We hired the village hall (at the bargain price of £8 per hour) as we didn't fancy 20-30 kids aged 3-5, plus a few parents, rampaging around the house. However, as the event drew nearer, and we had had only a few acceptances, we started to wonder if it was worth bothering with the hall after all. I am astounded at how many people didn't bother to reply to the invitation at all, leaving me in limbo as to how many to cater for, how many party bags to do etc. I'd invited all of the children who are in the same 2 sessions as our little one at nursery, but I don't even know who most of them are or who the parents are. I guess that if the parents don't know who we are, then they don't bother to come to the party. Such a shame, as I was really hoping it would enable us to meet some more families from the village. Oh well...
We decided to go ahead with the hall anyway as it was booked, and it worked out well. There were only 13 children in total (including our 2), but it meant they had loads of space to run around and do the party games in.
If you are ever stuck for a party theme for a 3+ year old, then Superheroes is a winner. I found SO much stuff on the internet for cake ideas, party games, party bag filler etc. Due to the all the recent films and the ones being released soon (Spiderman, Ironman, Batman, The Avengers, Superman), there is tons of branded party stuff around.
I have to confess to losing my party-mojo a little in the run up to it, due to all the rejections and lack of replies, so last week was rather busy as I tried to get games organised, food planned etc in time.
Friday was spent in a baking frenzy as I tried to get to everything made.
For the cake, I thought I'd keep it simple with a Superman logo. However, my icing skills are not up to much, and I was rushing too much. The finished result was ok, but not my finest creation!
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| It's supposed to be G instead of an S |
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| Smarties cookies - the most delicious, chewy, chocolate chip cookies ever! |
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| Cakes for the mums & dads |
Where possible I tried to theme the party food too! I'd ordered a Batman cookie cutter from Ebay ages ago, but when it arrived it was way too big to make biscuits with, so I decided to cut the sandwiches out with it instead. It worked brilliantly!
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| Dinner, dinner, dinner, dinner BATMAN! |
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| Kryptonite and Spiderman Jellies |
There was also the obligatory cocktail sausages, cheese cubes and crisps galore!
The 3 year olds didn't really get the party games, but bumbled along with it all. The older ones however, showed steely determination to win each game! We did the following games:
- Musical Superheroes - I printed some superhero logos (spiderman, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman) and laminated them. They were scattered around the floor, and when the music stopped they had to find a logo to stand on. The one with no logo to stand on was out (a bit like musical chairs). The laminating turned out to be a bad idea, as the first round or two saw a couple of them almost breaking a limb as they leapt onto the logo and the thing skidded off across the floor!
- Pass the Kryptonite - a managed to find a giant green glowstick for 99p (bargain!). This was passed around the circle. When the music stopped, whoever was holding the kryptonite was out. A kind of reverse pass-the-parcel. It took a little while for the children to grasp that they DIDN't want to be holding the kryptonite when the music stopped!
- Destroy the Bombs - lots of balloons blown up, including some black ones. Some had a sweet inside the balloon. The superheroes have to detonate all the bombs that an evil villain has dropped. They loved this game - being allowed to jump on balloons to burst them, and get sweets!
- Chase the Baddie - a baddie (the older brother of one of the guests who was happy to relieve husband of this role!) had stolen the bag of sweets and the superheroes had to chase him to catch him. When the music stopped, the first one to touch the baddie got a sweet from his stolen loot! This was our little one's favourite game! We played it after the food, and it really helped wear them all out and get rid of the sugar rush!
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| Our little Batman |
We had a lot of help from our best friends, who helped set up and clear awy, as well as making sure everyone had a cup of tea and a cake!
All in all, we had a fun time. The two boys loved it, and that was why I went to the trouble. Sometimes I wonder why I go to all the effort (and expense) of doing themed parties every year, but the boys love it and I love the planning! I'm already planning the Moshi Monster party our eldest has requested for September!
