The box is officially ticked Our first Brothers Trimm home birthday party is done and dusted. Blessed with an unusually mild day we managed to keep 9 kids entertained, avoiding any major meltdowns or gentle reminders about the value of 'sharing'.
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| Jet packs, inspired by Donna Hay |
6 boys,
3 girls,
9 adults,
1 cat,
7 jet packs (some of us can't count),
1 space ship,
1 giant birthday cake and
far too many candles.
After considering my tactics for our eldest's 3rd birthday I decided to take the less is more approach and cross my toes that I could pull it off. Quite by accident we had no major party games planned, not even pass the parcel. But what did happen, was we provided our little friends with a platform to make the party their own. Our back garden became a treasure map, a lunar landing pad, a hiding place, an artist's canvas, a place for them to freely roam all under the watchful eyes of Mum's, Dad's and Grandparents.
I did create a theme, I couldn't resist it and needed to create some direction, but with one major task applied - wear jet packs and run around pretending to be rockets - it was all they needed. Apart from the food frenzy and giant cake indulgence (the sparklers were a huge hit), the next best thing was playing hide and seek with some of the more energetic adults.
Birthday parties are great and if you feel creative, it's a lot of fun to make and share with family and friends. What I learned? Keeping it simple makes the day so much less stressful and really the kids only remember so much. They are happy if they can squeal, run, giggle, eat yummy treats and play with other kids toys. And hey, isn't that the way it is for all of us? Aren't we all just big kids at heart?
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| The birthday robot |
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| How it looked BEFORE 7 boys.. |
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Our little rocket booster
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| The cake, complete with sparklers and far too many candles |
We then wrapped the Arrays and the Telescope in alfoil:
Trace 3 circles on the cardboard using an end of the toilet roll, then trim to fit inside the ends of the telescope and we used the third to make the Communications Antennae:
Stick the kebab stick through the centre of the telescope and then sticky tape or glue gun the Arrays on to the stick:
We cut a few straws and some tiny squares of cardboard to make the computers and the insulation that flank the telescopes tube. We used the glue gun to stick these on:
The Captain drew circles inside the third cardboard circle to make the Communications Antennae which we then glued to the top of the half length kebab stick and then stuck the other end into the top centre of the telescope:
The Captain cutting out the little Computers:
The Hubble Telescope orbiting earth:
