15088

Escaped Penguins Party -8yr- Subzero Sandwiches

February 2007

Tammy in Kaukauna, WI USA

Special Mention

My sister in-law & I planned a Penguin/Happy Feet Party for my niece's 8th birthday. We invited friends & relatives to the birthday so we have about 7 kids ranging from 2yr to age 8yrs plus several adults. I sent out Happy Feet invitations I found at a party store.

DECORATIONS: We bought a few Happy Feet themed items from the party store like a table cloth, Happy Birthday Banner, plates & cups (for cake). We bought a cuddly Stuffed Penguin and had put it together so it looked like the penguin was holding black & White helium balloons and put it on the gift table. 

EVENTS: We planned games to keep the kids busy for about 2hrs. When everyone arrived, there was a penguin chalkboard my niece got for Christmas on a table and written on it was guess how many fish are in the box.  There was a small clear tackle box that had goldfish crackers in them. Everyone wrote their guess on a slip of paper and the person who guessed the closest won all the goldfish crackers. 

GAMES: 
(1) we had all the kids make and decorate Penguin Headbands from Monterey Bay Aquarium website.

(2) Escaped Penguins We had several penguins that we cut out of paper and hid all around the room. We gave them names like the characters in Happy Feet.  The kids had a blast trying to find them.

(3) Penguin Practice: Using CD's from the library we learned how to waddle using the song Penguin Shuffle from Animal Walks CD by Georgiana Stewart. Next, we laid on our bellies and pretended to move like penguins swimming in the ocean using the song Flying through the Sea from Splash Zone CD by Linda  Arnold. Lastly, we had each child balance a beanbag on their feet (pretending it was an egg) as they waddle around the room to the song Waddle Penguin from Animal Groove by James Coffey. It was really cute-- Some of the kids even came dressed in black & white. 

(4) Sea Lion, Sea Lion, Penguin same as  Duck, Duck, Goose. When the child is tapped with the word penguin, the 2 kids must waddle around the circle like a penguin as fast as they can, and try to reach the empty spot first. 

(5) Mumble in the Middle all the kids stayed sitting in the circle and we played music and passed a stuffed penguin around the circle. When the music stops, that child that is holding the penguin can dance around the center of the circle dancing like Mumble to the music. We stopped the music so that each child got several turns to be Mumble. Use the song It's a Penguin Party from splash zone CD by Linda Arnold (got from the library) or from Monterey Bay Aquarium website.

(6) Penguin Parade-- Just like follow the leader, all the kids got a turn being the leader and we used the song Penguin Parade from Penguin Parade by Banana Slug String Band.

(7)Penguin Bowling Wrap 10 bottles (we used the small Gatorade drink bottles) with black construction paper. On the front of the bottle make a body and head out of white construction paper. Draw eyes on the head with a black marker. Use orange construction paper triangles to make the beak and feet and glue at the bottom of the bottle. Use soft white balls to roll and try to knock the penguin down. (You can pretend they are snowballs.) We played 10 frames and kept score like real bowling.

CRAFTS: We had the kids make igloos out of sugar cubes and frosting when they were done we gave them a penguin cookie to frost, we had gray frosting, white frosting and gave them an edible silver ball decoration for the eye and a candy corn for the beak.

Older Kid/Adult GAMES - All the Moms & Dads and the older kids got a sheet of paper. On the top, we had scrambled up words like ice, snow, dancing, beak, fish, etc and at the bottom we had riddles and they had to guess the answers (it was fun to hear what everyone wrote down) then we read the real answers. Here are a few riddles we used. Why do penguins carry fish in their beaks? A: Because they don't have pockets. What's black & white and goes round and round? A:  A penguin stuck in a revolving door. What do penguins order for lunch? A: Icebergers  What is black and white and red all over? A: A penguin with sunburn. What do you call a penguin in a desert? A: Lost What does a penguin's mom say when he wants to go out in the dark?  A: Waddle are you going to do in the dark.

MOVIE: While we waited for supper to be put out, we watched March of the Penguins and kept it running through supper.  Moms & Dads and the kids all learned a lot about penguins.

FOOD:  We had sub(zero) -sandwiches. We bought buns & all the fixings (deli meats, several cheeses, lettuce, tomatoes pickles & black olives, mayo, mustard & ranch dressing) and let everyone make their own. We used the Hefty Zoo Pals themed plates in keeping with the animal theme.

CAKE: We got an ice-cream cake from Baskin Robbins, decorated with wind-up Happy Feet characters.

TREAT BAGS: all the kids got a Happy Feet treat bag for participating containing a Mumble mask (party store) and Happy Feet themed Fruit by the Foot. They took home their igloos and cookies.

All the games were no tears, everyone was a winner and everyone left with a smile!

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