Birthday parties

Here are some long overdue rundowns on the birthday parties!

Tarzan had a Webkinz birthday party. Webkinz, in case you don't know, (which probably means you don't have any children under the age of 10) are stuffed animals that come with a computer code which opens up Webkinz world online, where the stuffed animal has a virutal identity. You can play games to win kinzcash, with which you can purchase online furnishings for your pet's home, clothing and food for the pet, etc. We used some of the online games as models for our party games. For example, we had a Wheel of Wow, which the kids could spin to win "Timmycash" or small prizes.
We also had a Wishing Well, where Timmycoins attached to paper clips could be caught with a magnetic fishing rod.
I scattered some plastic "jewels" on the front lawn and let the kids have a gem hunt. They collected their gems in little paper bags and took them home to attach to their foam crowns (purchased at Michaels) to make their own "Crown of Wonder."
When the kids came in, they brought their own Webkinz or other stuffed animal, which we set up near their take home bags in the Beauty Contest area. Each pet was awarded a prize such as "nicest pet" , "bravest pet", etc. These bags were where the kids collected all their Timmycash and prizes throughout the day.
We also had a Quizzy's corner, where the kids could earn more Timmycash by answering trivia questions. It was a nice break for them to sit and cool off, and have some quiet time before jumping in the pool! Finally, they ate and opened presents. At the end of the party, they collected all their Timmycash and used it to redeem prizes from the W-shop (in the kitchen). The prizes were gently used or leftover Happy meal toys, recital prizes, small books, etc. The kids really liked getting to choose their own things - just like Chuckie Cheese! The party was pretty inexpensive - the biggest expenses were the jewels and crowns. In retrospect, I would have bagged the crowns and had the kids do whatever they wanted with the jewels at home. Tarzan and co. had a great time and it was an overall success!Scooby had a party based on Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman - a show on PBS. I arranged a scavenger hunt with some of the local business and public places in Sewickley and had the kids follow clues from place to place. We ended up with pizza and cake. It was the most fun party I've ever had with the kids, although it did require a LOT of advance preparation by me, and it was on the more expensive side as well. But we had a blast! Watch the video and see...

Click here to watch the video I took at Scooby's birthday party. If I can figure out how, I'm going to make DVDs for all the kids as thank yous.