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Birthday Party: 2011 Strawberry Shortcake Itinerary

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Last week I shared my system of keeping event notes, and how I took my daughter shopping for Strawberry Shortcake items for her party.

Having the guest of honor included in the decision-making process made planning the party simple.

Knowing my daughter’s personality and those of her friends, I enjoyed my daughter’s help in coordinating a fun event for her birthday party.

After weighing the cost, I allowed my daughter to choose the order of the party. Of course, I gave her options:

              • Which game to play first?
              • Which game gets the sunglasses for a prize?
              • When serving the food, where would you like your friends to sit?

With her help, we planned this 2-hour afternoon Strawberry Shortcake birthday party:

Greet each guest as she arrives and bring to toy area to play until we begin the games.

Games

1. Pass the Orange (In honor of Orange Blossom, a friend of Strawberry Shortcake):  A version of Hot Potato, but instead of passing a potato, the players pass an orange. The children sit in a circle, and hand the orange to the person on their right while the music plays. When the music stops, the player holding the orange leaves the game to receive a prize (Strawberry Shortcake hat). Continue play until only one child remains.

2. Strawberry Spoon Race: Relay race consisting of two teams where each team has a spoon and a plastic fruit (strawberry and lemon). One team represented Strawberry Shortcake and the other Lemon Meringue (another friend of Strawberry Shortcake). Teams race down and around a designated item and come back to their team. The player then passes the fruit onto the next teammate’s spoon. If they drop the fruit, they must stop, pick it up, and then continue. The first team to have all players cross their line is the winner. All girls will receive a Strawberry Shortcake bracelet for participation.

3. Strawberry Strawberry Shortcake: The game Duck Duck Goose with Strawberry’s name. The players sit in a circle with one player being “it.” The “it” player goes around the circle patting each girl saying “Strawberry.” Then she chooses one person by saying, “Shortcake.” The player tapped, then chases the patter back to the tapped one’s spot. Then the tapped player becomes “it” or the new patter. 🙂 Each player then receives a pair of Strawberry Shortcake sunglasses.

4. Musical Strawberries: The girls walk around on colored strawberries cut from paper. (The colors represent Strawberry Shortcake, Orange Blossom, Lemon Meringue, Apple Dumpling, Blueberry Muffin, Plum Pudding, Raspberry Torte, and Angel Food.) When the music stops, a color is drawn from a basket. The child on that circle is the winner and proceeds to the dining room to get her cupcake and ice cream.

Food

Strawberry Shortcake cupcakes, strawberries ‘n cream (white with strawberries) or strawberry (pink with strawberries) ice cream, and water or pink lemonade.

Open gifts

Allow each girl to bring her present to my daughter. While sitting with her friend, my daughter opens that gift. This arrangement offers great photo opportunities.

Thank you

Thank each friend for attending her party and for all her gifts.

Goody bags

Give my daughter the goody bags to deliver to each of her friends. Each goody bag contains:

  • Pink, purple, or clear nail polish
  • Pink, purple, or clear lip gloss
  • Strawberry Shortcake fun sheet
  • Strawberry Shortcake stickers
  • Strawberry Shortcake top
  • Pink kaleidoscope
  • Pink ring

Play until friends’ parents arrive to pick up their children.

With our itinerary set, my daughter and I (with additional help) gathered the materials, decorated the space, prepared the food, and waited for our guests. Our plan included time for play, games, food, gifts, gratefulness, and goody bags. Next week, I will conclude this event’s activities with a post on our execution of our planned itinerary.

Question: What is your favorite childhood birthday party game? Please add your answer by clicking on the Leave your Comment button.

Event: Invitation Preference

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Photograph Credit: Flickr (Tracy Hunter)

As I plan events, a key component is the invitation. For me, the invitation reveals more than just the announcement of the date, time, location, and event type. The invitation sets the stage for the event.

