Robot Sean turns 4!
Sean turns 4 years old this week. He has been looking forward and gleefully counting down since... er, his third birthday last year!
We threw a robot-themed party at our condo poolside for him over the Hari-Raya National Day long weekend and invited his little cousins and friends (and their parents).
It was our first time holding a party outdoors - we were taking a big risk because the wet weather backup would have been our house (which would be a huge squeeze with the big crowd)!
Sean chose the theme himself - ROBOTS. After his gazillion action figure robots, I think. I tried suggesting other more fun-to-craft themes like superheroes, pirates, etc but he refused to budge.
I had all the time in the world but I wasn't terribly inspired by the theme and so I only started party preparations a week before the party. I had to ship the kids to my mum's to finish running all the errands and last-minute crafting - thank goodness for the long weekend. Argh, I never learn ;)
We had a good start to the party - the kids napped well and the light drizzle cleared up to lovely cool weather for the party. HURRAY!
We started setting up the place half an hour before the party. We strung up the orange-blue-silver balloons and birthday banner between two perfectly-spaced palm trees.
To keep the kids occupied while waiting for everyone else to stream in, there was the activity table with robot colouring sheets, a child-sized robot out of cardboard boxes and random bits and bobs and several 'robot heads' that the kids could put on their heads for pictures. I also brought the boys' scooters and kiddy rides out so the kids could have a go at them.
Once most of the kids have arrived, we rounded up the kids for the games. It was my first time organizing games at a party - the kids are mostly around Sean's age of 4 to 6 - so I was quite anxious to see how things would turn out!
To warm up, we started off with a treasure hunt for little robot creatures (made out of cereal/raisin boxes, Hershey nuggets and Chupa Chups). The kids tore through the garden maze hunting high and low for the robots. They were so happy when they found one (or in some cases, two or more) :) (I made sure there was enough robots to go round.)
Then, we rounded up the kids to play Musical Chairs, a childhood favourite of mine. Alas, there were more tears (when some of the kids could not get a chair) than I had anticipated!. I think all the parents were all holding their breath every time the music stopped to see if their child(ren) would burst into tears. Sean got ousted quite early on but being the sweetie that he is, he formed a little support group of sorts by corralling the 'losers' and asking them hold hands to watch the game. HAHA!
The last game we played was Pass The Parcel, yet another childhood fave. We tried to make sure everyone got a turn and the kids gamely did all the dares, like ‘Do a robot dance’, ‘Sing a song’ and ‘Give the birthday boy a hug’. They each got a little present for being so sporting.
Think the kids really enjoyed the games because they kept bugging Foops and me for MORE GAMES afterwards. Sean has not stopped talking about the games till today - he is still very sore that he lost at Musical Chairs (he is such a daydreamer)!
Then it was dinner time. My mum and helper prepped most of the food - spaghetti, deviled eggs, roasted chicken wings, sandwiches, hot dogs, fish and sotong balls. My sis contributed her yummy vegetable and fruit salad and I made konyaku jelly and baked and decorated a robot birthday cake.
Foops snuck in a little surprise item before we brought out the cake. He bought Sean an Ironman costume and Sean charged out of the house wearing it and yelling 'IRONMAN!!!!!'. The kids chased after Sean and pretended to 'fight' with our tiny little Ironman. HAHA, so silly!
We sang the birthday song and cut the cake with the kids clamouring over all the M&Ms.
It was nice catching up with everyone and watching the kids play in the lovely evening breeze. Before everyone went home, Sean and I went round to hand out goodie bags, party hats and balloons and Sean personally thanked our guests for coming (and for the many lovely presents and handmade cards) :)
It was a great party - our best and most successful one yet, Foops declares. I hope everyone who came enjoyed themselves and most of all, my not-so-little boy had a great time turning 4!
Some notes on party preparations
♥ Theme and colours - Robot. I chose blue and orange as the main theme colours but added bits of silver and yellow here and there.
♥ Balloons - I got blue and orange polka-dotted ones, silver and transparent helium balloons from Balloon Blasters. I almost forgot to hand them out but the kids did not forget! Note to future self: Must get more colourful balloons. The kids did not care for silver or transparent balloons.
♥ Birthday banner - I used a free robot-themed birthday banner printable. It even came with blank boxes so Sean got to write his own name in them. Yeah, score! I actually made two identical banners - one for the poolside venue and one for the house in case it rained and we had to retreat back!
