9019

Princess Theme 4yr - Musical Magic Carpet

June 2004

Skip Ober Miller in Los Angeles, CA, USA

Special Mention

Princess Party  For our daughter’s fourth birthday, we threw her a princess party. (At her request.) 

Invitations: Opting out of the pre-printed Disney invitations, we designed a custom  invitation with time, date, etc.  Each was sealed with red sealing wax for a royal  effect. 

Location: Instead of our miniscule backyard, we rented the play yard at our local  church.  We had access to playground equipment without the hassle of being in a  public park.  It also afforded us plenty of private parking and access to clean  bathrooms and a kitchen.  A rented canopy provided shade and folding tables and  chairs from the church provided places for adults and children to sit and eat.  Environment: Before the guests arrived, we placed liberal amounts of helium-filled  balloons around the entrance to the party area, in addition to signs directing guests to  the correct spot.  The signs were created with ledger-sized colored paper adorned  with cut-outs of various Disney princesses.  (Disney.com was most helpful for  download-able pictures.)  Streamers and banners also helped create a festive  atmosphere. 

Activities:  As the guests arrived, they were greeted by the birthday girl’s grandmother,  who verified that we had their correct address (some of the children were from  preschool and the invitations had been hand-delivered.), given a name tag (most of  the parents did not know each other), and invited to the canopy area where the  children colored poster-sized princess pictures (these were sent home as favors) or to  play on the playground equipment.  (The playground equipment was a huge  success.)  Once the balance of the children had arrived, we played princess-themed games.  

1) Jasmine’s magic carpet game was a variant on musical chairs.  Each child and  adult (they had the most fun!) walked around an equal number of colorful hand  towels.  (These were obtained inexpensively at a discount store.) When the music  (Aladdin Soundtrack, of course) stopped, each person found a towel.  Attached to the  tag of each towel was a picture of an Aladdin figure. (We had two of each figure and  used two colors to differentiate.)  According to a pre-planned list, we called for each  character.  This person had found the magic carpet!  To applause, they gathered their  towel (another favor) and left the circle.  This continued to the last pair.  To everyone’s  delight, there were two magic carpets this time!

2) Ariel’s hidden treasures game was played in a large sand box.  We had obtained a mermaid/pirate treasure box designed for play in the pool with many items from gold coins and sea creatures, to jewels.  These were hidden in the sand and the  children were divided into teams (the Founder and Sebastian teams) to see who  could find the most of Ariel’s treasures.  Although it was tough going for the children  as the treasures proved more than a little difficult to find, they had fun.  A dad with a  rake found the remaining treasures while the children moved on to the next game.

3) The Snow White’s apple game was a more subdued time.  While an adult read the story of Snow White (altered to include the name Snow White as many times as  possible) the children passed an apple around the circle each time they heard the  name Snow White.  Once they got into the swing of things, we added a second apple.   The children delighted in reminding each other that they needed to pass the apple.

4) Cinderella’s key game was a variant of doggie, doggie. The children sat in a  circle, while one child stood in the center with a blindfold.  This child was one of  Cinderella’s mouse friends and was looking for the key to unlock her from the tower  room.  An old-fashioned key was passed from child to child and then hidden in closed  hands.  While the children chanted, Mousie, mousie, where’s the key?  Somebody  took it, was it me? The it child removed the blindfold and began to guess who had  the key.  Each child took a turn.

5) The final game was placed at the end of the party.  We obtained a dragon-shaped  piñata at a local party store and invited the children to help slay the evil dragon that  was guarding Sleeping Beauty.  Chaos ensued! Each game was located at a different part of the yard, with a colored paper poster  (with princess picture) announcing the game.  The pre-literate children could easily  tell from the pictures which game was which. 

Food:  Each guest was invited to be our guest at Belle’s dining room.  Typical child  birthday party food hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, beans, fruit, raw vegetables, etc.   The cake was a round layer cake with ice cream cones turned upside down and  frosted to become towers.  Princess pictures and figures surrounded the castle, and  each tower had a colored toothpick with a paper flag attached. 

Favors:  Each child took home their princess poster, magic carpet, piñata prizes, and  a goodie bag with princess-themed items (we sold out and bought Disney party  favors).  Also in the bag were small glass slippers (from the bridal section of the  local party store) my favorite!  Children also took home the balloons. 

Thank-Yous: As each child arrived, my partner took several photos of each guest with  the birthday girl.  These were included with the thank-you notes. 

Other Notes:  Thanks to ideas from this site the party was a grand success.  The  children were busy and engaged, and the adults had fun too.  Our daughter still has  the game and directional signs taped to her bedroom wall two years later!

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