Invitation Types

1. Print. These invitations are cards delivered via mail or hand delivery. Some examples are:

    • professionally printed: formal wedding, business dinner, etc.
    • computer generated: concert tickets, ice cream social flyers, open house postcards
    • handwritten: preprinted cards with blanks for details for graduation, birthday, baby shower, etc.

2. E-mail. Whether directly sending an e-mail or using a free service, like Evite, these invitations are electronic announcements. Using a free service to create invitations, track those who are attending, and send reminders saves time and energy. The downside is a lack of originality.

3. Social Media. With the option of creating an event in Facebook, sending an invitation to many individuals at one time gets the word out quickly. For quick notice events or changes, this option might work. The standardized format for Facebook is easy to fill out; however, there is little to no personalization.

4. Phone call. These invitations are full of personality with the interaction between the parties. However, a few days later, the receiver, without having written down the information, will not have a record of the date, time, and location of the event.

5. Face-to-face contact. The face-to-face approach is another invitation full of personality. The receiver will gain the information for the event, but again, the record (hard copy of the details) may be forgotten, misunderstood, or confused.

With these types of invitations, there are pros and cons for each. The ones written can be lost or misplaced whereas the direct invitations may be forgotten, misunderstood, or distorted. So, how do you know what type of invitation to use? My answer is . . . whatever type works with your event. A dinner party with friends may work with an e-mail, social media, phone call, or face-to-face contact. Consider your event, your invitees, and using your time wisely.

Invitation Preferences

My preference is a print invitation. I like to see the invitation, refer to it, and take it with me to the event. A combination of invitations, e.g. a phone call with a Facebook chat or a face-to-face contact with a follow-up e-mail, will still provide the needed information without a formal print copy.

Now that I have shared my preference, it is your turn. What is your preference for receiving an invitation? Do you prefer print, e-mail, social media, phone call, face-to-face contact, another option, or a combination? Please share your preferences in the comments. I look forward to your response.

Recognize your Limitations

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After planning and hosting an event, I crash. The size of my crash is determined by how much energy I exerted to execute the plan. Since I pour 100% of myself into every task I undertake, I can quickly crash when the adrenaline ceases and the party or event is complete.

Having help with cleanup is not only a blessing, but a necessity for me. Thankfully, my husband Paul helps out. He can usually be found washing dishes after a Dinner with Friends event or sweeping the floor of the gym after a Sunday School Pizza Party and Gym Night.

Knowing that I need time to rest and re-energize after an event, I accept help that is offered. My children have learned that Mommy needs help, and they are willing to assist when asked to do so. On one such occasion, some friends came over to our house for a play date. All the kids played and had a great time. The older kids played down the hallway while the younger ones stayed in the living room playing with the kitchen and younger toys. During the play date, one of our infant guests enjoyed chewing on our plastic toys for the play kitchen. He was teething and forgot to keep the toys out of his mouth.

After our friends thanked us for a fun afternoon, they left. I needed a few minutes to unwind from the afternoon. My children had picked up a number of toys before I realized that I needed to clean all the kitchen items. Since my baby chews on the fruits and vegetables and silverware associated with our play kitchen and our friend had also put his mouth on them, I knew a good cleaning needed to be done. I was resting and came up with a great project for my two older children: wash the items and work together.

When I asked them to help with this project, they both were really excited. So, I prepared for their task:

  1. Gathered the supplies. One child retrieved the washing container while the other put all the kitchen items in the laundry basket. I then filled the container with warm soapy water.
  2. Prepared the floor. I setup their washing station with a towel on the hardwood floor.
  3. Gave specific instructions. Each child was to take a turn. On each turn, he or she was to pick one item, dip it in the soapy water, rub it clean, and place it on the towel.
  4. Demonstrated the process. As I explained the project, I washed the first item.
  5. Oversaw the progress. I allowed each of them to complete one turn.
  6. Allowed for execution. Once they each completed one turn correctly, I left them to work together.

