Lego Party

How We Settled on Legos
Nicholas had some trouble figuring out the exact theme that he wanted for his birthday party this year. Last year was a no-brainer. He asked for a Spiderman Party, and I thought "perfect, we'll do Superheroes". I expanded the theme to a general superhero theme instead of solely Spiderman, because I figured all the kids, boys and girls, would have at least one superhero that they know and love. Made sense.
And after said birthday party, it became a pastime for Nick to think about his next party (this year's)and what kind it would be. We heard everything from a Truck Party to a  Puppy Party.  Back to just a Spiderman Party, then on to a Ninja Turtles Party.  A Star Wars Party was even mentioned. In the end, after so many changes, I suggested a Lego Party, because he A) likes Legos and B) as I explained to Nick, they've got a Lego set for everything. There are your regular town and country folk, of course, but there are also Ninja Turtle sets, Sports sets, Racecar sets. Superheroes and Star Wars sets. Girl sets, Disney characters, Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, SpongeBob, Bob the Builder... I could go on and on, but you get the idea. They have EVERYTHING. Again, something for everyone. Nick agreed.
I should also note that the Lego Movie helped, too. We knew nothing of the Lego Movie when we originally picked the theme. I later saw the trailer for it. And later still, a trusted Mommy Friend told me she had taken her boys to see it and that it was wonderful. Based on her gushing review, my sister and I took Nicholas and his cousin to see his first movie in the theatre, and he loved it. (It was a great movie if you haven't seen it yet). So there was much buzz among Nick and his friends about the movie and therefore, Legos in general, which made the kids enthusiastic about the party.

Also, in telling the story of Nick's 5th birthday party I will be upfront and admit that I had a tremendous amount of fun and anxiety(!) about this party. Allow me the chance to explain.
The fun part is pretty obvious. I like throwing children's parties and playdates. I like searching for, and coming up with some of my own, fun activities to do. I like preparing and prepping and yes, sometimes it takes weeks and months in advance- gah! But I just love watching the kids dazzled by the cake and cupcakes, and squealing over the games. It just makes me happy.

The anxiety came with the weather report and the large number of guests. The weather was really the issue. Children need to run around, and scream, and our favorite Nature Center offers the opportunity to be both inside, great for eating and presents, and outside, great for the yelling and running around bit. This year was the 4th year we had held Nick's birthday party there, and the weather had been nice each time (think early April, sunny, slightly cool. In other words, perfect.) and we were able to take all of the kids outside for the games and activities. Well, this year the weather was predicted to be unseasonably cold, and rainy, so I knew we'd be indoors the entire time.

Enter the slight panic, because we were expecting many loved ones and their families, of course, to attend. And well, envision many, many (24, I believe) kids aged 0-6 and most of them boys pent up inside...

The day of the party I decided to chill and do the best I could, in spite of the weather, and I think the party turned out pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. Everyone had fun, no one got hurt, and the kids loved the activities, games, and cake/cupcakes! Phew! We managed to pull that one off with the help of some very, very kind angels who lent a hand in setting up, bringing food, with the activities, writing who gave Nick what as the kids tore through the presents, and with clean up. I thank you 100 times over!!!

Now, let me show you Nick's Big Day!

This was Nick's Lego Cake.
It is meant to look like a cake constructed out of Legos
being unveiled by construction workers.
Spidey and Raphael Minifigs were holding up a Nick Banner,
and it was placed atop a Lego Cakeplate.

The cake generated a lot of buzz with the children. They stopped and stared, puzzled by it. They wanted to know which parts were cake and which were actual Legos. One child asked me at least 5 times, when we were going to eat the cake. And this was after, we'd sung Happy Birthday and eaten the cupcakes. He was desperate to know what it tasted like!
Mission accomplished!

My darling friend made her fabulous cupcakes for us again
and I made the Lego toppers, chocolate bricks and MiniFigures.

The goodie bags turned out great.
Each contained a homemade Lego cookie, and one of the following:
A surprise minifigure bag from the Lego Movie,
a flower Lego ring, or a Lego Lightsaber necklace.

I really wanted the goodie bags to be consumable (cookie) and meaningful,
something they would be able to use again or keep as a memento.

I picked Nick up from school the following week
and one of the kids was wearing the Lightsaber necklace,
A WEEK LATER.
Need I say more?

Little Brother inspects the Goodie Bags at the party.
Wait a second...where's mine?

 

Homemade Lego Banner decoration

Juiceboxes

Cutlery holder

Yeah, I kind of had fun (went overboard) with the whole Lego theme.

And on to the games.

This is popular at Lego parties, I saw this idea everywhere
on the internet and really liked it.

It was placed right by the front door,
so I directed the kids over to it as they arrived.
They had to guess how many Legos were in it
and the closest guess won a small Lego set.

It was perfect to do while guests were arriving at various times,
and for right when the party started, but wasn't quite underway yet.

This was Nick's first piñata.
He really wanted Ninja Turtles.
And those yellow balloons, I drew Minifigure faces on them with a Sharpie.
Kids loved them (it's the simple things).
One of Nick's friends at school asked me
a few days later if I could make him another balloon.
Sure buddy!
Again success!

Here is my "niece" (bff's daughter) playing with her girl Minifig balloon.

