Campout/Sleepover Party--6 year old:
For my daughter's 6th birthday party on July 3rd 2005, she invited 7 friends to sleep under the stars at Camp Jade. The invitations were blue cardstock which read "Jade is turning six years old. Please come celebrate under the stars at Camp Jade". Glued to that was a green cardstock tent tied closed with twine. Opening the tent revealed all the party information. Turned out very cute, and got lots of positive responses! (I used a star font for everything except the words "Camp Jade", which were in a wood font, both found on www.momscorner4kids.com/fonts.) The Party Agenda: 1. The girls arrived at 6pm, and we grilled individual pizzas (which, if you've never tried, are GREAT!). 2. They then decorated milk cartons with the bottoms cut out with markers to make ball catchers, and then played catch for a while. 3. Next came sun art, using sun-sensitive paper and things found in nature. They loved doing these pictures. 4. Then came time for games. The girls played water balloon toss, ball toss, fill the bucket relay game using cups with holes in them to make it more of a challenge, and finally a treasure hunt. I gave the girls a written clue, which led them to 7 more clues and eventually to the "treasure" which were small lanterns with their names on them hidden in a box in the tent. The treasure hunt was by far their favorite game. 5. Once they were in the tent, I gave each girl a hobo sack, which was a USA flag bandana (4th of July weekend) tied to a long barbecue skewer which they used later for s'mores. Inside the bandana was a compass, a whistle, s'more bars, binoculars, bookmark with "Camp Jade" on them, and a star fact book. 6. I then gave each girl a 2-gallon bucket and lid, in which they put all their stuff, and then sat on the lids. 7. Then my daughter opened presents in the tent. 8. We then had cupcakes that looked like little campfires with the help of raisinets as rocks and rolled-out starburst cut into flames. 9. I then had the girls play "unwrap the present" game in which each girl unwrapped one layer of a multi-wrapped package that contained sparklers and glow bracelets. This was a big hit with them! 10. They put on the bracelets, and we lit the sparklers and sang some patriotic songs. 11. Next came s'more making time. We used the BBQ skewers to roast the marshmallows on our campfire (a chiminea) while sitting on our camp buckets. We sang some camp songs and told some silly ghost stories. 12. Next, we "talked" to the fireflies by luring the male to our "female" flashlight. This was exciting to all of them. (Read "Talking to Fireflies, Shrinking the Moon" for this and more ideas) 13. They then played flashlight tag until they were tired. 14. We then got into our PJ's and sleeping bags, and I read a book of not-so-scary ghost stories (they are only 6, after all!) 15. Lastly, I got out the portable DVD player, and they watched Mary Kate and Ashley's Camp Out Party DVD. 16. They were looking at the stars through the top of the tent by 11PM, and asleep by 11:15! 17. In the morning, we had packaged donuts and orange juice, and made sand art in little jars while we waited for the parents to pick them up at 9:30 am. The girls absolutely loved this party, and Jade wants to do it again next year. It was fun and inexpensive to host, and to see the smiles on the girls faces was priceless. I would highly recommend doing a camp out party of your own. Sleeping in a tent is a treat in itself!
