The Very Hungry Party...Finally!

KID 2 turned 2 a couple of weeks ago, and after postponing this party TWICE due to illness, we finally celebrated her birthday in Very Hungry Caterpillar Style!

Some Party Prep:

I made mini cherry tarts the night before the party

Nectar-Sipping Cups...made from foam circles

(I had way too much time to plan after cancelling this party TWICE!)

These little bookmark pals turned out so cute! These were our party favors.

They actually fit through the holes in the book!

Party Day!

Birthday Girl is Looking for Some Fun!

Making Our Very Hairy Caterpillars

 

Hunting for Caterpillars

Found One!

The Dramatic Reading of The Very Hungry Caterpillar...With the Puppet

The Very Hungry Table Spread...we made apple-cheese muffins instead of cupcakes

Our Very Hungry Birthday Girl!

KID 1 in his salami disguise

Grammy's setting a good example...

Sipping Nectar Like a Butterfly!

Free-Play in the Backyard



Happy Birthday To You, Little One!

Served with a cherry on top, just like the story!

Some activities not shown here:

Feeding the hungry caterpillar (a beanbag toss game)

Decorating butterfly crowns (it was too windy to wear them and I slacked on the photo op)

The party was so much fun! The kids were great and the adults even enjoyed "eating what the caterpillar ate!" Now I need to start planning for KID 1's "Wild Rumpus" (his birthday is right after Christmas, so if I don't plan now, it might not happen!)

A Very Hairy Pair

The Very Hungry Caterpillar birthday bash is coming up! Here's how our little party favor experiment is going:


KID 1 filled each section of a knee high with grass seeds and soil from our compost heap, layering them in and then tying each section off to form a caterpillar (I did the tying). He then soaked it in a bucket of water and set it on a clay tray filled with water. After just 4 days, we had grass shoots! He can't wait to give his caterpillar a trim! Here it is:



For KID 2, we tried filling the nylon with soil, tying each section off, soaking it in a bucket of water, and then rubbing the grass seeds on top. Hers is pictured below on the right.



Both ways worked, but I think putting them inside the nylon with the soil is safest. Some of her seeds blew off as they dried. We tried sticking them back on, but only the ones on top stayed put.

If and WHEN her little birthday bash happens, each guest will make a Very Hairy Caterpillar and then we'll slip it into a plastic goody bag for them to take home. They will soak it in water at home and find a plate or tray to set it on and watch it sprout!

I'm thrilled that my idea worked! This will be a great hands-on activity at the party!

Materials required:

• old pantihose, cut into 2 foot sections and tied at the bottom
• rye grass seed (a 5 lb. bag cost us $3.75)
• some colorful pipe cleaners for the legs and antennae
• A bucket of water
• As take-home party favors, we got 12 goody bags for $1

This was so much fun and cheap and EASY!!! See more of my Very Hungry Party ideas here.

For more frugal ideas, check out this site...

A Good Day

Yesterday was KID 2's birthday. She turned 2. Unfortunately, she and I have both been sick. Her party should have been Saturday, but we had to postpone it.

Monday was her official day, and so in honor of her birthday and Letter Dd week, we walked to the park by the lake and read Make Way for Ducklings (a Caldecott classic). Then we loaded those little ducklings up with stale homemade bread.

This one was not my idea: I was inspired by the leader of our Children's Lit. forum who just loves book adventures, or turning a beloved book into an activity/adventure.

A few friends met us there, and afterwards we played......Duck, Duck, Goose! Of course!

Happy Birthday, Little One!

You're beautiful, inside and out.

Birthday Season

This is the birthday tutu I made for KID 2 last year. The pink cow fabric was marked down to $1/yd. That inspired me to make a cow cake, which turned out adorable! The body was a round cake pan, the head was baked in an oven-safe bowl, and the feet and ears were cupcakes (I cut one in half for the ears).

Birthdays are on my mind now as KID 2's birthday draws near (she'll be 2!). The theme this year is The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which offers all sorts of possibilities. I'm thinking a pull-apart cupcake cake shaped like the butterfly, and maybe a small caterpillar cake for her made of mini muffins.

I'm not sure what I will do with it yet, but I found The Very Hungry Caterpillar fabric at The Carle museum online. I got a yard of the food fabric and a yard of the dots, plus the panel with the caterpillar, the butterfly, and the leaf. So cute! The proceeds actually benefit The Carle.

Our activity for the party will be decorating butterfly crowns with colored tissue paper and glue. I can't wait!

Rhythm Shakers

One activity that both our kids enjoy blends art and music: making and decorating their own rhythm shakers. We had so much fun with this, we did it again with friends for our 4th of July parade, and again for a MOPS Jamboree playdate!

You will need:

• Empty containers: No glass, please!
  
