Rock and Gem Party

He is 7! It has happened already! Now I need to figure out how to parent a 7 year old! I haven't done that before.

Every 2nd year we support our children to organise themselves a birthday party. Orlando has done a few now and he loves the process.

This year he had a dilemma as to which 'theme' to choose (he is passionate about many things) so we planned them all! Through this process there was a clear winner. A theme that he has been passionate about for a long time and was going to make for a really cool party.

Rocks and Gems!

Here is what he planned...

Invite

Tools

Each guest was provided a bucket with a magnifying glass, paint brush, pair of tweezers and a tool for excavation. These were used in all the activities and then taken home at the end. 

Activities

Excavation - Sandpit was buried with bones, real fossils, polished gems, shells and an assortment of other 'treasure'

 Fossicking - Big tubs full of sand, water, chip gems, shells and large gems. Scoops, real fossicking sieves and gold pans made it feel even more authentic.

Rock Dig - We had a lot of fun creating a plaster and sand rock dig. We followed the tutorial over at 'longlivelearning'. We had great fun making them before hand and 3 of them lasted the whole party, and now, 3 weeks after the party, they are getting close to being finished. They were very popular and the party and the kids got a real sense of achievement when they finally got out a treasure.

Gold and Gem Mine - I forgot to take a photo of this! We got a kids tunnel and a small tent and covered the whole thing in MANY black plastic bags. This made it completely dark inside. We then spray painted a bucket full of normal rocks gold. These rocks we hidden all through the tunnel and tent. So when the kids went in with a head torch it lit up the gold for them to collect. We hid some large rough cut gems in there also.

I am not a big fan of competition at birthday parties. So near each experience was a bucket for you to place the treasures you had excavated or found. This served two-fold, if an activity was wiped clean, we could re-hide treasures, but also made the morning feel like a communal effort. We were all working together to excavate as much as we could. At the end of the party we collected all the buckets and put it into 2 really big trays. One of the kids said "WOW look at all the work we have put in! We have all collected so much!" (my non-competitive heart sang)

Then everyone collected 20 of their favourites to take home from the party, along with their tools.

Cake

This is always the first thing Orlando plans. Pinterest is a wonderful tool when it comes to ideas for cakes. There are some very talented cake decorators out there... I am not one of them. I can usually make a cake look pretty good but when thinking of rocks... A friend had her sons birthday party a few weeks earlier and she had made EDIBLE GEODES. They were IMPRESSIVE! So we got to thinking and thought that we might use this idea to make a geode cake topper.

Not all went to plan, I learnt a lot. But we had some crystal caves to use and found some chocolate rocks to add to the 'rock-i-ness'.

Inside was chocolate mud with jube lollies baked though it (like gems in the dirt). I DON'T recommend doing this... and wont be doing it again :) They made the cake really hard to cut and all sank to the bottom. They were hard to eat also.

Food

Well the food all needed to be rock - related so we had...

Chocolate Chia Seed Balls
Caramel Macadamias
Chocolate Rocks
Caramel Pop Corn Balls
Rock Cakes
Pretzels (with Salt Crystals) 

We also added -
Homemade Sausage Rolls and Spinach Rolls
Prawn Cutlets
Fruit Platter
Cheese Platter

The Party Was A BLAST!!

I wrote this post the other day but somehow it disappeared! So here we go again :)

We have an agreement in our household that we give the kids a 'BIG' birthday bash every second year. On the alternate years we have a more laid back, casual, family and best friend occasion. I put a lot of myself into these parties and so doing it bi-annually keeps it sustainable :)

So it works out that the kids have parties for their 1st (gotta celebrate the first), 3rd (first time they have a say in how things go), and 5th (preschool/school friends become all important) birthdays.

The kids have a big say in their parties. They decide what 'theme' they would like and then in consultation with me, design activities that they think their friends will enjoy while at the party. They also design great party bags to give their friends as a gift.

I have found this a brilliant learning process. The kids not only have a great sense of ownership over their big day, but they also have practise in thinking about others, increasing their sense of empathy. This year we heard the benefits of this as Orlando was planning his 5th birthday bash. He was heard say, "I think my friends are really going to enjoy..." and, "How excited will they be when I give them this special gift" and "My heart feels good making these presents"... My heart likes hearing this :)

My philosophy, when it comes to designing children's birthday parties, is to develop a range of engaging experiences for the children to immerse them selves in through out the party. We don't have competitive party games or games where you receive a prize, as I think they are a whole lot of unneeded effort. Kids are competitive enough, I don't want to support and encourage that mindset.

So Orlando is turning 5! This has brought up a whole lot of reflection on my part but I will save that for another post...

So what party did Orlando choose?

A ROCKET PARTY!!! 

So we made a Rocket Cake - My first attempt using fondant icing.... I love it, no returning now!)

Invitations: We had a lot of fun writing this but I was so immersed that I miss-spelt my own son's name! OPPS!!

Activities:

Space Playdough

2 cup white flour

1/2 cup of salt

4 tbls cream of tartar

2 cup water

2 tbsp oil

Colouring

Silver stars

Mix flour, salt, and cream of tartar in a medium pot. Add water, oil and food colouring. Cook and stir over medium heat. When mixture forms a ball in the pot, turn out and knead on a lightly floured surface. Knead through stars. Store in airtight container or plastic bag.

Alien Slime

1C Cornflour

1C Water

Colouring

Mix together with a fork, add more flour if too wet or more water if too stiff. You are aiming for the consistency of thick PVA glue. Makes a big mess but washes easily off in water J

Moon Sand

Mix together:

4 cups sand

2 cups cornflour

1 cup of water

Colouing (optional)

Star Stickers

Black Paper

Selection of Star Stickers

Space Shapes

Various Art materials

Cardboard cut outs in Space shapes

Human Rockets

Hope on the trampoline, put your arms about your head and blast off!! How high can you get??

Dramatic Pay

We are lucky enough to have a beautiful cubby that happens to be easily 'rocket-ish'. It is next to a sandpit which we turned into the moon!

Rocket Launching Station

We collected a variety of rockets. Pop rockets, very popular balloon rockets, air rockets all sorts!

Bi-Carb Mini Rockets

You need:

Film Canister

Toilet Paper

Vinegar

Bi-Carb Soda

Steps to Launch:

-       Fill film canister ½ full of vinegar

-       Lay toilet paper over opening

-       Place ½ teaspoon of bi-carb on top of toilet paper

-       Replace film canister lid firmly

-       Invert, place on ground and RUN!!

We had a blast and Orlando felt very special, couldn't of asked for more!


Matilda has already started planning hers. Apparently were having a Fairy Ballerina Tea Party.... My brain is already ticking....