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Theming A Party With Colour
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A party with a theme is interesting and often easier to plan than a party with no set theme. One of the simplest and most effective themes to put together for any kind of party is one of colour. Whether you choose one favourite colour, a couple of complimentary contrasts or the colour of your favourite sporting team, once you know what direction you’re heading in, you can become very creative with the use of colour.
Choosing one colour (pink is a good example as this seems to be a popular colour with girls), can have its pros and cons. It might seem a simple option from the outset, but it can present you with some real challenges. For instance, do you choose one particular shade of pink for absolutely everything? Or will you include every single tint, shade and tone in the pink spectrum, so long as it’s pink? Do any of your pink colours clash? Creating a party venue that is a complete melting pot of pink colours may not exactly give your guests the pretty visual effect that you are after.
That’s where it can be good to break it up with a complimentary contrast. Perhaps you could try a combination of pink and white, pink and silver, or pink and yellow? You can still have most of your themed decorations and food in the colour of your first preference, but by adding a sprinkling of a second colour, it can break up the tones and help to accentuate the main colour.
Balloons, streamers, buntings, plates, napkins, candles, cutlery, cups and table settings can all be chosen according to your colour theme, and there are so many fun food and drink options that can be included in your colour plan. Soft drinks and cordials are available in a wide variety of colour, and it is easy to add a couple of drops of food colouring to each cup or glass before pouring drinks to give an instant colour change without affecting the flavour.
Food dyes are easy to add to any type of food – sweet or savoury – to achieve a feast that fits in with your colour theme. Plan your food colour changes carefully because if the food already has a strong colour, you need to be aware of what it will look like once the food dye has been added. For instance if you add a few drops of red food dye to something that is naturally yellow you are going to end up with an orange shade. It pays to practice a bit and select foods that have very little colour of their own if you want to dye them to match your theme. Also keep in mind that although green eggs and ham might seem like a fun idea, most people will hesitate to actually eat them. There are many natural food dyes available too if you prefer to provide a pink banquet for a little girl’s party, without giving all of your guests “the red cordial effect”.
As always, the success of the party comes down to the preparation done before the actual event. It is important to start planning a few weeks in advance to make sure you can get all of your coloured decorations, ingredients and party favours you need to fit your theme. That way you know that the day will run smoothly and you will find that you can relax a little and just enjoy the day.
Birthday Cards For Kids
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Most children’s birthday cards are boring. They have the standard princess, unicorn or cake on the front with a simple and unnecessarily dull message inside.
No wonder they throw the cards away without a second look. Give them something a bit more exciting this year. We’ve had a look around and come up with these great finds.
Well you didn’t think I’d forget our cards, did you? We don’t stock dull cards. Ours are full of life and colour. They suit ages 1 to 10 and each age has the choice of a card for a boy or girl. You’ll notice that the designs are all age appropriate, too. We know kids love them because we’ve seen their faces when they are given one.
Thinkcards has a great range of cards for all occasions but we love their children’s range. It’s small but clever.
The Charlie and Lola cards use characters that look just like those in the popular cartoons of today. They are quirky and because the cards have both male and female characters in them, they will suit both boys and girls. This one will even suit a hippo.
While you are there, have a look at the Pango cards. The little devil caught our eye. The cards are boldy coloured with simple graphics but the best part is that the main figure is actually a magnet. Your child can put it on the fridge and keep it.
3. Yahoo Kids
Yahoo Kids is a fun site that allows kids to create their own e-cards. Often, getting an e-card is more exciting for the junior generation than getting a card in the mail.
The cards are bright and funny and all your child has to do is to enter the name and email address of the recipient and click.
Cards can be very expensive. At Shop 4 Toys you can buy birthday cards for only $2 each. They have cards to suit newborns to tweens.
Party on, Dude!
Games For Easter Parties
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For many, Easter is a religious festival. For some, Easter signals the start of Spring and the renewal of life. For others it is purely fun and it is a great time to have some fun with the whole family or with close friends. And one way to celebrate this season is through a festive, joyous party.
Whether the event is held at home, at a restaurant, or a park, it is always a good idea to prepare for it. Games are traditional during Easter celebrations. It keeps the mood jovial and is an ideal way for kids and adults to bond and spend time together.
Below are a few ideas for activities you can do during your Easter-day party.
