Showing posts with label Space. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Space. Show all posts

Jul 17, 2010

Space-Themed Birthday Party

For my son's 4th birthday party I planned another space-themed party. This one was more about "astronauts exploring the universe."I made astronaut necklaces for each guest to wear. Once the kids had them on they were ready to explore!We went on a scavenger hunt and discovered all 8 planets in our solar system. I had hidden all the clues outside and the kids had to figure out where each planet was hidden. We started with Neptune and worked our way back to...The sun! And not just any sun, a massive pinata sun! I spent all week making this paper mache pinata out of a punching bag balloon. It was huge! And it turned out to be too solid for the kids to break apart (I put three layers of newspaper on the balloon)! It eventually fell off the string and the kids just ripped it open while it was on the ground.Next we played Meteoroid Toss! Two of the dads held up hula hoops and the kids had to toss water balloons through the hole. I told them that the hula hoops were the rings around Saturn and they had shrunk in size so we had to throw the meteoroids (water balloons) through the rings to help build them back up!

After we helped Saturn return it's rings to their normal size, we played Moon Rock Relay. I found some foam balls at the Dollar store and ripped them up into rock size pieces (it was harder than it sounds!). Then, I got four buckets, split the kids up into four teams and they were supposed to, one at a time, pick up a moon rock and place it in their team's bucket. Whatever team had the most moon rocks in their bucket once all the "rocks" were gone, won!The only thing left for our astronauts to do was discover the moon. I made this moon cake by putting half the batter in an 8" round pan and the other half in a glass oven-safe bowl. It stacked perfectly!
To make the inside more fun I did rainbow cake batter. It didn't turn out exactly how I wanted since I bought a yellow cake instead of a white. I'll know better next time!

May 31, 2010

Moon and Stars Birthday

A few weeks ago a friend of mine asked me for some ideas for a birthday party she was planning for her daughter. I was so excited, I wish I lived closer so I could have helped more! So, this is my first guest post!

Her daughter loves stars and the moon so...The party guests were greeted with drawings on the sidewalk leading up to the door...A birthday sign on the door...Blue and white lights...And moon and star decorations hung from the ceiling with fishing line!Guests were also encouraged to wear shirts that had any kind of star or moon on it and had their faces painted when they walked in the door with what? You guessed it, stars and moons!The first game the kids played is the only idea that I can take credit for, everything else was Lindsay! It was a Moon Rock Hunt. The moon rocks are space-themed candy (Starbursts, mini-Milky Way bars, mini-Mars bars, etc.) wrapped up in tinfoil and hidden/scattered all over the room. Before unleashing the kids to find the moon rocks, they each decorated their own little paper bag to put the moon rocks into.
The next game was the Blackhole Game. It sounds like so much fun and I can't wait to use it! Place the hula hoops in a circle and turn on some music. When the music stops the kids have to find a hula hoop to stand in (more than one person can be in a hula hoop). Before starting the music back up again, take one hula hoop away. When the game ends, everyone has to try to fit in one hula hoop! Some ideas for songs to go with the theme are:

How High The Moon
It's Only A Paper Moon
A Star Is Born
All Star
You're A Shining Star
When You Wish Upon A Star
Swinging On A Star
Satellite
Starry Eyed Surprise
Fly Me To The Moon
The party ended with a star cookie and star bracelet as the party favors. Sounds like such a fun party, and thanks Lindsay for letting me post all of your great ideas!