14092

Hollywood Party -8yr- Movie Premier

August 2006

Carla in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, USA

Honorable Mention

My daughter wanted to have a special party to celebrate the end of her third grade school year.  Because the school she was leaving used "Superstars" as their mascot, we decided to have a Hollywood party and celebrate our own little stars.  We created invitations on the computer that said, "(Child's name), you are a star!  Please come walk the red carpet with us."  We then included the details and RSVP information.  We also asked the parents to please supply us with pictures of their child that had been taken during the previous summer and school year that we could include in our "Movie Premier". 

For decorations we purchased a red carpet for the "stars" to walk on as they entered the party.  We contacted the local movie rental store and they were happy to give us old movie posters to decorate with.  We used an overhead machine to blow up clip art pictures that we drew onto butcher paper, colored and hung around the room (hollywood sign, popcorn machine, movie reels, hollywood walk of fame stars, etc.).  My daughter's friend's moms were glad to each take a table and decorate it with a theme.  We had a western movie themed table, a dog movie themed table, a table decorated with baseball movies and memorabillia, a Disney movie table and even one that's theme revolved around movies that had an ice theme.  This table was covered with white material and light blue tulle.  It had cut-outs with bowls set inside to hold dry ice.  This made the table look like steam coming off of the ice!  We set the Chronicles of Narnia DVD box and Ice Princess DVD box on stands and then decorated with Ice Age toys, etc. 

The kids loved the decorations.  As the kids arrived they walked the red carpet.  We had older siblings dressed as the media, complete with microphones, waiting on the red  carpet for interviews.  They asked questions about what the stars were wearing, who was their inspiration and if they had expectations of taking home any awards for the evening, all to the flashes of the parent paparazzi.  The kids went all out in their outfits.  Some wore fancy Hollywood type dressy or dress-up clothes, while others came as their favorite movie characters.  We made it clear up front that they could wear anything that they thought would be fun!  When the kids entered the room they were served punch in little plastic champaigne glasses as we toasted the end of a great school year. 

For a birthday party, this would be the perfect time to toast the birthday child.  After the toast it was time to eat!  We served kid friendly foods like pizza cut into bite size pieces with fancy toothpicks, little smokies, chips, dip, cookies, etc. all with fancy toothpicks and little extras.  The kids all felt very grown-up.  They even had nut cups at their place settings filled with M&Ms.  As they finished eating, just like at the Academy Awards, the show began.  Our show was a movie premier called "Friends- A Year in Review".  I took all the pictures that parents had brought me and put them to music on a DVD.  We used songs that had to do with friendship.  The kids loved seeing themselves on the big screen and laughing at each other's pictures.  Some didn't even know which pictures their parents had sent.  We used a DVD player and borrowed a projecter to make it seem big like at the movie theatre.

 After the movie we played Charades.  The kids would draw either the name of a popular movie or the name of a popular movie character and act it out while everyone shouted out their guesses.  After everyone had a turn the kids voted for their own Academy Awards.  We tried to include lots of kids in this by having categories for every type of personality along with a few other categories.  For example, we used Best Actor/Actress, Best Comedic Actor/Actress, Best Dressed for the Red Carpet Boy/Girl, Best Character Likeness Costume, Best Hollywood Smile, Overall Star Quality, etc.  The prizes were ribbons tied to bags of candy. 

We used popcorn bags for goodie bags and filled them with a clap board (picture frame)key chain, candy jewelry, microwave popcorn, more candy, autograph books, mini address/phone books, and fancy pens.  We had painted each child's name on their autograph books in advance so they wouldn't get mixed up at the party.  While we tallied the votes, the kids went around getting each others autographs and phone numbers (to keep in touch over the summer).  At this point the parents had arrived just in time to see the awards ceremony.  It was so much fun!  As each child left the party they received a copy of the DVD that we had watched!  This was the best party!!! 

Many parents e-mailed the next day to say what a wonderful time their child had at the party.  It was a party made easy by so many people pitching in to help with decorations and food.  Now we have decided that we must have an end of school year party every year!

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