birthday party would be complete without a goodie bag. Use plan brown lunch bags and give each child beach themed goodies such as a beach ball, gummy fish and goldfish crackers. Tie the bag off at the top with raffia and you have an easy, inexpensive luau party goodie bag for your child’s party. You can even give large beach balls and have each child autograph it, or add the goodies to a plastic beach pail. The possibilities are endless!

Tip Tuesday: Winter Birthday Parties

Posted by Katie on December 22, 2009 in Tip Tuesday

kids_playing_in_snowMost of the country is blanketed with snow this week, which got me thinking — how do you throw a great birthday party during the cold, dreary months of winter?

I went to Celebrations.com and found some great ideas for both indoor AND outdoor activities! Check it out!

Celebrate a Kids’ Winter Birthday with a Snow Day!

For kids, one of the best things about winter is the possibility of a snow day – no school means plenty of opportunity for play!

Recreate this fun day for a cold-weather birthday. If the weather isn’t too frightful, take advantage of the free entertainment a yard full of snow brings.

Plan outdoor activities at the beginning of the party when kids will already be bundled up.

Snowball Fight: Make sure to establish ground rules about the force of throwing snowballs before the game begins.

Build-A-Snowman Contest: Provide old clothes and items for a face (buttons, bottle caps, small toys), divide kids into teams and watch as snowmen come to life.
In locations where no blanket of snow falls on the ground, you can still have a winter wonderland.

Rent a snow machine, which often goes on sale after the holidays.

Let kids make snow with a mini science experiment. Give each child their own cup of specialized powder, add water and watch their eyes light up.

Make Snow Globes at a Winter Birthday Party!

For a simple, yet amusing, wintertime birthday craft, let children create their own snow globes, which also double as party favors.

  • Small jars (one for each child)
  • Small waterproof items (plastic toys, ceramic figurines) for each child
  • Waterproof glue
  • Glitter
  • Clean and dry each jar.
  • Adhere an object to bottom of each jar with waterproof glue and let dry overnight.
  • During craft time, give each child a jar to work with.
  • Let kids sprinkle glitter into their jars and fill them with water.
  • Glue on lids and shake the snow globes!

    • Materials:
    Steps:

    Meet Colleen

    Posted by Colleen on December 17, 2009 in Eating Healthy & Staying Well

    Hi Everyone!

    My name is Colleen, and I am excited to join the Official Birthday Blog as a regular contributor.

    Just a little bit about me – I’m a nutritionist who works for the American Cancer Society, and my goal is to help all of us eat better and be more active. (I’m also a mom, and know how challenging it can be to get kids to eat more fruits and vegetables, put down the tv remote and back away from the computer!).

    There’s no doubt about it: eating well and being active can help us celebrate more birthdays – and we also want to help you celebrate more healthy birthdays! So look for my posts to have a bit of a healthy twist to them (and don’t worry – you can have your cake and eat it to!)

    Theme Thursday: A very crafty party

    Posted by Katie on December 10, 2009 in Theme Thursday

    girlArts and crafts were truly the staple of my childhood… so many fond memories of bright-colored construction paper, beads, Elmers glue, and an obscene amount of glitter. So as a throwback to my formative years, here are some tips to throwing a fantastic craft-themed birthday, from Fisher-Price.com.

    Invitations:
    Stencil invitations: Cut out your own stencil or buy one from a craft store. Fold a piece of paper in half and stencil the design on the front. Write the information for your crafts party inside. Keep the design simple.

    Decorations:
    Set up a room for kids to do arts and crafts; cover the floor with plastic or newspapers. Or, host the birthday party outside.

    Provide easels, tables and white paper for creating artwork and crafts, along with lots of craft materials, such as markers, safety scissors, glue, fabric scraps, sequins, glitter, stickers, colored paper and so on.

    Hang the birthday boy’s or girl’s arts and crafts projects around the party room at child’s eye level.

    Decorate the party table with art and craft supplies.

    Make placemats for the party guests that look like artists’ palettes.

    Read more at Fisher-Price.com

    Tip Tuesday: Birthdays at School

    Posted by Katie on December 01, 2009 in Tip Tuesday

    girls reading a birthdaycardHaving a birthday on a school day can be very exciting for a child. The whole class sings happy birthday and they get to celebrate with their friends. Most of the time everything goes well and all the kids have a great time, but there are a few things you should watch out for when planning your child’s birthday celebration at school. Here are a few tips from veteran teacher Lyn Newton on families.com:

    If sending birthday party invitations to school, please send enough invitations for the entire class or at least invite either all of the girls or all of the boys, depending on the gender of the child. Too often, invitations are sent to school only for a select few. It is too heartbreaking for those not invited. It is much easier to explain to the girls that only the boys were invited or vise versa. If you cannot send invitations for everyone, contact the teacher for addresses and mail the invitations.

    If you plan on sending birthday treats for your child’s class, ask the teacher for a specific time and treat preference. I have always appreciated parents that sent paper plates or paper towels along with cupcakes. I usually have these items in my room, but I have been caught short of them! Juice boxes are also great.

    With new healthier school plans, it might be a better idea to surprise your child and eat lunch together at school instead of sending treats. When teaching first grade, I had a girl whose mother performed as a clown through her church. On the girl’s birthday, the mother and a friend surprised her and put on a show for my class. The event was prearranged with me. It took twenty minutes out my class, the students loved it, and I didn’t have the mess or sugar rush left from cupcakes.