What’s an Easter-day fete without everyone’s favorite Easter-Egg Hunting game? You can buy plastic eggs which you can fill with candies, chocolates, and even small toys. Or make it unique and interesting by having the kids and adults paint eggs a few days before the party and have them hunt for the decorated eggs on Easter Day.
Another game you can play on Easter is the Easter Egg Roll where the participants are asked to roll a hard-boiled egg from the starting point to the finishing line with a stick, spoon, or foot without breaking the shell. You can even make it a relay race so you’ll have more participants.
You can also play The Wolf and The Eggs game where one player pretends to be the wolf and the others are the eggs. The eggs pick out what colour they want to be in the hopes that the wolf won’t be able to guess their colour. If the wolf chooses your colour, you must step forward, spell your colour and run back to the “basket” of other eggs while avoiding being tagged by the wolf. If you get tagged you become the wolf.
Easter provides many ideas for fun and play – so whatever you choose to do - make sure you enjoy your day.
Party Buntings
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Theme parties are so much fun and the easiest way to decorate your home or party venue is with a bunting.
You can choose from gorgeous bunting designs in popular party themes such as animals, dinosaurs or pirates as well as a wide range of colours to suit any party occasion.
Buntings are easy to put up and cleverly placed, they can make any room feel festive and help to generate a particular party atmosphere. Made from light and colourful paper, a bunting is easy to place around the room using string and sticky tape. Make sure you use removable tape or adhesive, which won’t mark or damage your paintwork.
Before you start, make sure you know how long your strings of bunting are and try to create patterns and a sense of balance by using the same colours and numbers where possible and mix it up, alternating balloons and other feature decorations between lines of the buntings.
Attach the bunting at the same height at each end and allow it to drape a little lower in the centre creating an upside-down arc. A common way of using a bunting is to hang it around each of the walls and across the ceiling, meeting in the centre. If you have a lighting fixture in the centre of the ceiling you may be able to make use of it by hanging a bunting centrepiece or balloons from, but only do this if it is safe to do so. If you have two or more lighting fixtures you can make corresponding crosses of buntings, one meeting at each light fixture and a centrepiece hanging at the centre of each cross.
Buntings can also be used to trim the table and other furniture by attaching them to the edge of the table cloth or directly on furniture edges.
One of the best aspects of a bunting is the easy cleanup aspect after the party is over. You can refold the bunting so it can be used at another party, or easily fit it into your recycling bin for disposal.
How To Have A Tea-Party Party
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Children love having pretend tea parties. Imagine how excited they will be to have a real tea party for their birthday, with all their favourite friends invited.
You can either have a general tea party or one with a specific theme and then base the invitations, decorations, games and activities, food and drinks, birthday cake, lolly bags and costumes around the theme. You can have a lot of fun here and get really creative!
Below are two ideas for a tea party theme:
Pink Princess Tea Party – basically everything is pink! Ask the guests to dress in pink clothes and decorate the area using pink paper buntings, pink balloons and a pink tablecloth. You will also need pink plates, cups and cutlery. For food, offer pink iced mini cupcakes, fairy bread using pink sprinkles, pink lollies, iced vo-vos and don’t forget the pink lemonade!
Miss Cupcake Tea Party – centralise your theme around your little guests decorating plain cupcakes. Have an assortment of icing colours as well as bowls of decorations such as 100s and 1000s, sprinkles and smarties. You will need some of the fun Miss Cupcake invitations, napkins and loot bag tags. Coordinate with some pink striped or spotty plates and cups.
Other theme ideas could include a teddy bear tea party, fairy tea party, Kings and Queens, or ask the guests to bring along their favourite doll or toy.
Of course you don’t need to serve real tea at the tea party, maybe choosing instead to serve lemonade or special juice. And don’t forget the teapots and cups! Get some cheap porcelain ones from a discount store, second hand store or perhaps even purchase a special child’s tea set.
No doubt you will have as much fun planning the tea party as your little birthday girl (or boy) will have at the actual party!
The Pinata
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A Piñata (pronounced pin-yar-tah) is made from paper mache or cardboard in the shape of a popular or traditional character or animal and then filled with wrapped lollies, small prizes, toys, balloons and confetti.
Piñatas are one of those kids party basics that every birthday party should have but they are also popular at adult parties such as Hens or Bucks nights, weddings and anniversaries. Piñatas are also a novel and unique idea for a corporate event such as a product launch, meeting or motivational conference.
Here are some step-by-step instructions on how to make your own piñata including a video.
