Skattejag 3+

Steek allerlei skate weg. Dit is belangrik dat jy die kinders se ouderdomme in ag neem. Vir die klientjies kan die ma’s en pa’s help om te sê of hulle warm of koud is. Vir groter kinders, kan ‘n mens leidrade plant (‘n briefie of prentjie) om te help. Sorg dat almal iets kry.

Ballet Party Activity - 4 years

I set up a ballet-themed obstacle course in the party room where the children had to perform a series of balletic moves like: plies at the barre, points and courtsies in front of a mirror, bouncing on a mini trampoline, leaping from within one hula hoop to another, pirouetting with hands held above head. The little girls loved this! And they wanted to do it again and again. It was really sweet to see

them try the different moves. To end off the party, I gathered the girls around for a short story (All Tutus Should be Pink by Sheri Brownrigg; Meredith Johnson). The party was a great hit with my daughter, and at the start of the next year she started ballet training for real.

Jessica - DURBANVILLE

Incredibles Party- Games and activities - 4 years

We asked the kids to dress up in red if they could. On the day using an Incredibles poster found in an Incredibles "lucky packet" at Pick n Pay, I was able to introduce the kids to the Incredibles family.

The first introduction was to Dash – the fast Incredible. The word “dash” was explained and then all the kids were told to Dash outside to get their masks. Each child was then given a black mask. We used black blanket material to cut out the masks. Blanket material was ideal as it was cheap and stretchy and didn’t fray. It would easily go around any size head, so it just needed to be cut out, and it cost under R3 per child! The kids loved it, and best of all, they got to keep their masks and take it home with them.

After running around a bit we went back to the Poster of the Incredibles family and talked about Violet. It was explained that Violet could go from visible to invisible. To demonstrate this, The kids were all given a picture of an Incredible to colour in with a white crayon, they could also draw their own picture if they wanted using the same white crayon. We then explained that the white crayon was almost invisible on the white paper. To go from invisible to visible they had to paint their picture and suddenly they could see what they had coloured in or drawn. Invisible to visible!  I also used a magic pen, bought from a local party shop, to write their names on their works of art. This pen’s ink went from visible to invisible. Just like Violet!

I then explained, that she was also special in that she could put a force-field the shape of a bubble around her! To demonstrate we then all went outside and using a giant Bubble wand bought from Verimark (also seen them in CNA and Pick n Pay), we were able to make huge bubbles, just like Violet! The kids enjoyed trying to pop the enormous bubbles. Everyone had a turn trying to make the biggest bubble. To keep everyone happy while waiting for their turn with the wand, we had normal bubbles for the kids too.

Then it was time to have something to eat and drink. So we went inside and introduced the next member of the family, the Incredible Mommy - Elastagirl! It was explained that elastic could stretch and to demonstrate "stretch", I had earlier put stockings around my waist and through my jacket sleeves and the kids enjoyed pulling "Elastagirl's" arms!

To make the Party boxes, we had pasted pictures of Elastagirl on them and cut off her feet. We then punched holes where her feet should be on the box (see pic) and threaded stockings through the holes to make longer stretchy legs. The "legs" were then stretched around the box and tied. The feet we had cut off were then pasted on the end of the stockings. Looked very cute and the kids had fun trying to untangle her legs!

After most of the contents of the party boxes were devoured, the children met the Villan’s big bad robot in the form of a Piñata!!

Making a piñata is time-consuming but lots of fun especially if the kids help! To make your own piñata: Inflate a balloon and attach a rope to it. Paper Mache the balloon, and remember to make it nice and strong at the top where the rope and balloon are attached together. You will add the sweets later, so leave a small area open at the side or near the bottom for first. When totally dry, pop the balloon and then add the sweets, use individually wrapped sweets to fill the piñata especially if you are still going to paint it. Paper Mache the open section closed and leave to dry. Once completely dry – paint and decorate it.

Finally it was time to introduce Mr Incredible! As the strongest of all the Incredibles, and the one who does most of the fighting against the Robot in the movie, it was time to find our muscles just like Mr Incredible. So out came the boxing gloves and each child had a chance to punch the big bad Robot Piñata.