♥ Photo wall - As per tradition, I set up a photo wall of Sean’s fourth year at home. No one got to see it - except us - but I didn’t mind the effort since it is always nice to look back at the year and see how much the boys have grown (especially Ryan)!
♥ Party hats - I bought silver party hats from Daiso and then glued on robot pics (from the net) and blue/orange/yellow ribbons for a cheery effect. Really liked how they turned out!
♥ Goody bags - I thought really long and hard about this. I wanted to sew something for the kids (personalized robot t-shirts, robot softies?) but didn’t have a lot of time. In the end, I just bought silver paper bags and filled them up with some cute stationery (that I bought online) and mini Tic-Tacs. Foops later added packs of Oreos and M&M’s. For the thank you notes, I pasted a head shot of Sean grinning away on a robot cutout and got him to write ‘Love, Sean’ on all of them.
♥ Robot centerpiece - I really wanted to make a child-sized robot for photo opportunities. I put this together hours before the party using cardboard boxes and odd bits and bobs (like wire covers, milk powder scoops, straws, cardboard rolls). I thought of letting the children wear the robot outfit but it turned out huge and unwieldy so in the end, I decided to make a few extra robot heads for the kids to wear. Total cost = $0! Yeah!
♥ Robot figures for the Treasure Hunt - This was a Pinterest idea. They were made out of raisin and cereal boxes, Hershey’s nuggets and mini Chupa Chups. They have googly eyes too 8)
♥ Pass The Parcel - I wrapped the present in layers adding a forfeit and a small gift (eg. paints, crayons, stickers) at every layer. Think I got to the seventh or eighth layer before I got too tired of going any further!
♥ Robot cake - Foops and I baked the cake a day before the party. We tripled the recipe for a chocolate frosting cake. Made out of a big rectangle for the body and a much smaller one for the head, the cake was HUGE. The chocolate frosting was a bit of a disaster - it turned out kinda clumpy instead of smooth and glazed. Ah well, I don’t think anyone noticed that under the M&Ms, Oreos and sweets! Design was also Pinterest-inspired.
Going to repeat the cake and robot figures for Sean's party in school this week!
We threw a robot-themed party at our condo poolside for him over the Hari-Raya National Day long weekend and invited his little cousins and friends (and their parents).
It was our first time holding a party outdoors - we were taking a big risk because the wet weather backup would have been our house (which would be a huge squeeze with the big crowd)!
Sean chose the theme himself - ROBOTS. After his gazillion action figure robots, I think. I tried suggesting other more fun-to-craft themes like superheroes, pirates, etc but he refused to budge.
I had all the time in the world but I wasn't terribly inspired by the theme and so I only started party preparations a week before the party. I had to ship the kids to my mum's to finish running all the errands and last-minute crafting - thank goodness for the long weekend. Argh, I never learn ;)
We had a good start to the party - the kids napped well and the light drizzle cleared up to lovely cool weather for the party. HURRAY!
We started setting up the place half an hour before the party. We strung up the orange-blue-silver balloons and birthday banner between two perfectly-spaced palm trees.
To keep the kids occupied while waiting for everyone else to stream in, there was the activity table with robot colouring sheets, a child-sized robot out of cardboard boxes and random bits and bobs and several 'robot heads' that the kids could put on their heads for pictures. I also brought the boys' scooters and kiddy rides out so the kids could have a go at them.
Once most of the kids have arrived, we rounded up the kids for the games. It was my first time organizing games at a party - the kids are mostly around Sean's age of 4 to 6 - so I was quite anxious to see how things would turn out!
To warm up, we started off with a treasure hunt for little robot creatures (made out of cereal/raisin boxes, Hershey nuggets and Chupa Chups). The kids tore through the garden maze hunting high and low for the robots. They were so happy when they found one (or in some cases, two or more) :) (I made sure there was enough robots to go round.)
Then, we rounded up the kids to play Musical Chairs, a childhood favourite of mine. Alas, there were more tears (when some of the kids could not get a chair) than I had anticipated!. I think all the parents were all holding their breath every time the music stopped to see if their child(ren) would burst into tears. Sean got ousted quite early on but being the sweetie that he is, he formed a little support group of sorts by corralling the 'losers' and asking them hold hands to watch the game. HAHA!
