Friday 24 August 2012

Penguin Party!

A few weeks ago we held a Penguin Party for the Rocket who was turning 8.

It was held 2 days before I had a Law assignment due. My week leading up to it was a surreal mix of reading murky contracts Law and trying to bake an iceberg. It almost blew my brain, but somehow we got through. Just.

I was very tempted to put it off, but I knew if I didn't do it straight away it may just not eventuate. And my good friend Emma's passion for parties helped me realise that it was important. Parties can be so memorable and magical for children, and I know I have a small window left before the Rocket decides he is too old and too cool for a homemade party like this.

I got lots of inspiration from Pinterest and from Emma's blog, and links to other parties from her blog. I highly recommend checking it all out if you are planning a party :)

Here is small selection of the food and activities at Rocket's Penguin Party.

Fairy Penguin Bread

Bottled water relabelled as 'Melted Icebergs'

Grissini sticks dipped in melted white chocolate and rolled in blue and green sprinkles as 'Penguin Poles'.
I have no idea what a Penguin Pole is, it just sounded right on the day. 

My pretty lame attempt at an arctic snow scene, with blue jelly as water.
Luckily my 8 year old said it was exactly what he was hoping for.
He added the decorations of Penguins :)

The first game set up to play when people arrived was to make a structure out of marshmallows and jubes,
Prizes were awarded at the end of party for most creative/aesthetic and biggest.
The kids loved it, and surprisingly didn't eat all the lollies, even though they were allowed to if they wanted to!
It was a great activity to ease them into the party, and no one was left hanging around not knowing what to do. Definitely a hit, and something I would definitely do again at any party.

We played musical icebergs (cushions wrapped in white pillow cases).
This was such a hit we played it twice.

Pin the fish on the penguins mouth, aka 'Feed the Penguin'. 

I managed to find some dolphin lollies and put them in individual cups with light blue Jelly.
Definitely a hit.

The kids favourite thing overall was the cocktail frankfurts, renamed as 'Octopus'.
They thought they were brilliant!
To make them, all you do is slice the bottom half of the frankfurt into 6 (you can do 8, but the legs are a little skinny and can break), then cook as normal. They curl up very quickly as they start cooking. 
We also had air popped popcorn in individual bowls labelled 'snow flurries', marshmallows as 'icebergs', blue iced cupcakes with a drizzle of white chocolate as 'snow-capped mountains', the left over melted white chocolate from the penguin poles (Grissini wands) into small easter egg moulds as 'penguin eggs', and some shop bought chocolate rocks as 'nesting rocks'.

Linking up for a party post here!


Tuesday 7 August 2012