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Jaylene requested a lego party for her tenth birthday. She’s never really had a big party before, so she was pretty excited about this one. This has been months in the making so I had time to collect a lot of ideas which I stored on my Pinterest Lego Board. In the end we kept it simple though and everything went smoothly.
Our colors were pink and grey, and our theme was lego. As guests came into the KTV room, they were greeted by a dessert table full of Jaylene’s favorite treats. There were strawberry doughnuts, strawberry oreos, pink macaroons, pink pocky sticks and lots of pink marshmellows. We also had pink frosted cupcakes on a cupcake holder made from paper plates and cups. Jaylene spent hours creating the pink and grey lego castles on display.
Inside we had pink and grey buckets of lego waiting to be played with. The girls were ambitious and created a 14 level pyramid that miraculously stayed intact until the end of the party.
The kids played with legos and the adults chatted while everyone arrived. It was a new location and some people got lost. It was pouring rain outside and Ahji had to make a few rescue runs to collect some soggy guests. Luckily the food was delivered without a problem from one of Jaylene’s favorite restaurants in Tamshui – Kooks.
After munching on felafels, tortillas, sandwiches, salads and more, it was time for the games! As we had kids from the ages of almost two to twelve, we kept the games pretty simple. One was a relay race where they had to balance a bowl on their head, pick out five different colors of legos and then race back to dump it into their team’s bucket. At the end of the race I declared everyone a winner and gave them all a race car kit to assemble. It was so quiet while they were working on their cars.
Then it was race time! Each kid got to race in an “official” race and then picked out a prize. Unofficial races continued on for the rest of the party.
Most of the prizes were small kits of vehicles but I managed to find a few princess themed ones. Of course Jayden picked out a princess one for his prize. I also had in some lego shaped notebooks and correction tape and even ear buds that looked like legos, so that the older kids could have something they’d enjoy at home. Races and prize picking continued for awhile and then it was pinata time!
The pinata was supposed to be a giant pink lego brick but I couldn’t get the connectors to look right. Oh well, a big pink frilly bag that you whack is just as fun! I didn’t make the strings long enough so poor Ahji got his hands hit more than he would have liked. He was a good sport about it all. I had punctured holes along the bottom of the bag to help it tear easily but the kids kept hitting the top. Originally I’d planned to do a pull string pinata but I was told that would eliminate all the fun. And they did have fun!
Then it was time for the cake.
I had grand ideas of having a bakery make one of those famous lego looking cakes but decided that I didn’t want to deal with a disaster if they didn’t quite understand what I was asking for. So we kept it simple and got some loaf cakes with macaroons on top to look like legos. The bakery thought we were crazy for not wanting a more elaborate design, but Jaylene loved her pink lego cake.
A party in Taiwan isn’t complete if there isn’t karaoke so that’s how the party ended.
Guests left with their goodies in favor bags that Jaylene made herself. It was a huge undertaking for her but she persevered and had enough for everyone.
Jaylene was delighted with her party and is happily enjoying life as a ten-year old!
Jaylene has recently been encouraged by a beloved teacher to join the puzzle madness that is Sudoku. She has done so with great enthusiasm, even though she finds them a bit challenging.
When she was much younger, I used to play a timed version on the Internet, and would discourage being interrupted in the ten or so minutes of the game by telling her I was playing “the thinking game”. She knew I would be available as soon as the game ended, which would be in a few minutes. I haven’t played that timed game in years, but I still enjoy figuring out the ones in the paper. It looks like I’ll have to share them now.
Jaylene’s skill level is much higher than these sticker book versions, but she loves playing them with Jayden. She helps him figure out where the sticker goes, and he happily listens to his older sister for a change. I’m always delighted when we find an activity that they are both interested in.
What recommendations do you have for multi-aged activities?
I stumbled across some photos Jaylene and I took during Chinese New Year. They’ll belong to a new “series” we’ll call, Playing With Our Food. Hope you like them.
How do you play with your food?
I don’t know what the above plant is (anyone know?) and I don’t have a shot on hand of aloe vera. Which is what we’re needing to use tonight! We spent all day at the Easter Party. Jayden only put two rocks in his mouth. Ahji climed trees and handed out our 63 treat bags in the middle of the maze. Jaylene was reintroduced to “Duck Duck Goose” and loved it so much that she played it with her toys this evening. I did a “May I take your photo in an Easter Bunny Hat” project (ohh, that was fun!) and then after all that we went to a Flower Market with friends. I’m glad I talked my husband out of taking a family bike ride along the river.
Has anyone used these products? They seem like a lot of fun…
Prima Princessa
A ballet video that shows real ballet, simplified and also how to do the moves.
Family Fluxx
A game that changes rules as you go along.
Jaylene was asking how fog was formed the other day. Gives you an idea on how clear the skies have been around our house. In the winter it feels like we’re living in a cloud sometimes. Anyway, I gave her some vague answer about how it had to do with cold and hot air and moisture in the air. I also told her I’d look into it. That means I googled it, and came up with the above link for explaining weather to kids. So now if you ask Jaylene how fog is formed she’ll say:
There’s water in the air and, and, … and it, the.. then the cold comes from the north and then it goes by the cold and it gets foggy.
Hmmm, guess we have to work on it still ’cause she seems a bit “foggy” on it still (groan!). She should have said, fog is formed from warm air, usually from the south, moves over colder ground. The air cools, and condenses and fog is formed.
