Hello All,
I was contacted by the lovely Mummy and Landlady to some help with ideas for a rainbow party which is a fantastic idea and below is the response I gave her.
Hello Mummy and Landlady,
Wow a rainbow theme party what a great idea! and I know what you mean about the states they are celebration crazy!
Well there are lots of things that spring to mind, so I'll start at the beginning the best place to start I've been told ;)
Invitations:
Use brightly coloured paper and different colour envelopes to send the
party invites maybe even sealed with a rainbow sticker.
Decorations:
Cheap and easy paper chains in again lots of different coloured paper
(set your boys to work on this and challenge them who can make the
longest!)You can also buy some fantastic PomPoms (partypieces.co.uk)
sell these they come in all different sizes and look fantastic.
Place
settings why not get some plain white paper plates and leave some felt
tip pens by the side so the children can design their own rainbow party
plates (this idea also works great with party bags too!). If you can get
to a good ole fashioned cash and carry they have a great array of
napkin and cup colours, or why not ask other Mums to see if they have
any odds and ends left over from previous parties to make a great range
of colours.
Food:
Well youve got the healthy choice made here a
platter of fruit covering the colours of the rainbow would look
fantastic. Also little mini jellys in a range of colours too would
round the meal off nicely with hundreds and thousands on top (best bit
of the jelly).
And with your cupcake idea sprinkle some popping candy on top always fantastic food having noisy food.
Activities:
If
you wanted to put a craft table together for those who don't want to
join in games you can decorate party bags (paper bags) or a cheaper
option is making their own rainbow masks ...they could be rainbow
superheroes!! (you can buy great value packs of colour masks at
supermarkets like Tesco, Asda and Sainsburys for example and provide the
kids with some stickers and viola happy children playing superheroes!)
ooh
what about bubble pictures too ... get a tray fill with bubbles and
food colouring the children use straws blowing into the mixture to
create bubbles then place the paper on top to see their pictures.
Games:
I
love a good ole fashioned treasure hunt, and for the rainbow theme I
would go an get a box of quality street or similar you know the ones
where the sweets are wrapped in coloured paper and hide these all over
the venue for the kids to find ( though leave out the nutty ones just in
case of allergies).
Theres also colourful corners, a great game
where you mark four corners out with a colour, the children have 10
seconds to choose a corner (you close your eyes during this bit) and
when they have chosen you call out a corner colour if they are in that
corner they are out.
Party Bags:
For his age group you can't
go wrong with plastine and playdough. Why not buy some cheap tupperware
pots and put some playdough in them but all the colours of the rainbow
(playdough is super easy to make if you dont want to buy let me know and
can post the recipe) with that add a colourful lollipop and viola once
again done and dusted.
Do I really need a theme? its a kids party not a wedding!!
Children are always pretty passionate about something be it a cartoon character like Peppa Pig or Ben 10, to animals, pirates, dinosaurs, princesses, fairies, make up and pampering to camping and tree walking.
There are so many things but you will find it pretty easy to know what your child is all about. (Unfortunatly for me my daughter is all about Peppa Pig!)
It makes it easier for you to plan and provide for a party if you know what that theme is. For example take Peppa Pig (I use that example as I am planning my daughters party at the moment), there are some wonderful ideas to come from that: a farm visit to meet some real piggies, welly throwing, muddy puddle cupcakes the ideas just keep coming as you have a key place to plan from.
The nest thing to do when planning a childrens party I feel is use your imagination and involve the child in the planning (especially with making up games, they are fantastic at that!). If you are going somewhere for the party i.e. a local zoo, play centre etc they will already have done alot of the planning for you and really you can put your feet up but if your choosing to DIY your party then remember the theme.
Some examples of things to do at theme parties ( I could very easily say book me for these but I won't):
Make up and fashion party:
Book a pamper partyor maybe put together a box of costume jewelry father boas etc and let the girls have their own catwalk whilst you as the paparazzi take thier photos then to take home print the girls fashion photo off and present it to them in a colourful photoframe.
Dinosaurs:
Take them to a local dinosaur park or maybe take them on a dinsaur safari around the garden where before you have hidden toy dinosaurs, give them a check list and when they have found all of the dinosaurs on their checklist then they get a medal.
Ben 10:
Set out a craft activity when they can make their own omnitrix or maybe collect pictures of the Ben 10 monsters cut them up into body pieces and let the children build their own customised monster, give them a name and explain their special super powers.
Princess:
This doesnt have to be Disney, why not again do the costume jewlery dress up idea or maybe hide mini cinderella slippers (you can get them as wedding favours) around the garden for a find the glass slipper hunt.
You see there are so many different ways to use a theme and you can tailor it all the way from the invitations right down to the party bags.
What we aim to do:
Well it's quite simple, instead of using this blog to write down all my woes and daily life ( though I may add in a few funny stories from parties past), I am aiming to provide you with help.
Yes thats it help and it's free!
I will be doing write ups about local businesses in East Anglia (UK) about days out, party packages, venues, cake makes, decoration suppliers, dress hires (fancy or otherwise) beauty salons and more.
As well as writing up party tips and ideas that I have gathered over the years and over the web.
I will be looking at value for money, catering, flexibilty and much more basically doing the leg work so all you need do is have a read and see what suits you.
As well as running this alongside Pippa's Mad Hatters, I hope that this blog will stand alone and be a nice place to dip into for ideas and inspiration.
Hello,
Thank you for reading my first blog post!
Well an explination is in order I believe to why I've started to put together this blog. Well I hope it will be a good resource to any parents braving putting together a children's party, as well as publisice Pippa's Mad Hatters (childrens entertainments) this really is to help you as a central place for party ideas hints and help and also reviews.
I will be looking at party themes, games, venues, local suppliers and much more! Looking at value for money and flexibility too.
I started Pippa's Mad Hatters nearly two years ago after I had my little munchkin/monster Melody and started to look at childrens entertainment for parties. There are some amazing entertainers out there, but they were out of my budget so I thought about what skills I had working in entertainment over the years.
After purchasing public liability insurance, CRBs and materials I started up Pippa's Mad Hatters.
I don't spend alot on advertising I rely on word of mouth business as that goes along way.
So if you have any suggestions or questions about having a childrens party and need help just let me know in the comments and I will try and do a post tailored to your needs!
