Okay, so we know I’m not typically pinterest-worthy, but I am known to lose my mind over birthday parties. Themes, party favors, you name it, I’m all over it. Totally Un-German. They’re much simpler, with good old-fashioned parties and not going overboard like crazy American suburban moms and their elaborate, spendy treat bags.
That said, I’m still a crazy American suburban mom, so when Sequoia expressed interest in a Lego party, I was brainstorming while researching pinterest and on blogs; I also visited the Lego Store, party stores, and Target when I was in the States for a week. Here’s what I came up with!
I asked the specialty cake baker if she could do a tower of 3 Legos of different colors, containing 3 different cake flavors. She went beyond my expectations, adding the green base and an extra small brick on top. It was awesome.We had a “build-a-sandwich” activity. I stamped lego bricks on bread with the crust cut off (albeit crookedly because I’m not a perfectionist). I laid out lunch meat and toppings (along with sides like chips, canteloupe, and other fruits) and let the kids build their sandwich.I used a Sharpee like crazy during party preparations. I drew mini-fig faces on the cups. I’m glad I drew different faces, because it was fun watching kids compare theirs to one another (and give a harrumph if getting one that wasn’t smiley!).Other decorations included a brick banner (from Target), brick plates and tablecloth (Target), and yellow napkins.Speaking of the party banner, I bought a second one and used it to create invitations. We took the individual bricks and glued the pertinent info on the back. I think they looked super cool.Once all the kids arrived, we put lanyards with name tags around all of our necks. I chose generic lego brick lanyards because the official Lego lanyards were expensive.
GAMES
The first game that we played was a memory game. At the Lego store, I filled a choose-your-own cup with bricks, about 10 each for each brick I chose. One was a small gray square base. At the party, I would create a Lego combination, which the kids would watch me do. I then hid it behind my back and the kids raced to recreate what I’d done. We did a handful of creations, then stopped before it bored the kids. They then went to play in Sequoia’s room while we prepared for the Scavenger Hunt.
Fortunately it did not rain, despite a week’s worth of rain predictions. We therefore were able to do the scavenger hunt outside. What did we hide? The stuff that would go into a treat bag…
While making a purchase at the Lego store, I asked the cashier if I could get some extra bags. He was happy to oblige. They were perfect: strong, and not too small.I splurged on two actual Lego party favors: Minifigures…and Mixels.
When the kids again played while I prepared the build-your-own sandwich spread, some of them built the Lego minifigs and mixels they’d gathered during the scavenger hunt. Were I to have another Lego party, I would do the minifigs as an additional group activity.
I’m really weird about wanting something practical in treat bags, so I created minifigs out of highlighters.I drew minifig faces on cheap whistles from a party store. The shape was great for minifig resemblance. However, it is always a horrible idea to let kids have access to a freaking whistle while they’re still in your house. Something I forgot when letting kids have access to a freaking whistle while they were still in my house.Some minifigs have mustaches, so why not? Also super cheap, and fun even if only for a few minutes. I honestly never tire of seeing kids wearing mustaches.Bought some yellow lollipops and made minifig faces on them.Also cheap: happy face super balls (and seriously, who doesn’t love a superball?). There are a few smiley face party favors out there that will go with a Lego theme.I drew faces on Fanta bottles and a Simply Lemonade bottle. Everyone drank Fanta because this is Germany. More lemonade for me!
I forgot to photograph one of the biggest food hits, the candy blocks. They look like Legos and you can actually build with them. They taste like the fruit candies that come out of bubble gum machines (the ones shaped like bananas and apples and such) and have the texture of the chalky candy like Smarties or the lipstick candy. They look like this:
I also forgot to photograph the table when I set it up with candy during the memory game. I had bought Lemonheads, Skittles, and Starburst. I separated out the yellows and had them in square containers on the table, along with the block candy. Kids snacked on them during the game and throughout the party, and then took some home with them (I provided ziploc baggies so they could pick out what, and how much, they wanted).
TWO EXTRA NOTES
These would have been a cool scavenger hunt item–I had plans of hanging them from branches–but I tested one and it didn’t work. Not wanting to give kids a non-working party favor, I did not use them.
Lastly…When Sequoia sat down to open her presents, the kids asked for a bottle to spin. Of course Spin the Bottle came to mind, which 8-year-olds are a bit too young to play. But here, they spin the bottle to point to the kid whose gift will be opened first/next. It was pretty cool! I’m totally using that again.
Kari Martindale likes words, so she uses them a lot. Kari sits on the Board of Maryland Writers' Association and is involved with various nonprofits. She writes spoken word poetry, children's books, and other stuff, like whatever blog post you just read. Kari has visited over 35 countries and all 50 States, and is always planning her next road trip. She likes her family a lot; they tolerate her just fine.
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Pretty wicked. My wife watched The Cake Boss and obsessively makes these sort of cakes all the time.