13572

Charlie Party -8yr- Bubble Blowing Contest

May 2006

Dawn in Hennessey, Oklahoma, U.S.

Special Mention

For my daughter's 8th birthday we had a Charlie & The Chocolate Factory party.  I made candy bar wrappers on the computer that looked like a "Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight" bar.  Inside was a golden ticket with all the party information.  The wording came directly from the movie and book (along with a request for each child to eat a healthy lunch before coming).  Several of the kids really thought we were going to the factory.  We wrapped these around candy bars and passed them out. 

We began by decorating with a "red carpet" leading from the street to the backyard gate.  The "carpet" was held down with large plastic candy canes (from Christmas)and a movie poster was stapled to the gate door along with a bouquet of purple and gold balloons (main party colors).  The backyard was decorated with more candy canes, giant pinwheels, punch balls thrown around the yard, tons of balloons, and paper ball lanterns hanging from the trees and the telephone line that runs through the middle of our yard.  Two tables were set up with purple and gold tableware.  My mother-in-law made candy centerpieces for the tables and gum coins were scattered as confetti.  We also had the movie soundtrack playing.

As guests arrived, they were greeted at the front gate and given a cane and top hat (which had a purple ribbon glued around the brim).  They also took a "movie quiz" and placed their name on the back of their golden ticket for a later game.  My oldest daughter graded the quizzes.  The ones with less than 5 answers wrong went into a hat for a drawing.  The prize was the book "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". 

We then played games:     

LIFESAVER RELAY - The two teams had to race each other by passing a lifesaver from one player to the next but they could only use the crazy straws that were in their mouths.  Everybody got to keep their crazy straws as a prize.  They also received "Wonka's Never Melting Ice-Cream" (I ordered marshmallow ice-cream cones from Oriental Trading and made labels for them on my computer).     

CHOCOLATE RIVER DRINK RELAY - Two teams had to get down on their bellies with their crazy straws.  Each team was given a bowl of chocolate milk with a plastic boat floating in it.  Everybody had to drink from the bowl at the same time.  The first team to sink their boat was the winner.  They loved this game.  Everybody received fake ugly teeth and a toothbrush as a prize.     

AUGUSTUS GLOOP RELAY - The first person on each team had to put on an x-large t-shirt, blow up a balloon (two puffs worth), crawl through a tunnel, touch the back porch, crawl back through the tunnel, pop their balloon, take the shirt off and pass it to the next person.  Everybody received "Chocolate Bird Eggs" as a prize.  I used Robin's eggs (from Easter), repackaged them in jewelry bags and made labels for them on my computer, again using wording from the book.     

INVENTING ROOM - The Inventing Room was my kitchen and dining room.  In the kitchen, the kids made their own "Fizzy Lifting Drinks" using pop rocks, Sprite and sour candy straws. 

We had a BURPING CONTEST.  The loudest and longest winners won the boats from the Chocolate Drink Relay.  The dining room table was decorated with a purple cloth, candy centerpiece, cake and ice-cream sundae fixings.  The sheet cake was decorated like the "Chocolate Room".  It had a chocolate pudding river running down the middle complete with pink boat (gummy bears as the drivers) and chocolate candy rocks.  The rest was decorated with green "grass", a candy tree with M&M's all over it, two candy bushes adorned with miniature gumdrops, miniature candy canes, gumballs, rock candy and more gummy bears.  The candles were the kind that relight after they are blown out (just to keep the magic alive)!  Each child created their own ice-cream sundaes with chocolate syrup, fudge, caramel and strawberry toppings.  We also had chopped pecans, whipped cream, cherries and tons of sprinkles.        

GOLDEN TICKET DRAWING - Everybody sat in a circle with the gift they brought.  My daughter would draw a ticket out of the hat and would open that child's gift.  Each child received a Wonka Donutz for their goody bag.  The last name drawn received a book "The Chocolate Touch".     

PIE DIVE - This really wasn't in the movie but the kids loved it.  I placed several unwrapped Hershey's Kisses on a paper plate, topped it with tons of Cool-Whip, sprinkles and a cherry.  Each child had to find and eat their kisses without using their hands.  It was so funny to watch!  Each child received a real Wonka Bar (e-bay).     

MIKE TEEVEE SHOOTOUT - Each child got a water gun and they got to spray each other to clean off the Cool-Whip!  Of course they got to keep the guns.     

HAIR TAFFY PULL - I had a recipe to make taffy, but because the day turned out to be 97 degrees, we had to ditch this idea.  Instead, we used the extra-long Laffy Taffy's made by Wonka.  I made labels on my computer for snack sized sandwich bags.  It was still fun to pull it to see how far it would stretch before it broke.  Each child also received a bag of "Everlasting Gobstoppers".     

VIOLET'S BUBBLE BLOWING CONTEST - Each child was given Cry Baby Sour Gumballs.  They had to chew the up, blow and hold a bubble for 10 seconds.  They were NOT expecting the sour taste at all!  The winner received a book "Chocolate Fever" and everybody received a pack of "Wonka's Magic Chewing Gum".  I made new wrappers on my computer and wrapped them around packs of Juicy Fruit.    

I made their goody bags out of purple paper sacks with a label on the front that said "Willy Wonks's Chocolate Factory - The most amazing, the most fantastic, the most extraordinary candy factory the world has ever seen!" taken from the book.  They also had each child's name at the top of the bag which had been printed in Willy Wonka font.  The bags were filled with fake teeth, a toothbrush, crazy straw, water gun, coin gum, miniature candy canes, extra-long Pixie Sticks and all the candy from the games along with a variety of Wonka candies (Laffy Taffy, Nerds, SweetTarts, Bottle Caps, Runts, and Fun Dip).  They also took home their top hat and cane.     

This party was a blast!  Other than the computer work, it was a cinch to put together.  And what child doesn't love candy???

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