8564

Rainbow Theme -3yr- Rainbow Veggie Tray

April 2004

Alana in Rochester, NH, USA

Special Mention

For my daughter's third birthday we had a rainbow theme. The party was approximately two hours long. We had a total of six kids in attendance.

When the homemade invitations were sent out (Picture of a rainbow with a clound on the end - on the front of the invite in the cloud it said "All the colors of the rainbow..." and the inside right page said, "...and so much more!" with party details on the left) each child was invited to come dressed in a designated rainbow color.

Throughout the party the children sat in chairs that corresponded to their color, won appropriately colored prizes, had corresponding party hats and goody bags... There was no fighting over prizes, no confusion about whose was what... The cost for the decorations and goodies was under $10.00 by purchasing items on sale well ahead of time and at dollar stores, as well as using items we had on hand already (i.e. cover re-used party hats with construction paper; color brown paper lunch bags and string appropriately covered ribbon to discern colors...). Following is the detailed planning guide I wrote up for myself including Decorations, Favors, Activities, Menu, and other notes: 

Decorations: -ROYGBV balloons and streamers around door frames, hanging from lights -Corresponding colored balloon on each chair -Painted rainbow to hang on wall in dining room and play room (I used a roll of white wrapping paper purchase on clearance after Christmas and painted the rainbow myself) -Dining room table white plastic cloth covered in small pieces of colored paper under a clear plastic cover 

Favors: -Party hat home made in each color or cover pre-made in each color -Colored brown paper lunch bag for each child -Homemade coloring book (found pictures on line and created an eight page book, folded in half, hole-punched and bound with corresponding ribbon) -Punch balloon  -Bouncy Ball  -Crazy straws -Rainbow sticker or various stickers of same color 

Activities: 10:30-10:45 Upon arrival coloring make coloring books with color pages, tied with corresponding colored ribbon that can later be put into the goody bag. Have a container of crayons at table. 10:45-10:55 Fruit loop necklaces each child has their own bowl of fruit loops and colored string 10:55-11:00Rainbow walk in other words, musical colored plates or rainbow cut outs when music stops, a color is called, whoever is on that colored plate gets bouncy ball in their color to put in goody bag (keep track of who has won and stop music accordingly) - no losers pouting when they win a prize to play with!! 11:00-11:10Rainbow bull’s eye like pin the donkey paint a 6-layered bull’s eye target or use one of the rainbows, each child tries to pin their own color after being spun around to the unison reciting of each color (instead of counting); use appropriately colored punch balloons (deflated) as the tag to be put into goody bag after - All the kids did this at the same time so as to not have to wait too long - Three year olds and patience!?!? 11:15-11:25Pass the present box inside of box (6 layers) each layer wrapped a different color or wrapped in newspaper and tied with different colored ribbon; when music stops whoever has the present unwraps a layer, then continue until each child/all layers are unwrapped.

The final box has enough goodies for each child crazy straws to put in goody bag. 11:25-11:35Gift opening giver sits on love seat with birthday child, take photo to include in thank you card 11:35-12:00Eat!! Food buffet placed in kitchen on kids’ and coffee table or have moms serve. 12:00-12:05Floating Balloons have one of each color balloon blown up and as a group have kids keep them off the floor as long as possible use as a filler or sitting break 12:05-12:10Balloon Wrestling put a pretty rainbow sticker or few stickers in corresponding colors in each balloon before blowing it up for Floating Balloon activity; have kids wrestle the balloon to pop it and find the prize. 12:10-12:20Story time read a story about colors at the end of the party to calm kids down (We read Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh) 12:20-12:25Group photo 12:25-12:30Clean up, gather personal things, get ready to go 

Menu: Rainbow Veggie Tray cherry tomatoes, orange peppers, baby corn, broccoli, purple carrots Rainbow Fruit Tray strawberries, cantaloupe, pineapple, kiwi, red grapes Pizza whole wheat crust, sauce, pepperoni, cheese Rainbow Rice Krispies made in shape of a rainbow with frosting clouds dalloped on each serving Apple Juice  Other notes: -Have goody bags hanging on back of each child's chair -Assign a photographer, videographer, and overall assistant -Be flexible with format - if kids aren't responding to activity, be ready to change it up according to their interests and age (our guests ranged from 1 1/2 years to 4)

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