8205

Playdoh Party -4yr- Play Doh Can Cake

Jan. 2004

Natalie in Sydney, Australia

Special Mention

Play-doh party!  I have twin daughter and son, and they're four years old. Usually I find it very hard to do parties for them as they're both interested in very different things- my son Matt wanted a dinosaur party and my daughter Emma wanted a Barbie party. I really wanted to do only one party, because then it would be less hectic and less expensive!  I decided to do a party that they would both like, and I chose their favourite toy of all time- Play-doh! 

For the invitations I used baby-food jars that I had saved and had also obtained from family and friends. I made a label on the computer that said "Matt and Emma's Play-doh Party" and inside I put a note with all the information for the party. About sixteen kids were invited, eight for each of my kids. I held the party at my house- but we only used two rooms, so it was easy clean-up! I used all different colours for the decorations- red, blue, yellow, green, pink and purple.

I also made signs that said "Play-doh" and posted them everywhere.  On the front door I posted a sign that said "Welcome to the Play-Doh factory". Then when kids arrived, they settled in easily by colouring "I love Play-Doh" signs which I had again made on the computer. This was easy to organise and helped prevent boredom while everyone arrived.

When everyone had arrived, my husband walked into the room wearing a lab coat, fake moustache and big black glasses. He explained to the kids that the Play-Doh factory workers had all gone on vacation- and he needed their help to make some Play-doh or else he'd be in big trouble! He led the kids to the "Play-doh Factory", which was basically a long table with Play-doh making equipment on it. Each kid got their own plastic baggie, a cup of water and a drop of their chosen food colouring- we had red, green, blue, yellow, pink, purple, black and some left theirs plain white. Inside the baggie was homemade "Play-doh" mixture- flour, salt and cream of tartar. The kids only had to pour the water and food colouring into the baggie, mix it with a plastic spoon, and then they put the mixture on their Play-doh boards and kneaded it.

Their Play-doh boards were pieces of cardboard with a blown up "Play-doh" sign and the child's name on it, covered in clear contact, one for each child.  We finished the Play-doh and placed it into our mini-fridge to chill. Then my husband thanked the kids enormously and told them that they would now be rewarded with lunch!  Lunch was sausage rolls, french fries and soda. It was served on a table cloth that had blotches of paint of it, leftover from another party. The cups had "Play-doh" logos on them, and on the plates I wrote "Play-doh facts" which I found on http://www.toy-testing.org/contents/funfacts.htm.

They were : "Play Doh was first made in 1956" "Play-doh was only available in an off-white colour when it was first released"  "By 1972 Play-doh had sold 500 million copies!" "The Play-doh boy's name is Pete" I was really cute to see the kids trying to read the facts, and some adults had to help them.  After lunch we had games. These included "Pass the Parcel" with a can of Play-doh inside it, "Musical Play-doh" which was like musical chairs except the kids had to sit on blown-up "Play-doh" signs and "Pin the Play-doh boy on the can" which was made by a coloured-in image of Play-doh Pete and a cardboard can. 

Then there came the cake. The cake was shaped like a Pla-doh can, with yellow icing and a strip of red at the top to represent the cap. I had piped "Play-doh" on it and "Happy birthday Emma and Matt" down the bottom.  Afterwards we trooped back to our Play-doh making table. Each kid got to play with their earlier made Play-doh, which we put on the table. We played one more game there: a Play-doh contest! Each kid made either an animal, person, vehicle or anything else they wanted. I had put all sorts of Play-doh tools, knifes and fuzzy pumpers on the table that they could use. Then we sprayed the creations with instant-dry varnish, which I found at Bunnings Warehouse, after each child had engraved their name and year somewhere on the model.

They put these on a seprate table and went on with free play with the Play-doh. My husband judged their hardened creations and awarded first, second and third places, as well as a few Honorable Mentions. We played with the Play-doh until the party was over. 

Their party bags consisted of a can of real Play-doh each which I got from a big sale and had discounted since I bought so many. I also added one tool each from a mega pack, some lollies, their personalised Play-doh boards and of course their models.  I am still getting complimented on this party! The kids loved it and so did the parents- most parents even stayed around to watch and help out with the party, even if they were intending to go! The party lasted three hours which was the perfect time for a party, and there wasn't even much cleaning up to do! A GREAT party… even I had fun!

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