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Fairy Party 5yr - Fairy, Fairy, Toad Game

November 2005

Laura in Portland, OR  USA

Honorable Mention

FAIRY PARTY (5 YEAR OLD) 

The party begins with the invitation, and what better way to announce a fairy party than with a rubber-tipped arrow clandestinely affixed to the recipients door, wrapped with parchment paper, tied with a pink bow, and proclaiming in Gothic script:  Please do come to Jane's house, Dress as a fairy (not as a mouse.) Pixies welcome, butterflies too, No monsters or witches-- They are P.U.  

We'll provide the wands and wings And sparkles and spangles And magical things. We hope you can make it, We certainly do. Happy birthday to Jane And welcome to you!  Add a fairy picture penned by the birthday girl and various logistical details, and you are set!  Now let the party begin!

We created a magical forest by hanging vines just below the crown moldings in the dining room, and suspending large pink butterflies, which were copied from Hit of the Party by Any Vangsgard by Xeroxing onto pink card stock and hanging from fishing line, making them appear to fly in mid-air. I borrowed identical IKEA children's tables from my friends, creating one long table, large enough to accommodate all of the guests. Add the usual pink tablecloth and butterfly plates and napkins from the dollar store, and the look is complete. 

I copied fairy pictures from the internet that the girls could color as they arrived and had my husband, who is an artist, paint faces, something like Kiera Knightly in King Arthur, but in a pastel palette: lots of swirly-doos and such. 

The first game was Search for the Holy Grail from Hit of the Party, in which the fairies searched for puzzle pieces that when assembled, revealed the location of the Holy Grail, which was made from two paper cups, affixed at the base, and covered with foil and plastic jewels.

Afterwards, they played Holy Grail Hot Potato, in which the winner of each round would leave the circle and begin decorating her fairy wand, which was made from two pieces of shiny, gold poster board glued together and affixed to a drinking straw. The fairies added glitter glue, confetti, and foamies.

Next, they played Fairy, Fairy, Toad. When the girls became fairies, they were awarded a pair of pink fairy wings from the dollar store, used their wands to tap on the fairies and toads, and were only allowed to name wingless girls as the toad, who then became the new fairy. 

Next, came Pin the Wings on the Fairy: we used some of the shiny, gold poster board as wings and my husband painted a fairy.

Next, came Quest for the Magic Castle from Hit of the Party, which involved three adults dressed as monsters/goblins/witches by donning Mardi gras masks. The fairies would encounter them as they searched for the castle cake and using various magical items, would incapacitate them. Their tool bag consisted of: a sprig of leaves to grow a forest, a ring to make them invisible, twine to tie up the monster, and stars to cause sleepiness. This game was a trade off because a couple of the girls were scared of the monsters/goblins/witches, so I kept them out of the game, but the rest loved this best of all.

Afterwards, we had cake, which was decorated like a castle, with pink and purple frosting, and candy corns all in a row. After presents, the fairies fished for medieval jewel pouches: my husband was in a tipi, with bamboo behind him in the corner, and the girls fished in the bamboo.

I made pink velvet and gold lame drawstring pouches from The Midnight Fairy Party Craft Book and filled them with Mardi gras beads. The pouches were made from 12 circles of fabric, sewn together, turned right-side-out, with button holes sewn every two inches, roughly from the edge; and gold lame cord, with stiffened, gold lame stars glued to the ends, strung thru.

Then, my husband read a story, followed by the fairy pinata. He made a fairy out of paper mache, covered the skirt with fringed crepe paper, and filled it with candy. The girls pulled on ribbons to open the pinata, with the event rigged so that my daughter would trigger the candy explosion.  

The girls nibbled on castle birthday cake; magic wand cookies, which were sugar-cookie stars with craft sticks stuck in them (prior to baking); star-shaped Jell-O jiggles; chips, salsa and guacamole; and veggies, fruit and pita with humus.  

The event filled two hours and cost ~$65 for eight girls.

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