A Very Muppet birthday- Part Two!

Phew. The kiddos are in bed, angels that they are, clean and well-fed. This leaves me with the house to myself to get organized (Ethan's out tonight, so it is pretty quiet). I think I'm getting there. Good grief. So much to forget- I'm terribly grateful that my head is, in fact, attached. It would just be one more thing to remember. I do believe that most things are organized for Matteo's little shin-dig. I think that all is left is the ever important cake. Not tonight. I'm too tired to take on that old chestnut.

Thankfully, I've got things sorted out for activities and crafts. It's kind of fun to do some sort of craft that the kiddos can take home don't you think? As much as I love crafting, I have yet to find many great projects for 4 and 5 year olds. I'm not patient, and I may, according to most, be a rather type A, neatnik sort of person. Ok. I'm just plain fastidious. This is what I came up with. We shall be making, Kermit the Frog door knob hangers. Kermit's simple shapes lent themselves so well to this one also. All it took was cutting pieces out of felt. The kids shall assemble and glue them on. I think they'll be cute. The door knob hangers I got at a craft store, on mega sale. Did I mention, I'm also really rather cheap? My ever-patient and indulging husband painted them with some leftover latex for me. Here's what it all amounts to:

I'm always at a loss for party games. Especially indoor ones. I seem to have a bazillion ideas of things to do outside. But unless building an ark is one of them (or perhaps shovelling the driveway this year), I'm often out of luck for usable outdoor ideas in January. Luckily, my kid loves to "pin the ____ on ____". For his cowboy party when he turned three it was "pin the tail on Bullseye the Horse". For his Cat in the Hat party when he was 4 it was "Pin the bow on the Cat in the Hat". This year's reincarnation: "Pin the nose on Beaker". My friend Alysn just did the same thing  (Pin the Hair on Rapunzel) for her daughter's birthday, and it was so impressive, because unlike me, she is a wonderful artist and actually draws the things! I'm always impressed by that. Me, I resort, like any self respecting, unartistic elementary school teacher, to using an overhead. And one wouldn't truly be an elementary school teacher without laminating it. Here's Beaker:

I did several decorations (Kermit, Gonzo, Miss Piggy and Fozie) in this fashion as well. Why bother you ask? Believe me, I've asked myself the same question. Well, I think I shall make a mighty muppetly bulletin board for my classroom later- may as well make things that can do double duty right?

I bought some little prizes for this game. Everyone will get one, the winning person shall choose first. When exploring www.ikatbag.com I loved her idea of a punch board to pick prizes. The idea is you have a board, with several holes cut out (her's looked like a cupcake). Across each hole you put tissue paper, and the kids punch their wee hands through the tissue to find their prize. What better way to feature that epic entrance sequence at the opening of the Muppet Show?! You know, the one with all the lit arches and all the characters in an arch of their own? Ok. I'm a mega nerd, I freely admit that. Check out the above website for good instructions. I made mine out of two diaper boxes (the ONLY think I will miss about not having a child in diapers should Elio finally decide to get on board my potty training band wagon). I stacked the boxes to make a shelf and just taped the prizes in place. Here's what it looks like:

 Thanks to the Family Fun website for the Muppet printables- the characters worked pretty well for this.

 Nothing scares me more than 4 and 5 year olds blindfolded with sticks, swinging at a pinata. It's terrifying. The Mexicans are a brave people. Not to mention, that is decidedly an outdoor game. Luckily, ikatbag had a solution for this too. The ribbon pinata. It is constructed out of cardboard with trap doors in the bottom. The pinata is divided into compartments in the inside- so that the game is longer than one lucky pull. You stick a whole bunch of ribbons that are attached to nothing in the doors of the pinata. Only one ribbon is firmly affixed to each door. Kids take turns pulling ribbons in the hopes of  finding the ones that will release the candy. No blindfolds. No sticks. It's genius. I made mine to resemble (and I use this term very loosely) the Muppet Theatre. Here's what it looks like:

 I haven't yet put in the blank ribbons or the candy.

 I used a glue gun to firmly secure the ribbons to the trap doors.

Done.

Last game. If there is time we will play pass the parcel. I bought some more el-cheapo prizes, and will wrap them in one present with several layers of wrapping. We will sing a song and pass the parcel. The child holding the parcel at the end of the song will get to unwrap a layer of the parcel and keep the prize they find. Every kid gets a layer to unwrap and a prize.

Phoof. That's a lot to get through. We will likely not do it all, and that's fine. I was a Girl Guide in my glory days: Be prepared. Old habits die hard.

Happy trails!