Shirley's party advice part 4 - Better at party planning than Pippa Middleton

[BlatherskiteOfTheLivingDead]

New thread :) Everyone welcome.

Right. Here I am, typing with fingerless gloves cos it's flipping freezing in my shed office, but at least on a keyboard.

Tethers - where are you? I have a butterfly shaped silicone cake mould (it's a bit strange, TBH - it's this one and it's like a jigsaw (but I guess that does make it easier in that it should rise evenly, etc)

Games - 4yos - don't be too ambitious. They don't really know many games yet. However, if they are all at school/preschool together then it is well worth interrogating DD as to what they games play at school - DC who don't know how to play musical statues may know duck duck goose as my DC do although they have never managed to explain it to me.

The reason I opt for themes is that they let you take deeply ordinary games/activities/food and make them special and memorable and they help me focus, but they are by no means compulsory.

I think Blathers has covered everything. 4yos eat a lot less than you think at parties (and a lot less than they put on their plates ), but there is no such thing as too many cocktail sausages, especially if there are adults, and large quantities of mars bar krispie cake / rocky road / other similarly calorific stuff tends to get consumed by the adults at out parties.

Invitations - I like the ladybird book idea - one of DD's friends used some of these for invitations and more for Thank you letters - would that work? You could mount them on card and print/write invitation text on the back, or just write on the postcards. For school/preschool I would give ~2 weeks notice, and make sure you include lots of contact details (home phone, mobile, email) for RSVP and set a deadline ("RSVP by 10/11/12")

I am officially blaming the multiple typos in that last post on cold fingers.

This weekend's cakes have been added to my flickr set here, BTW.

I love the postcard idea! Well found stealth.

I still need to sort out invites for DD's party but I'm a bit lost for inspiration.

An alternative approach to butterfly cake would be to make/buy a plain cake, either round or shaped as a number 4, and arrange lots of these on the top - maybe a round cake with a "4" made of butterflies?

Quickly putting my head in as im snowed under with rapunzel and off to fireworks. I'll catch up properly tonight but tethers, what size is your dd i have quite a lot of party dresses but in 3-4 as we get tons off my sister in law. Would that be too small for her?

Tethers u say your skint:

Could you use this image in photoshop and put your details/text over the top? Its from a peter and jane book but ties in with butterfly. If you want that but dont know how, pm me.

babyccinokids.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/ladybird-peter-and-jane.jpg

I think we've scared Tethers off

Oh dear she did say she didnt want a theme she just wanted a party. Maybe we've become addled by kara and her party ideas!!

oops, sorry Tethers

Oh you wonderful people

I did not get scared off, am just attached to a baby who, frankly, isn't giving much back at the moment. But that's another thread

Blathers- I am feeling a lot less traumatised by the thought of the party after reading your advice. I can do this. I teach teenagers with behavioural difficulties FFS! (Four year olds terrify me). I need to get on and do the invitations, and then I can tackle the rest. Thank you.

stealth- I walked past a shop the other day which had a butterfly cake tin in the window, so am taking it as a sign and will buy it. Thanks for the offer of a lend though! Will stockpile cocktail sausages as advised

TheDoctorsWife46- thank you so much for the offer of a dress, that's lovely of you- unfortunately DD is v.tall and I think a 3-4 may be a bit short. I think I might get some sort of princess monstrosity from Sainsbury's. I LOVE that Peter and Jane pic, and remember it well! I'm going to dust off my legendary photoshop skills (pfffft) and attack it. I will post the result on my profile if you don't mind taking a look when I'm done?

One thing- how long should the party last? In what order should we do things?

Hang on, that's two things isn't it?

I would love some ideas for a pirate party. My DS will be 4. The party can be held indoors or outside and will involve up to 10 children (ages 2-10) although the oldest two may be helpers. i am keen to keep it traditional with a few fun ( and simple) surprizes.

Tether - 2 hours seems to be the accepted norm for party duration. As far as running order goes, you need something individual (craft or whatever) for them to do as they arrive, then games, then tea, then a bit of unstructured rioting before you kick them out (although at DD's last party they all demanded "one more game" after tea )

Pirate party outside sounds fun. Are you somewhere warm? Outside definitely opens up the options for treasure hunts, walking the plank, tug of war, etc....

