Saturday we had Makenna's big birthday party. She/we decided on a Super Why theme. Super Why is Makenna's favorite tv show. It's a PBS show about kids (Whyatt Beanstalk, Little Red, Princess Pea, and Pig) that live in Storybrook Village ("where all of our fairytale friends live") and solve problems/save the day by reading, rhyming, spelling, and identifying letters. Planning a book related super hero party was a lot of fun!
Favors
All of the kids got capes and wands to wear/play with during the party. The boys got blue capes and why writers (just like Super Why, the main character). The girls got pink capes, magic spelling wands, and tiaras (just like Princess Presto, Makenna's favorite). They loved them! Makenna opted not to wear her tiara, but she was ALL about her wand and cape.
The kids also got to pick out a mylar balloon to take home after the party.
Activities
In addition to all of our usual outdoor toys, I set up a few Storybrook Village themed stations for the kiddos to explore. The girl's playhouse was, of course, The Book Club. The smaller playhouse was given the title "Little Red's Cozy Cottage." It was stocked with picnic baskets and play food so that the kids could pack snacks for granny.
I turned the covered patio into Miss Muffet's Tea Cafe. The cafe included the girls' play kitchen, several kid sized tables (each with a fairytale table cloth and tea set), a mini frig stocked with kid-friendly drinks, and a giant air walker spider.
In the show, pig's family (The 3 Pigs) are construction workers (makes sense). So, I set up 'Pig's Home Construction' station consisting of a tool bench & play tools, cardboard brick blocks, and hay.
I thought about adding a pile of sticks to round it off but decided running kids + sticks might not be the safest choice.
Makenna's favorite station was Princess Pea's castle (complete with pea), which was the girls' bouncy castle. Its been over a year since daddy got it out of the attic for the girls. They were ECSTATIC to see it again!
I played our Hip Hop Alpha Bop cd and, for the most part, just let the kids go crazy. After about an hour of free play, we did a letter hunt (which was the only semi-organized activity that we did). In the show, the super readers start with a problem (in the form of a question) that needs to be solved. They look for "super letters" in the story and put the letters together at the end to find the answer. I used jumbo magnetic letters as our super letters and the girls' easel (which I set up on the porch of the Book Club)as our 'super duper computer'. Our question was "what super treat should we eat to celebrate Makenna's birthday?" The answer was "super yummy cake", which was then immediately served (after singing "Happy Birthday", of course).
I'm not the least bit crafty. So, our decorations were pretty simple. They consisted of a banner, a few homemade signs, and a bunch of mylar balloons. My favorite was the cow jumping over the moon (super simple, but I was proud of the idea). I wanted to turn the ugly telephone pole in our yard into a giant beanstalk, but Robert wouldn't let me (something about destruction of city property. Boo!)
Food
I set up a toddler-level buffet of "Super Reader's Storybook Snacks". Snacks included: Jack and Jill's pail of water, Peter Piper's pickles, Little Boy Blueberries, Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater bread, The Three Bears (divided tray with 3 flavors of teddy grahams), and The 3 Pigs' Bricks and Sticks (chex mix mixed with pretzel sticks).
Hamburgers, hot dogs, kabobs, and chips were also served.
After Makenna opened all of her gifts, we turned on her new bubble machine from Uncle James.
All and all, I would say the party was a success! Even though the kids ranged in age from 18 months to 8 years old, they all seemed to have a blast!
Shouldn't this be "Super M"? Just saying (looks like an awesome party!)
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