During this school year we had dived into birds. The kids had been spending a great deal of time in front of our birdfeeder and they could name just about every little feathered friend that would come calling.
The invitation was a birds nest with little eggs that popped out when you opened it up. I wish I had a picture of it! It was cute but some of the eggs fell off in the mail. *Note to self- don't buy cheep glue.
For their First Grade party, 6 years old, they had been having a ball during science. They wanted to have a mini lab and do science experiments with all their friends. The invitations were way too complicated. It was an optical illusion that was in the shape of a beaker. I had no business making it and I haven't even got a picture of the darn thing. I got the instructions for this party from Family Fun Magazine.
When it came time for their Second Grade party, 7 years old, the decision on a theme was quickly and unanimously decided. Greek Myths!
I hunted and hunted on the web for ideas but came up with nothing. It isn't exactly mainstream. The other kids at our party hadn't heard of Athena or Zeus or Demeter. But they listened riveted as I told abbreviated versions of some of the myths. My kids LOVED planning this party and declared it to be the best party in the whole wide world of their whole entire lives. Now that's a recommendation, eh?
This is Aunt Ellen helping the guests make bird nests. I made a batch of rice crispies and pressed them into muffin tins. Then each kid got to plop some icing into the nests and top it with bird eggs (jellybeans).
Everyone got to make pine cone bird feeders by spreading peanut butter over huge pinecones and then rolling it in bird seed. We tied string to the top so they could be hung out for our feathered friends.
One of the games was Baby Bird Relay. Each child got a baby bird, a marshmallow, that they had to care for and try not to drop. They had to maneuver around an obstacle course keeping their baby bird safe from falling. (Then they all ate their baby birds but don't tell anyone, okay- I think we can get reported for that!)
The Bird House Cake was super easy. I used a long rectangle for the main house and cut another rectangle on the diagonal for the roof. I used an Oreo cookie for the opening that the birds use to enter the house. YUM!
The invites were scrolls with a declaration from Zeus to bring forth their chariot to Mount Olympus for feasting and celebration. During history we had made papyrus scrolls while studying Ancient Egypt. They especially enjoyed the Greek lettering in the invite.
I made a Zeus Thunderbolt cake which was very easy. The cloud is a big rectangle with scallops cut out to form the cloudy-esque shape. The lightning bolt was two rectangle cakes cut in a zig zag and plopped together with lots of icing to hide the joints.
The kids talked me into wearing togas for the party. We did some Greek weaving on a cardboard loom. While the kids did this I told them the myth of Athena and Aracne. I also took this opportunity to tell them about Athena's birth. They listened open mouthed.While the kids made this I talked about Athena’s birth and how the owl is her symbol. I also talked about the competition Athena and Poseidon had to determine who’d be the protector god of Athens. I passed around a jar of olives for each child to smell and asked them which gift they thought was better, olives or horses.
Next up was the Persephone race. First I told them the story of Persephone being taken down to Hades and being forced to spend six months of the year in Hades because she ate six seeds. Each child then got six pomegranate seeds (AKA, black peppercorns). The kids had to run through an obstacle course from Earth (the living room) to Hades (the basement) and back. However many seeds they still had balanced on their wooden spoons at the end dictated how many candy treats they got to pick from the basket. The party guests LOVED this game and played it over and over and over.
For favors we had: 1)Door hangers made out of craft foam with each child’s name written in Greek. 2)Coloring page packet of each Greek god, 3)a wordsearch of the gods and the Greek alphabet. 4)A list of suggested library books for the children to look for if they want to know more about the adventures of the Greek gods.
For food: I made lots of food and my kids decided to name the food with Greek Myth names. They made little name tags for each food item. We served Cyclops Stew (antipasto), Hydra Teeth (Doritos), Poseidon’s Seaweed (tabouleh), Hades Delight (hummus), Pegasus Wings (Pita Chips), Minotaur Meat (BBQ), Athena Shields (buns), Medusa Snakes (green beans), and Demeter's Harvest (Greek Salad).
My kids drew pictures of a bunch of the gods and put them all over the house. They also made a sign for the front door that said, Welcome to Mount Olympus!
Some of the other stuff we wanted to do but ran out of time included:
1) Make a snake wind sock. Take a paper plate and draw a spiral line almost to the center. Have each child color their snake then cut it out on the line. Punch a hole in the center and tie string to the hole so it can be hung up to catch the wind in their rooms. While the kids are coloring tell the myth of Medusa.
2) Make woven paper hearts for Aphrodite. While they are making the craft tell them the story of Paris and the Golden Apple.
3) Olympic games. A) Potato-Put- who can throw a potato the farthest. B) Discus- who can throw a Frisbee the farthest C) Javelin- who can throw cardboard tube the farthest (I got the cardboard tube from my local drapery store). I talked about the Greeks inventing the Olympics and how women were’t allowed to compete or watch. The kids thought it was hilarious that the competitors would compete naked. That little fact was very popular.
As we travel down the road of homeschooling, I'm getting more and more addicted to watching the lightbulb going off above their heads. They get great joy out of their studies and one of the ways I can tell is when it comes time for their birthday.
A tremendous benefit of having triplets is that I only have to plan one birthday bash a year. Now THAT is a blessing!
During this school year we had dived into birds. The kids had been spending a great deal of time in front of our birdfeeder and they could name just about every little feathered friend that would come calling.