Now posing!
Love her!

Game 1
The following game was fun. I drew and cut out Minifigure faces and hid them around the room. The kids had to find them and return them to their bodies. It was funny to see how they matched them up and some of the kids were so serious about it, they were fixing what bodies the heads were on!

Wyldstyle

Michealangelo

Skeleton

Marachi guy

Most of the bodies were coloring pages I found online that I cut out.

 

Others, like this one and the ones below,
I printed a plain Minifigure body and then drew the details on.

Business man.

A Ninja Turtle Body.

And Marachi Guy's Bod.

The kids in action.

Game 2
This game was fun, too. I gave it a Lego Movie spin because the vast majority of the kids had seen the movie, but it wasn't necessary.
We hid color copied pictures of all different kinds of Minifigures (astronauts, SpongeBob, Hobbit, Star Wars, athletes, etc.) around the room. The kids job was to save them from Lord Business and his Kragle and return them to town. I don't have a before picture but here is the end result. It started out as a piece of white poster board with a Lego town taped on it. The kids found the Minifigures taped around the room and placed them back in town.
Simple and they loved it.

Action shot.

Just wanted to note how my girl is holding her own with the big boys!

 

Everyone rescued.

 

 

 

Game 3

And the last game was the biggest hit by far. I highly recommend doing this with your kids. You don't have to be at a party, it is fun even at home. Many, many parents told me afterwards that their kids kept talking about this one, wanted to do it at home again, or wanted to do it at their party. Yay!

 

I originally came across something similar online, and thought it looked like fun, so I wanted to add my own twist, and incorporate it into the theme of the party. It came out wonderfully!

 

Here's the idea. You freeze a bunch of Minifigures in various size and shape containers the night before the party (tip- Minifigures float, so you have to freeze them in two parts.) I did different levels of difficulty too, some were left very close to the surface of the water and others were frozen deeper, so they would require more work to extract.

 

The day of the party, I put them in a cooler to transport them to the party. At the party I had a table set up with a shallow, long clothing storage bin, to contain the mess, and had many playdough tools (nothing too sharp), kitchen utensils (again, nothing sharp), water bottles with warm water to squirt out, salt to pour on, etc.

 

I then told the kids that we had saved most of the MiniFigures from the Kragle (from the previous activity), but Lord Business still managed to get a few Minifigures and that we needed to get them out, and rescue them from the Kragle.

 

Here is the set up at home.
Fill half way with water, then stick it into the freezer.
Come back after an hour or two and fill the rest of the way with water,
so it is frozen deeper into the ice.

 

The kids were clamoring around the table,
excitedly awaiting their turn, as only about 5 or 6 could go at a time.

The Warm Water method.

Aerial view

I did it!

So, the party and games were a lot of work and a lot of fun! Always worth it!


Here are some of my favorite photos from the day:

Cuteness Overload!
My friend made Nick and his Baby Brother Ninja Turtle Minifigure shirts!

Beautiful Auntie Clare arrives.

Auntie Shelly and Poppy smile for the cam.

Baby Bro, CC, and Grandpa

Rhysie and Grand D.

Cousin Maya and Uncle Charles.

Not sure what was going on here under the table,
but apparently it was hilarious.

Up to no good.

I LOVE these two pictures. This is Nick's friend's little sister.
She was seriously karate chopping these bricks!

Baby Z hung out with the big boys.

Wrestling and general mischief.

What this picture doesn't show is Nick blowing out the candles after
"Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you."
Blows out candle, laughs wildly.
Everyone continues the rest of the song laughing.

Cupcakes!

 

And back to the hallway for more rowdiness.

Where the more mellow children were.

Rhys and Great Uncle Dave

Uncle Charles was a brave volunteer.
Ok, I volunteered him, but he did well.
He held the piñata for the kids.
Yep, brave, indeed.

Birthday Boy went first, followed by smallest to biggest.
My preferred piñata method.

Here, he demonstrates The Ax Swing.

The Little Brother Whap.

The Hitting Like a "Girl" Swing, not bad!

After shot jubilation.

The Precise Wallop.

The Pyscho Swing.

The Grit and Determination Swing.

The Serious Lefty Baseball Player Swing.
(I wish I had been further back taking this picture, it is a thing of beauty.)

You can see Righty Brother's Follow through!

The Ok, Let's Do This Swing.

And finally,
The I'm-the-Last-Kid-in-Line, I-will-Punish-this-Piñata Swing.

And he did.
I wish I could say I planned it,
but every kid that wanted to got to hit the piñata,
and the last one in line broke it.
Perfect, because it was COLD outside.

 

 

Back inside we gave out the goodie bags, and Nick opened his presents.

 

Modeling green icing cookie teeth and his Lightsaber necklace.

 

 

Cousin sleepily modeling her new ring.

 

 

Lots of help with the presents.

Many Lego sets were given.
12, if I remember correctly.
And damn you, Uncle Dave (this set has like 1,000 pieces)- LOL!

I was running around like a crazy person and was so exhausted after this party that I have no cute family shot this time- boo! But when we got back home, I snapped this shot of the crazy spring weather. What a never ending winter this year. Snow did make the party even more memorable though, right?

Spring Snow!

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