Picnic Party

Here are my notes for Natalie's birthday party:

Cupcakes (24 yellow) are cooling now. Tomorrow we frost and decorate. Luckily, the current issue of Woman's Day Magazine, March 4, has a beautiful cover of flower cupcakes which totally inspired me. What fun! I also have plain white craft paper to cover the food table as well as some little ceramic toadstools and we have beautiful flower stickers to put on the table covering and I will also set out crayons for the children to draw more flowers and ladybugs, etc. I have a dried flower crown which we got at Rennfest for Natalie to wear as the Birthday Girl. Besides the cupcakes we will serve pitchers of lemonade.

Party games (indoor or outdoor depending on the weather):
Duck Duck Goose
Sack Race
3 Legged Race
Egg and Spoon Relay
Wheelbarrow Race
Water Balloon Toss
Fruit Basket

Fruit Basket is one I got from an old fashioned Betty Crocker book of games for children's parties. We are using our fruit and vegetable index cards that Natalie already made. Here is what it says

Fruit Basket

ages 5-8
number of players 6-18

what's needed?
colored construction paper
paste
scissors
string

preparation - choose a different fruit for each player. cut the fruits out of colored construction paper. mount them on 9x12 sheets of construction paper. on each sheet tie a string large enough to go over the head of a child.


1. Have each child put on his fruit card. He will keep this fruit throughout the game.

2. Sit the children down in a circle, either on chairs or on the floor.

3. Select one child to go into the center of the circle. This child then calls the name of two fruits. The children bearing these names are to change places with each other. At the same time, the child in the center tries to reach one of their places first.

4. Whoever loses out on a place to sit must go into the center and call the names of two other fruits.


My to-do list right now is to punch holes in the fruit and veggie cards and run lengths of yarn through them, to buy some balloon for the water balloon toss, and to cut strips of fabric for the three legged race. Tomorrow we will make frosting and frost and decorate the cupcakes.


Instead of party favors we are doing a craft project of clay seed balls. I have a HUGE bowl of clay which has been soaking in water for several days (since most of the time when I use clay I forget to prep it, I have been extra vigilant this time), mixed flower seeds for a hummingbird and butterfly garden, and worm castings for fertilizer. I have little plastic ziploc bags for the children to put their balls in when they are done and we can write the child's name on the bag and decorate it with a ladybug sticker. I really really wanted to buy the chocolate ladybugs from Magic Cabin, especially since they come in a little cute red and white checked bag, but I can't afford $6.00 per child. We invited all of Natalie's class, as is de rigueur, and it looks like about 14 people, including younger sibs and moms, will attend.