Lots of fun was had by all, and unfortunately Jack Jack… was too small to come to the party!

Bernadine - CAPE TOWN

Mary Poppins - 4 years

I had two friends help out with the games as there were a lot of children. My girlfriend dressed as Mary Poppins (MP). She wore a long black pleated skirt, white chinese collar blouse, black hat with big red cherry beads and white daisies glued appropriately in place, black boots, red ribbon bow at collar, simple scarf knitted for the costume (20 stitches knitted on size 15 needles in purl stitch for as long as the scarf needs to be) and umbrella, of course. My male friend dressed in black trousers, shirt, suspenders, cap and dusted himself with charcoal to be the on-site chimney sweep.

When the children arrived each was measured by MP with a tape measure, top to toe and given a suitable description, as happens in the movie. The birthday girl was Practically Perfect in Every way. The descriptions were prepared beforehand and written on the back of a name tag with long ribbons and a pin. As each child was measured their name tag was pinned to their clothing. This was in preparation for a later game as well as for easy kid management.

The first game we played was "Mary Poppins Says", played according to the "Simon Says" rules.

Next were the penguin skittles. I made a set of penguin skittles from cooldrink bottles. The children each had a turn to knock them over in a game of skittles. once they had the hang of it a new handicap was introduced. Each child was given a penguin mask which had to be worn in the second round of skittles. I made the masks by copying a fairly plump penguin onto card and simple cutting eye holes and attaching elastic suitable to hold onto each child's head.

The tongue twister game drew a couple of chuckles. each child was challenged to say Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Being 3, 4 and 5 year olds this was quite a challenge.

Pin the tail on the kite was a fairly straightforward take on pin the tail on the donkey. The children used their ribboned name tags as kite tails. I painted a brightly coloured Kite on card and positioned it at a child-friendly height for this game.

The highlight of the party was the chimney sweep obstacle course. I collected a bunch of gross motor toys and equipment and set up a safe but challenging obstacle course in the garden. The route was created using: a small plastic slide, 4 hula hoops hung from a rope suspended between 2 trees that the kids had to climb through, several large cardboard cylinders (the chimneys) that they either had to run around or crawl through, a balance beam was also erected that had to be crossed with an open umbrella in hand. Children had to sweep a ball around two chimney obstacles with a little broom. A small trampoline added bounce fun and the course ended with the children collecting plastic balls from a great wooden toy box and throwing them down a tall chimney - basketball style.

Party prizes for games were things like Old Maid card games, funny whistles and little kites. These little gifts were presented to the children in little paper bags I made from paisley printed paper to resemble mini carpet bags.

Jessica - DURBANVILLE

Spiderman - 4 years

The kids enjoyed a couple of themed games such as tangled web, where the kids stand in a circle and those standing opposite one another each hold one end of a length of string. We then played a “twister” type routine which ended up with them getting all tangled up in the string and once they were securely entangled, had to get themselves free again without letting go of their end of string.

The highlight of the party was when each child at the party was presented with their very own Spiderman mask, made by myself in the weeks before hand. I made a basic balaclava style mask and drew spider webs on the masks with a laundry marker.

Tanya - DURBANVILLE

Pirate Party activities - 4 years

After the kids had eaten it was time to go to the “tattoo parlour” and each child was given a stick on tattoo of their choice and once each of them had been tattooed it was time for the craft.

What good is a pirate without a sword and eye patch right? I found a fantastic pirate foam craft pack, perfect for the age group (2-5 year olds). All the kids had to do was “peel and stick” their crafts together which was fantastically easy for most of them. The grown up’s that were there assisted with inserting the elastic cord for the eye patches. Before we knew it the two hours was up and they kids all had a blast, especially my son who thoroughly enjoyed being the Captain Pirate for the morning.

Tanya - DURBANVILLE

Hot Wheels Racing Party - 4 years

We had the party at the local race track and of course the dads were very keen to come to this party!

To keep the kids entertained when the cars weren’t racing, we had wheelbarrow races (the moms/dads pushed their kids) and this was a huge hit, the kids couldn’t get enough (poor parents!).

We also had black bikes and other ride-on’s for the kids. Needless to say everyone had a great day at the race-track!

Bernadine - CAPE TOWN