Emily's 3rd Birthday
After Emily dressed up as Tinkerbell at Nana's house this summer, she decided that she had to have a Tinkerbell birthday party. I thought this was a good idea too. I looked online and found lots of great ideas for fairy parties. The challenging part was that we wanted to invite some of her friends that are boys. I know the Tinkerbell movie has boy fairies, but I decided to have the boys be pirates and help Tinkerbell look for the Lost Treasure (the name of the second Tinkerbell movie). Luckily the two fit hand in hand and it worked out great!
I have a tendency to go a little overboard with things, and stress over the details. I have a plan in my head of how I want things to go and I work diligently to make that happen. When things don't work out as I have planned, I tend to get disappointed and frustrated. This quest for perfection is nothing new to my husband. He humors me and lets me do my thing.
Chad was out of town on internship interviews until the morning of the party. When he arrived home around 10am, I was running around, a bit stressed, trying to get the last couple of things ready for the party. Chad pitched in and cleaned up the house and helped to get the girls ready.
The party, went well and the kids had a great time. My only regret was that I didn't get the best pictures of this magical party. Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm all about the pictures. So, that was a bit disappointing. I was running the show and Chad was trying to keep Annie entertained, so it was a little hard to get good pictures. On the flip side, Emily (a.k.a. Tinkerbell) LOVED her party and had a WONDERFUL birthday. Her excitement and huge smile made all the craziness and stress worth it.
The Invitations
The Party
Receive A Name (and costumes)
We started off the party by watching a short clip from the first Tinkerbell movie where Tinkerbell is born and given her name and wings. We then had each girl came up in the front of the group to make them a fairy. They received a name, wings and a flower headband (My talented sister, Erin, made them. Thanks Erin!) . As the girls came up everyone said together "Hello Fairy
(the girl's name)").
After the girls became "fairies", the boys got to become "pirates." Each boy came up and was given an eye patch and a red bandanna for his head. As each boy became a pirate we said, Argh! Hello Pirate (the boy's name). Both the girls and boys loved getting dressed up and saying the names!
Keep The Fairy In The AirThis was the first game. We had blown up some pink balloons and put some Tinkerbell fairy stickers on the balloons. The object of the game was to keep the fairy (balloon) flying in the air. The kids loved this!
Pass The WandEvery fairy needs a wand and every pirate needs a sword. I had the children sit in a circle. I explained that when the music started they must pass the wand as quickly as possible. When the music stopped, the child holding the wand was out of the game. That child kept the wand. (Boys got cardboard swords.) I handed out another wand and turned the music back on to continue the game until everyone had a wand or sword.
When the girls got out everyone chanted, "I believe in fairies!". When the boys got out we sang, "Yo! Ho! Yo! Ho! A pirate's life for me!" The kids LOVED this part! It made the game a lot of fun.
After everyone had their wands and swords I explained the next game as a whole group, but then split up into two groups. Half decorated wands and swords while the others played the game and then they switched.
Pin The Star On Tinkerbell's WandThis was like the game Pin the Tail on the Donkey. Some kids have a hard time playing a game where they are likely to miss the mark. I wanted them to have fun and not stress about getting the star in the right place. When I showed the kids how to play, I explained that it was okay if they didn't get it in the right place. I closed my eyes and put the star really far from the wand then said, "That's so silly!" I had them say it with me. We did this a couple of times, then I got it in the right place. We all said, "Great job!" I had a blindfold for the kids, but we just had the kids close their eyes (I'm sure most of them peeked! Ha!). They had a fun time with it. (Thanks to my friend, Sharee, for being in charge of the game for me.)
Decorating Wands and SwordsI bought the wands at Michael's and found the foam stickers at Hobby Lobby. The girls decorated with different colored and shaped flowers and dots, while the boys had foam swords, skull and cross bones, and pirate font letters to make their names. The stickers made it a super easy craft but they all had a good time decorating (Especially Marianne who returned after the party's events to add a few more to her wand! Ha!).
Emily with Chad and Annie
Note: I had one more game for the kids to play, but we ran out of time:
Pirate, Pirate, Fairy! (a.k.a Duck, Duck, Goose)
Next we were supposed to read How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long. (I had this from when I was teaching and Emily makes Chad and I read it to her all of the time. It's one of her favorites!) The children were going to go on a treasure hunt to find Tinkerbell's Lost Treasure after reading the story, but the natives were getting restless. I opted to switch things up and go on the treasure hunt first.
Treasure Hunt
Originally I wanted to hide a treasure outside and have them dig it up, but it was too cold. So, I decided to make a treasure hunt in the house.
I had taught Emily's preschool a few days before her birthday. We had gone on a hunt for the Gingerbread Man using clues at each location. It went really well and the kids had a blast hunting around the house. They asked to do it over and over again. It was such a success that I decided to do the indoor treasure hunt the same way.
I had the kids find a treasure map to lead them to the first clue, then each clue led to a few other clues and ultimately to the treasure. Once again this was a hit! Since most of the kids had done the other hunt with me a few days before, they were very engaged and excited.
I still wanted the kids to find a "buried treasure even though we had the treasure hunt indoors. The last clue led them to the laundry room where "X' marked the spot! I had Chad hide the treasure chest under some clean towels in a laundry basket.
Of course we had to enlist "Pirate Jakob" to dig for our treasure! (Incidentally, the boy in the story that is chosen to be a pirate for his digging abilities is named Jeremy Jacob.)
Being a pirate gentleman, he allowed "Tinkerbell" to open her lost treasure! Chad had this old treasure chest at work that they used as a prize bucket. I had Chad fill it with party favor necklaces and rings and some real pennies. (The pennies were Chad's solution to my forgetting to buy the gold chocolate coins that I had planned to use. The kids and I thought it was a good idea too. Thanks Chad!)
Happy Birthday and CupcakesWe sang Happy Birthday to Emily and had cupcakes and apple juice boxes. Yummy! I ended up reading the pirate story to them as they were eating. It was a nice ending to a fun time!
Make a wish!
cupcakes for the pirates
cupcakes for the fairies