    Theme Thursday: Sesame Street party

    Posted by Josh on November 05, 2009 in Theme Thursday

    sesame_street_friendsAs we reported yesterday, Sesame Street just celebrated its 40th birthday (Google even dedicated a “Doodle” to it on their homepage). Well we can’t pass up an opportunity to dedicate a Theme Thursday post to the amazing children’s show, so without further adieu, here is how you can throw the perfect Sesame Street party (courtesy of ehow.com):

    Choose a more specific theme within the Sesame Street umbrella, featuring your child’s favorite character or activity. This makes it easier to buy or create accessories and a color scheme. For example, the Elmo’s World theme is very popular with 3-year-olds.

    Decorate the day of the party with balloons, streamers, confetti and other decorations that match your particular theme. To create Elmo’s World in one room of your house, cover a side with white paper and enlist your toddler’s help in coloring it just like Elmo’s drawer. Put up pictures of Mr. Noodle and Dorothy the Fish, too.

    Plan several Sesame Street-style learning activities and games. For an Elmo’s World theme put up pieces of poster board and lay out glitter, glue and crayons to let the guests make their own art just like Elmo does. Play pin the crayon on Elmo’s hand and ask guests to guess how many goldfish crackers are in several bowls around the room.

    Big Bird's birthday is a time to remember the magic of 'Sesame Street'

    Posted by Josh on November 04, 2009 in General

    sesame_streetToday is a big day for an unusually large bird. Big bird, his pals, and their wonderful PBS children’s show Sesame Street turn 40 today. Since its inception, the show has become a cultural phenomenon and a household name. The New York Daily News discusses the show’s history and its enormous impact on children (and parents) everywhere:

    [The show] was years ahead of its time in promoting values that are now taken for granted in many places – accepting and appreciating diversity, not making assumptions based on gender, and being sensitive to cultural and economic differences, are all ideas the show emphasized before it was fashionable to do so.

    It was also innovative in incorporating jokes and references that only adults would appreciate, including pop music. A 3-year-old won’t realize that a song ”Letter B” is a spoof of The Beatles. But parents did, and it kept them, and their kids watching.

    Celebrities and cultural figures appear regularly on the show. First Lady Michelle Obama made a recent visit to promote gardening and healthy eating habits.

    But part of “Sesame Street’s” message is that celebrity or not, we’re all equal and deserving of respect, and that’s how we should treat each other, too.

    So thank you, Sesame Street, for making childhood more fun and teaching us valuable life lessons that are still as relevant and important today as they were 40 years ago. Happy birthday, and here’s to many more.

    Decisions Decisions

    Posted by Josh on November 02, 2009 in General

    DecisionsPlanning a party for kids is always more stressful than it has to be. There are always those little decisions that either make or break a party, and AmazingMoms.com has some answers and tried-and-true advice:

    The Invitation Equation Child’s age + 1 = happy kids. For children under 8 years old, invite as many children as the child’s age plus one. Some parents choose to add 1 or 2 to this equation. Only you 
can know your limits. Of course, as your child gets much older the formula will need revision.

    Party Favors In choosing party favors, it’s better to spend more creativity than money. 
Give a wonderful thank you item/items that reflects the party theme; a flowerpot and seeds for a garden party, modeling clay for an art party. 
You can even send the kids home with a treasure they’ve made during the party. The birthday child should hand out the favors. This will remind her to say “thank you”.

    Make your own birthday hats

    Posted by Josh on October 19, 2009 in General

    320309-main_FullPlenty of kids love to play dress-up, and birthdays should be no exception! Here are a few ideas, courtesy of ehow, for how to make a special birthday hat for your little tyke so they can let their imagination soar (they might even want to help you make it!):

    Birthday Bonnets

    Young girls will love making these beautiful tea-party bonnets. They are great for themes like garden party, diva, fashion and dress-up. You will need paper plates, tissue paper, ribbon and glue.

    Start with a paper plate and cut the inside circle out of it. This will allow it to fit over the child’s head. Next, cut up the tissue paper into pieces 3 inches wide and about 15 inches long. Roll up the tissue paper and pinch the ends. Fluff out the wide part to look like a rose. Glue the “flowers” all around the paper rim to form a hat. Add a ribbon around it and tie it in a bow in the back.

    Wizard and Princess Party Hats

    Transform all of your party-goers into princesses or wizards with these long-cone hats. You will need a large sketch pad (11 by 17 inches), scissors, tape, markers, star stickers, gem stickers and ribbon.

    Start with a sheet of sketch paper and roll it into a cone. Trim off the bottom to make an even circle to place upon the child’s head. Unroll the paper and allow the kids to decorate it with markers and stickers. They can even write names like “Princess Mary” or ”Wizard Jimmy.” When they are finished, re-roll the hats and tape them shut. Drape ribbon off the top of the princess hats.

    Sailor Caps

    Set sail for a party full of mini Navy officers with these sailor hats. You will need a large sketch pad and markers.

    Lay the paper out and fold it in half. Turn it over on its side and fold it in half again. Unfold the last fold, then fold the top corners into the middle to make a triangle. Fold the bottom flaps up. Fluff it out and allow each child to color their own. They can draw boats or fish or write a name.

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