Many people believe the piñata originated in Mexico. In fact, the origin of the Piñata is somewhat disputed. It is thought that Marco Polo took it from China to the West and it spread from there. Others believe it originated in Italy, Greece, Spain or Portugal. Nowadays, the popularity of piñatas is slowly spreading throughout the world.
To play, hang the piñata from a clothesline, ceiling or a tree. Make sure there is adult supervision and ensure everyone stands well clear. Everyone takes a turn, after being blindfolded and spun around 3 times. They then use a broomstick or bat and try to hit the piñata.
Once the piñata is broken the guests can collect the goodies that fall out. A simpler way for young children to play is not to use a blindfold, rather the children line up and take it in turns to try and “smash” open the piñata.
Here is some information on how to make a pinata including a video for you to watch. If you don’t want to make one, why not look at our clever pinata designs which are flat packed and ready to fill? They will save you time, money and lots of glue!
Games for an Elephant Themed Birthday Party
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Inspired by our gorgeous range of Elephant themed birthday party paraphernalia, including cupcake toppers, your guests will love these elephant themed birthday party games!
(Please note these games are specifically designed so children under 5 can play but we are sure even the older kids will want to join in!)
The Trumpet Game
Have all the children sit in a circle and practice together making an elephant sound. Choose one child to stand in the middle of the circle with their eyes closed. While the child’s eyes are closed, you walk around the outside of the circle and pat one child on the head and that child then makes the elephant sound. The child in the middle can then open their eyes and guess which child made the sound.
(If the children are older than 4, you can have all the children make any animal noise and only one child make the elephant sound. The extra noise makes it more challenging!)
The Elephant Walk Game
Split the Group into two teams. Have each team line up single file. The first child has one arm forward like an ‘elephant’s trunk’ and puts his second arm under his leg like the ‘tail’. The child behind the leader grabs hold of the ‘tail’ with his ‘trunk’ and has his other hand under his legs as the ‘tail’. This continues down the end of the line. On the word “Go, elephant, go!” each team must race to the designated finish line. If at any time the elephant chain breaks they must return to the beginning and start again.
Elephant Scavenger Hunt
Once you’ve downloaded a couple of pages of this elephant sheet we’ve created, all you need to do is cut out the images of the elephants and then using blue tack or sticky tape, stick these around the party room or backyard. On the word “Go, elephant Go!” the children then race around to find the hidden pictures. The one who finds the most wins. Click on the link and when the picture appears just save it to your computer.
Elephant Race
This game sounds simple but is a lot of fun and more challenging than it sounds. The object is simple – roll a peanut across the ground to the finish line. The fun part is the peanut must be pushed with the nose! (Double check with parents first for peanut allergies and replace with an M&M)
How to prepare a pirate party for less than $100.
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Kaboodle Kits for Kids – Cooking Parties
Posted by: | CommentsIf there is one thing kids love more than cooking, it’s cooking with their friends! The Kaboodle Kids Cooking Kit is not only great as a birthday present but also as the basis of a fantastic birthday party. They love to get messy knowing that there will be something tasty at the end of it.
Here are some helpful tips for running a cooking party:
1. Keep the numbers small. Depending on the size of your kitchen and the age of your guests this party idea is better suited to a small group of 2 to 6 children. (2 kits would be needed for higher numbers)
2. Accept before hand that this is going to be a messy activity and there is no way around it. Flour fights are inevitable and fun, especially if started by mum!
Games:
The Kids Cooking Kits feature a gingerbread man recipe card and cookie cutter. Here are some fun games to compliment the Gingerbread man theme.
1. ‘You Can’t Catch Me, I’m the Gingerbread Man”. You can put a twist on the classic game of Red Rover by having the children on the sideline yell out “Run, run as fast as you can, you can’t catch me I’m the gingerbread man” before trying to outrun the chosen chaser.
2. “Hot Gingerbread Man”. Here is another twist on a classic game. Pre-make a gingerbread man so that it has had time to cool down. Have the children stand around in a circle and toss the “Hot, hot gingerbread man” quickly around, with music playing in the background. Turn your back to the circle so that the game is fair, and stop the music. Whoever is holding the gingerbread man when the music stops is out. The last person left is the winner.
3. “Who stole the gingerbread man” – Set up a treasure hunt where children have to solve clues for hidden gingerbread men that you have pre-made.
Cooking parties are messy fun. With the help of Kaboodle Kits for Kids, they are now easy to do, too.
