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Knights in Armor -10yr- Sword in the Stone Cake

November 2004

Kelly in Jeffersonville, IN USA

Honorable Mention

I hosted a "Knight In Shining Armor" party for a 10yr.old boy.

INVITATIONS: The invitations were made from a card designing program. They had a castle and a dragon on them and said "The King and Queen of the Land of ______ request your presence at Prince ______'s Knight In Shining Armor birthday party to be held on _____ at (time). Swords and Shining Armor will be provided. Guests may bring their own if desired."

DECORATIONS:This party was held outside in August. We set up a table using a metallic purple tablecover and set places for each "knight" with gold paper plates, napkins, cups, and utensils. I was trying to capture the "knights of the round table" theme.The birthday child got to sit in a wooden chair I purchased for $1 at a yard sale that I had painted gold, added some fringe to the bottom, and glued some "jewels" onto to make it look "royal". He also used this chair when opening presents.

ACTIVITIES: When the kids arrived, they received a nametag that said "Sir" or "Lady" with their name on it along with a cardboard shield, a silver metallic "tunic", and a helmet with a visor that actually raised.I  made the helmets using some gray corrugated paper and spray painted it silver and used brads to make the top flap raise. The children then decorated their shields until the rest of the kids arrived.

GAMES: The first game we played was an obstacle course. The object was to rescue the damsel from the dragon and return her to her castle. The kids were divided into 2 teams. They had to be the first one to drop 1 gold plastic coin into a jar, then all of the plastic swords had been stuck into some styrofoam, so the kids had to toss 1 ring around a sword (which would be theirs), they ran up, grabbed the sword, then they had to "stab" the dragon three times(which was enlarged clip art glued onto a board), grab the damsel (they were little ladies glued onto cardboard and stuck to the board beside the dragon with double stick tape), and run to the castle and put the damsel safely in it (again just an enlarged castle glued to a board). The first team finished won. Instead of prizes, they got to decide whether to eat cake or open presents first.

Then they were told that they were all going to be shackled because they did not collect enough taxes for the king and queen. We tied black balloons around their ankles and let them "escape" by popping them. This game went VERY FAST.

The next game was to "Slay the Evil Dragon"-a pinata. Inside I had put a note that said something like "You may have slain me, but it is too late. I have already hidden 3 dragons eggs that will soon hatch and avenge me. If you find them, you will find the King's treasure that I have hidden."

Before everyone arrived I had hidden 3 paper mache eggs and a cardboard treasure chest filled with gold coins, a crown for the birthday "prince" to wear, party favors, and a gold "grail" (a gold planter that I put plastic jewels on). On the eggs I had divided the words "behind the shed" into something like BEH INDTH ESHED, which is were the treasure was hidden. When they found the eggs, they had to put them together to figure out where the chest was. After that we had cake and ice cream.

CAKE: I had a friend make a cake that looked like a giant rock and I bought another plastic sword and stuck it in there. After he blew out the candles, he "pulled the sword from the stone". With his crown and tunic on, it was excellent for picture taking. Each child received an individual cup of ice cream, which is great for a lot of kids. He then sat in his 'special chair' while he opened presents

FAVORS:Each child took home a mini polaroid photo of him/her with the birthday child and a loot bag containing a ring pop, plastic gold coins, a rubber ball that looked like a "jewel", and a mystical shaped foam character (you soak in water and they grow). All in all, it was a lot of fun!

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