When they finished this first part of the project – washing the items, I prepared for the finished product:

  1. Gathered the supplies. I rinsed out the container, refilled it with clean water, and gave them each a clean, dry dish towel.
  2. Prepared the table. Making sure they had plenty of room in which to work, I placed the water container in the middle and emptied the clean items from the towel into the water.
  3. Gave specific instructions. Each child was to choose an item, rinse it in the water, dry it with the towel, and place it away from the container of water.
  4. Demonstrated the process. I showed them how to rinse, dry, and place one.
  5. Oversaw the progress. After the demonstration, they each completed one item.
  6. Allowed for execution. I gave them space to complete the project.

When all items had been washed and dried, we all put the toys away. It was a win-win resolution at the end of an event. Besides practicing teamwork and sharing, my children giggled, laughed, splashed, and enjoyed working together. I was able to oversee the project without being directly involved, and we all enjoyed the afternoon.

Knowing my limitations and working through them has helped me to use my time wisely by preparing in advance to cope with the crash I experience at the end of an event. Do you experience a lack of energy after an event? If so, recognize your limitations and prepare in advance for clean-up help to give you time to re-energize.

Summer Family Picnic

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Photograph Credit: Flickr (Jeremy Noble)

Are your summer activities drawing you away from home during mealtime? Between sporting activities, outdoor concerts, zoo visits, and playground fun, our family can easily be away from home during a meal. To allow for these special events, I enjoy planning a summer family picnic.

My mom gave me a great picnic basket for my birthday a few years’ back. She added a liner, cloth napkins, napkin rings, plates, cups, and silverware. I have added paper plates, paper napkins, plastic bags, and sealable bags to help make clean up quick and easy. I keep my basket stocked and ready to be loaded into the car.

When the opportunity for a summer family picnic arises, I have my basket ready, and can concentrate on the food for my family. Though I sometimes make our picnic meals at home, I am not opposed to purchasing items to help use my time wisely. Here are some meal options I choose for these special occasions:

  1. Homemade chicken salad served on crescent rolls with chips and cantaloupe;
  2. Papa John’s pizza (using a coupon, of course);
  3. Publix turkey submarine sandwiches, chips, and fruit;
  4. Bucket of fried chicken, baked beans, chips, and fruit;

For me, getting the family together with all the gear and arriving on time keeps me more than busy. If I can place side items into our picnic basket and bring drinks, then purchasing the main dish helps me to use my time wisely. In addition to the options listed above, we also consider restaurants where kids’ meals are free, e.g. Firehouse Subs, Chick-Fil-A, etc.

I recently heard about Earth Fare’s, a local grocery store, Family Dinner Night that offers up to 6 free kids’ meals with the purchase of a $5 or more adult meal. This store has a reputation for offering very healthy meals. Though I have not visited the Thursday Family Dinner Nights, I definitely would consider this option.

By choosing a picnic dinner from these meal options, I am able to use my time wisely by focusing on arriving, parking, unloading, and enjoying my family. Having picnic menu options, either written down or thought through, keeps me organized and prepared for those quick plan changes.

What additional summer picnic menu options would you add to this list?

Cookout Meal Options

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Photograph Credit: Flickr (D'Arcy Norman)

How are your summer events going? Are your cookouts successful? With our busy schedule, I have not yet entertained this summer. Our grill has gotten used a little to help keep the heat out of the kitchen.

Though I love a good hamburger and sometimes a hot dog, having them at every cookout gets to be too much for me. So, as I prepare for up-coming family gatherings, I am considering some other cookout options. Here is my current list of possibilities:

  1. Marinated grilled chicken, pasta salad, and corn on the cob
  2. London broil steak, baked potatoes, and green salad
  3. Shrimp, fettuccine alfredo, and vegetable tray
  4. BBQ chicken, potato salad, chips, and green beans
  5. Vegetable kabobs, cold cuts, and rolls

If your family enjoys seafood, then a fish fry theme, complete with hush puppies, could be another possibility. Since our family does not care for seafood, I will keep our possibilities fish-free. 🙂

By planning ahead, I can watch for sales on these items. Purchasing the ingredients on sale will save me money, energy, and time. If you have additional suggestions, please leave a comment.