The last game we played was Pass The Parcel, yet another childhood fave. We tried to make sure everyone got a turn and the kids gamely did all the dares, like ‘Do a robot dance’, ‘Sing a song’ and ‘Give the birthday boy a hug’. They each got a little present for being so sporting.
Think the kids really enjoyed the games because they kept bugging Foops and me for MORE GAMES afterwards. Sean has not stopped talking about the games till today - he is still very sore that he lost at Musical Chairs (he is such a daydreamer)!
Then it was dinner time. My mum and helper prepped most of the food - spaghetti, deviled eggs, roasted chicken wings, sandwiches, hot dogs, fish and sotong balls. My sis contributed her yummy vegetable and fruit salad and I made konyaku jelly and baked and decorated a robot birthday cake.
Foops snuck in a little surprise item before we brought out the cake. He bought Sean an Ironman costume and Sean charged out of the house wearing it and yelling 'IRONMAN!!!!!'. The kids chased after Sean and pretended to 'fight' with our tiny little Ironman. HAHA, so silly!
We sang the birthday song and cut the cake with the kids clamouring over all the M&Ms.
Click to viewIt was nice catching up with everyone and watching the kids play in the lovely evening breeze. Before everyone went home, Sean and I went round to hand out goodie bags, party hats and balloons and Sean personally thanked our guests for coming (and for the many lovely presents and handmade cards) :)
It was a great party - our best and most successful one yet, Foops declares. I hope everyone who came enjoyed themselves and most of all, my not-so-little boy had a great time turning 4!
Some notes on party preparations
♥ Theme and colours - Robot. I chose blue and orange as the main theme colours but added bits of silver and yellow here and there.
♥ Balloons - I got blue and orange polka-dotted ones, silver and transparent helium balloons from Balloon Blasters. I almost forgot to hand them out but the kids did not forget! Note to future self: Must get more colourful balloons. The kids did not care for silver or transparent balloons.
♥ Birthday banner - I used a free robot-themed birthday banner printable. It even came with blank boxes so Sean got to write his own name in them. Yeah, score! I actually made two identical banners - one for the poolside venue and one for the house in case it rained and we had to retreat back!
♥ Photo wall - As per tradition, I set up a photo wall of Sean’s fourth year at home. No one got to see it - except us - but I didn’t mind the effort since it is always nice to look back at the year and see how much the boys have grown (especially Ryan)!
♥ Party hats - I bought silver party hats from Daiso and then glued on robot pics (from the net) and blue/orange/yellow ribbons for a cheery effect. Really liked how they turned out!
♥ Goody bags - I thought really long and hard about this. I wanted to sew something for the kids (personalized robot t-shirts, robot softies?) but didn’t have a lot of time. In the end, I just bought silver paper bags and filled them up with some cute stationery (that I bought online) and mini Tic-Tacs. Foops later added packs of Oreos and M&M’s. For the thank you notes, I pasted a head shot of Sean grinning away on a robot cutout and got him to write ‘Love, Sean’ on all of them.
♥ Robot centerpiece - I really wanted to make a child-sized robot for photo opportunities. I put this together hours before the party using cardboard boxes and odd bits and bobs (like wire covers, milk powder scoops, straws, cardboard rolls). I thought of letting the children wear the robot outfit but it turned out huge and unwieldy so in the end, I decided to make a few extra robot heads for the kids to wear. Total cost = $0! Yeah!
♥ Robot figures for the Treasure Hunt - This was a Pinterest idea. They were made out of raisin and cereal boxes, Hershey’s nuggets and mini Chupa Chups. They have googly eyes too 8)
♥ Pass The Parcel - I wrapped the present in layers adding a forfeit and a small gift (eg. paints, crayons, stickers) at every layer. Think I got to the seventh or eighth layer before I got too tired of going any further!
♥ Robot cake - Foops and I baked the cake a day before the party. We tripled the recipe for a chocolate frosting cake. Made out of a big rectangle for the body and a much smaller one for the head, the cake was HUGE. The chocolate frosting was a bit of a disaster - it turned out kinda clumpy instead of smooth and glazed. Ah well, I don’t think anyone noticed that under the M&Ms, Oreos and sweets! Design was also Pinterest-inspired.
Going to repeat the cake and robot figures for Sean's party in school this week!