It started with a wall....

Planning birthday parties for my boys is one event that makes me want to crawl into a deep, dark cave for a long nap....only to surface after the birthday is over. Whereas I love birthdays in general (specially my own :), I am not a fan of planning them for my kids because a) I always try to seek something unique; b) I try for a theme; c) I draw a blank each time!!!

 

So as usual, I went to my DH for advice and he asked me to consider the activities that our almost 4 yr old enjoys. We short listed painting, running around, crafts, books, and TV!! Some location scouting in the neighborhood resulted in us honing in on "The Green Pocket" - a patch of green paradise in the midst of the city's concrete jungle. Very hesitatingly, I asked Anahita, the proprietor, if I could take over a wall of her place and get the kids to have a go at it.....she agreed (to say that I was completely overwhelmed by her generosity would be an understatement!).

 

Next up was figuring out a theme and frankly, our nightly book reading exercise took care of that when Vivaan picked up "The Gruffalo" from his library and announced that it was one of his favorite books.

 

Whew! I had not started and was already feeling overwhelmed!! Anyways, the next step was to get the wall painted with some characters from the book so that the kids could color it during the party.

It was truly supposed to be a simple affair....I promise....but....somehow, it took on a life of its own....

 

 

This was done a week before the party and we were very happy with the results....

 

 

I do believe that DH has the ability to moonlight with wall murals as a second profession :).

 

Then the task was to pull together the return gifts (another HUGE area of stress for me)...and here too, an amazing friend, R, stepped in with an outstanding idea of making messenger bags for the kids which they can customize using acrylic paints and stencils. She created the bags for me....Love you R!

 

I created some candy wrappers using the Gruffalo images and wrist bands for the bags as fillers. Each bag also had a character print out from the book included for kids to go home and practice a puppet show recreation of the story with their parents.

 

In meeting with Vaishali from "The PowWow Club", I found my perfect party puppeteer and craft/activity coordinator!!! She was superbly enthusiastic and truly a joy to work with!!! Kids loved her!!!

 

 "The Gruffalo" puppet show left all the kids truly enchanted....

There were plenty of activities happening to keep them occupied....the bag painting was a grand success, coloring and sticking foam teeth, warts, and ears on Gruffalo masks was a load of fun, and pin the wart game with their eyes closed kept them guessing.

 

There was a obstacle course race planned for all the children which required them to go thru an "underground tunnel", a "log pile house" and climb up a "tree-top house".....following the paths of the fox, the snake and the owl.....they each got "gruffalo's knobbly knees" (marshmallow candies) after the completion of the race......

 

 

The food was thematic....with "samosas" served as "roasted fox"; "gruffalo" water bottles; colored "idlis" served as "gruffalo's eyes"; "bhel puri" served as "gruffalo crumble"; wafers served as "logpile house" and the cake customized to incorporate all the characters from the book...

 

 

Then it was time to "paint" the wall!!! Kids were given old T-shirts to wear on top of their clothes and asked to dip their hands in the green paint (we used water based wall paint which is safe for kids). Parents were asked to lift their children and have them create leaves for the trees using their palms. It seemed to be done in less than 5 minutes...everyone was super enthusiastic and excited (parents included :).

 

Of course, there was a quintessential piñata. Is there anything better than games and treats falling from a box? yes...doubling it as a surprise :) - we had a double layered piñata. 

 

And here is the before and after image of the wall........task accomplished!!

 

It was a great party and I was left with an everlasting impression of friends who stepped in to help thru out; kids who seemed to get joy out of the smallest of things; and a wall full of our hard work and children's hand-prints.

 

Now its time to go into a deep, dark, cave....coz, my older one's birthday is just a few months away!!!!