• Stickers or colored tape
  
• Noisy fillers
  
• Measuring spoons
  
• Funnel (you can roll a piece of paper)
  
• Hot Glue Gun
  

1. Start with a couple of empty containers from the recycling bin. Clean, dry plastic bottles work fine (soda, water, milk jugs, popcorn seed jars, condiments, all shapes and sizes work fine, as long as they still have a lid or top...we even took the label off a white acetaminophen bottle), coffee cans, salt containers, etc.
   
2. Decorate the containers: We take the labels off, when possible. Stickers or colored tape are easy and fun. Markers work well on cardboard containers, like salt or oatmeal cylinders. You could even decorate your own paper label and tape it on.
   
3. Offer some different noise-making fillers, one type per container: a bowl of dry rice, a bowl of dry beans, small jingle bells, small pebbles, popsicle sticks, popcorn seeds...anything that will make a great sound inside the container.
   
4. Just a tablespoon or two of filler is plenty for a shaker...this isn't going to deplete your rice or beans supply. Consider buying some just for crafts; they make great cheap collage material! A funnel helps younger kids get more filler into their bottle and less on the floor! We made one out of paper.
   
5. Hot glue the lid on, so no accidental spills end the fun too soon. Just keep the hot glue gun out of reach of small hands.
   
6. Notice with your child how each container sounds different. Talk about the different sounds. Why do you think the beans sound different than the rice? Is the rice louder or softer than the other materials? Etc.
   


7. Put on some music or just sing a silly song and jam with your rhythm shakers!

Creative Kids Playdate

I truly wish I had my camera this morning at our MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) playdate! Darn it!!! We had a great turnout of kids, too!

A friend of mine, Bryssy of RadicoolLife, organized a cup cooking activity for the kids. At one station, following the illustrated instructions, they measured 3 tablespoons of gingerbread mix (a box mix), and 1 Tbsp. of water into a paper cup with their name on it. Popsicle sticks were provided for levelling and stirring. At the end of that station, their cups were put into an electric skillet, set to 400 degrees, for 10-15 minutes.

Then they moved over to the lemonade station. Each kid measured 1/4 cup of water into a cup, then 2 tsp. of sugar, stirring to dissolve. Then they squeezed half a lemon over a bowl and added 2 tsp. of lemon juice to their sugar/water solution. A bowl of ice waited at the end of the table to make their homemade lemonade cool and refreshing! Yum!

While they waited for their gingerbread snack to bake and cool, we headed into the craft area. My station was all set for torn paper art a la Eric Carle (for examples, see yesterday's Art After Breakfast blog). Once again, I provided:

• A stack of Eric Carle books, all in his signature paper collage-style illustrations
• Colored construction paper on each table
• Paper egg cups of glue with cotton swab applicators
• Large construction paper for the base of their project

We had some beautiful creations! One table chose a little grey mouse, another group worked on a black and white dairy cow, while others were inspired by an apple tree illustration, all from various Eric Carle books.

Cleanup was easy...I keep all the scrap paper in a zip-top bag for my beautiful junk box. What looks like trash to us is artistic treasure to a kid! We threw away the glue cups, stashed the extra paper in my bag, and wiped down the tables. I love it when playdates go this well!

The gingerbread cup cooking was a hit, by the way. When Miss Bryssy took the cups out of the electric skillet, she set them upside down on plates to cool. The little muffins dropped to the plates as they cooled and the kids found the cup with their name on it with their little baked treat hiding beneath...they loved it! Scroll down for a selection of Eric Carle's books available through our Amazon.com store.

Art After Breakfast: Torn Paper Collage

I love to start the kids' day with art time...it gets their creative juices flowing and creates a bit of down time before my toddler's morning nap.

This morning we used Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar as our inspiration. We looked through it together and I pointed out how the pictures looked like a collage of different colored paper.

My 4 1/2 year-old son decided he wanted to make all of the junk food that the caterpillar ate through: "one piece of chocolate cake, one ice-cream cone, one pickle, one slice of Swiss cheese, one slice of salami, one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie, one sausage, one cupcake, and one slice of watermelon."

Materials I provided:

• Our inspiration book (The Very Hungry Caterpillar)

• Construction paper: 1 piece of each color

• White glue in a small cup and cotton swab applicator (he doesn't like to touch the glue...some kids don't like the feel of glue or paint on their fingers)

• One large piece of construction paper as the base

Even my 1 1/2-year-old participated. She loves using glue, but she struggled with tearing the paper, so I tore some pieces into different shapes and piled them up for her. I only gave her a tiny glob of glue at a time, since she likes to tip and pour her glue out. She has no qualms about using her finger in the glue. Each kid is so different!


This was a fun project for both of my preschoolers. It's easily adaptable for a variety of ages, so hopefully it works as well for you as it works for me!