Tethers glad to see you back. You had us worried! Look forward to seeing the invite you conjour up. You'll be a regular on the board at this rate.

Barefoot: pirate party we have done loads of tips in the past and had some good links. I'll try to dig them out for you. We tecommend the infamous blue jelly to make jelly boats or shark infested waters.

Games such as walk the plank, treasure hunt, or pass the treasure chest instead of a parcel just open and scoop treasure out. There's plenty more on the links which i'll find for you. But stealth aleays warns any pirate or knight partiers - leave any weapons at the door, you do not want swashbuckling accidents!

www.karaspartyideas.com/2012/03/pirate-themed-5th-birthday-party.html

Blue jelly:
www.angloaustraliantrading.com/AustraliaShop/AUDetail.aspx?ID=1102

www.angloaustraliantrading.com/AustraliaShop/AUDetail.aspx?ID=1102

Hello, I'm looking for help - have I come to the right place? My DS2 (nearly 7) wants an army party, but he wants to invite girls as well as boys. Anyone got any clever ideas about how to make the party attractive to girls as well? I'm stumped. I'm sure they will love all the action games, but I suspect not one of them will want to dress up as a soldier.

Hi toffee yes you are in the right place and I have to say well done for coming in with a completely new party theme!!! This is our 4th thread I think and we haven't done army that's for sure!!

Don't be so sure about girls not wanting to dress up, on here we have had girls dressed at pirates, dragons, knights and blathers dressed her child as an octonaut! My baby dd is about to attend our party as a chameleon,

Initial ideas, make it military rather than army then you get all the services covered off? Different flags, set a set up if you can to make a base camp? Games can be following drill etc, pass a bomb or granade, (you can buy a pass the bomb game). Set the tables out like a mess hall... Is this working for you or shall I shut up?

pinterest.com/chelcb/kids-military-party/

You def need to be drill sargents, get them doing obstacle courses, scavenger hunts, hunt for toy soldiers, giant game of battleships?......

Barefoot, page 1 of this thread had quite a lot on pirate theme. If you still want more ideas shout and i'll find the details etc from the last thread.

Ooh, thanks TheDoctorsWife. Those are all great ideas. I have found a fantastic party invite (which I will shamelessly copy) with 'Top Secret' printed at the top, then the rest in army-style language ('Report for duty at 1pm' etc). I thought I could add 'Civilians welcome (even princesses)' at the bottom, then that makes it easier for the girls.

I love the idea of being a drill sergeant. I feel a bit like that most mornings anyway .

Sorry for all the typos etc..

Decorations: camoflage(you can get loads on party websites) get a net etc to crawl under, i tried to say set up a tent if you can. Flags or camo bunting.

Food, if you set up like a mess hall then it'd be good to do something like sausage n mash or sausage and chips that you can serve school dinner/officers mess stylie. If not maybe do lunchboxes.

Party bags should be easy with tons of soldier type toys but things like dog tags should still be a hit with girls. I honestly wouldnt put princesses on, i really think girls would be just as up for being a soldier so ling as boys dont tie them up and hold them captive etc .

My scrap store shop sells netting which would be perfect for an army party! Where are you Toffee?

Army party bits should be relatively easy to pick up. I'm sure a quick search on ebay will bring up loads. For party bags, I'd be tempted with the good old Parachuting Army man and I'm sure I've seen army-type figures in little packs next to the Lego minifigures in Tesco. Maybe a green lolly? Definitely a dog tag. I'd give them at the beginning though so they can wear them at the party. It would be easy to get girly versions of everything if you wanted but probably not necessary.

I love DocsWife's mess food suggestions. I wonder if you could get cheap, grey sectioned plates to make it look authentic? Maybe silver take-away tubs would work? I know you can buy them from Costco. What about getting some Army rations and having a taste test as one of your activities? You could either make them up and let the children have a try of whatever they fancy or, if you think you've got some brave ones, make them up in unmarked pots and have a 'guess the food' competition with a little prize for the person who gets the most right?

Snazaroo do a Brown/Green/Black army face painting set which you could get and do everyone's face while they're there. For army men, all you need is a few finger stripes so it would be quick and easy to get everyone done.

What about cake? What sort of thing did you have in mind?

I really need to change back from my Halloween name soon but I won't be green then :(