We had a pirate birthday party for Lincoln, who turned four last week, and invited 9 kids over. With my three kids added to the mix we had a total of twelve kids between the ages four and five for over an hour and a half! Eight of the kids, including Lincoln, are in my primary class at church so they knew each other very well and were quite comfortable with me…for good and bad!
The night before the party I put together this for Lincoln and it was a huge hit for all the kids. It was a little frustrating to put together and took me about forty minutes or so, but was well worth it. The Playmobil toys are well made and pretty easy to figure out the assembly. I was going to make this cake, but after reading the reviews that said it was very difficult to get it to hold together, and considering I am not an expert in the cake decorating field, I made one up instead. It was simple and quick and Lincoln was perfectly happy with it so I was too.
We played Hullabaloo Amazing Animal Adventure and the kids loved it. Our group was a little too big and after a couple bumped heads we split up into two groups and they took turns playing rounds. All the kids who have ever played this game at my house have loved it and several of the families have later told me they bought it. It is a fun, creative, active game that is good for getting kids to use up some of their energy. Even the most reserved child can’t help breaking out into a funky chicken dance when they win a round. This was the first time we had played with the animal version of the game. We also have this one and it is great as well. We also played Chicken Limbo, but they were maybe just a bit too young and it kept falling apart on them.
Of course, opening presents was the highlight for Lincoln and he got some pretty cool stuff. One friend gave him a skateboard and he is really excited to give it a try if our rain every stops…Mom’s still a little nervous about it, but he has never seen a skateboard so I can always tell him you sit on it and roll it with your feet and he won’t know the difference for now.
The gift bags were my favorite part of getting the party ready and I had a lot of fun putting them together. The kids colored a pirate and their name on the front of their bag and I found little wooden treasure chests for $1 at Michael’s Arts & Craft’s and filled them with gold wrapped Rolo’s candy and candy necklaces that I found in Christmas clearance at Wal-Mart for 75% off. I also got little light up swords that were only .88 at Wal-Mart and threw in a few toy gold coins. To top it off I threw in a mini container of Play Dough, even though it has nothing to do with pirates. Can’t go wrong with Play Dough! It made for a cute little party favor for under $3 per bag.
The kids seemed to have fun and I am really happy with the way it went, but there are a few things I will remember for next time!
*Keep the cake simple (which I ended up doing after stressing for days)
*12 kids is too many for a party for a four year old! 4–5 would have been perfect.
*A simple lunch is a good time killer and it is fun for the kids. We had hotdogs, pirates booty, popcorn to snack on, and Capri Suns. Not exactly healthy, but EASY.
*Don’t over plan games and store bought games are perfectly acceptable.
*Have toys or simple games out for kids to play with between transition times of eating/gaming/opening presents.
*Evite’s do not make me feel guilty
*Turning my head and missing who sent the set of Chicken Little books/cd’s DOES make me feel guilty! Must have been part of another gift because I wrote down something from everyone!
Whims 