Calgarys Child Magazine 2012 JulyAug REV : Page 15

SUMMER/FALL BIRTHDAY PARTY GUIDE Your child’s birthday is the most important day of the year! You can make it even more memorable by adding these easy, inexpensive and imaginative touches throughout the day. food inside the lunchbox or bag to unwrap at lunchtime. For added fun, fill their backpack with birthday cards and balloons. the guests, using permanent markers or stickers with eyes, noses and mouths. 14. Pick a picnic place. Instead of having a meal at the table, spread a blanket on the floor or lawn and have your breakfast, lunch or dinner picnic-style. Quick and Creative Ways to Make Your Child’s Birthday Extra Special BY PENNY WARNER Send your child a surprise package. The day before your child’s birthday, mail them a surprise package to be opened on their birthday. Insert a card but sign it ‘Secret Admirer’ or ‘Mystery Friend’ to keep your child guessing. 8. 1. Make your child ‘king’ or ‘queen’ for the day. Let your child do whatever they want all day -within reason, of course! Wake your child up with bunches of balloons. About an hour or so before your child wakes up, inflate a bunch of balloons, and while they are asleep, fill up their closet, bathroom or even the whole bedroom with balloons. 2. Take your child to lunch. Take the birthday child out for a special lunch at a fancy restaurant – just the two of you. Order a decadent dessert and tell the staff it’s your child’s birthday so they’ll sing, Happy Birthday! 9. Check calgaryschild.com for dinner ideas fit for a birthday feast! Favorites include Julie Van Rosendaal’s Pizza on the Grill or The Pampered Chef’s Glazed Teriyaki Meatballs & Noodles. 15. Make your child a ‘personalized picture puzzle.’ Surprise your child by having one of their photos enlarged and glued to cardstock paper. Cut the picture into puzzle shapes, place them in a small box or envelope and have them do the puzzle – without telling your child what it is! 10. Create ‘Happy Birthday’ Coupons. On colorful paper, write down a dozen suggestions for your child to enjoy, such as ‘Good for One Dozen Chocolate Chip Cookies,’ ‘Good for a Get-Out-of-One-Bath Free’ or ‘Good for One Hour of Game Playing.’ Assemble them in a coupon book, and give the book to your child on their birthday. 3. Give your child a birthday hat. Buy or make a silly hat decorated with candles, balloons, ribbons and so on. Or, make your child a special birthday T-shirt or slippers using fabric paints, stick-on sequins, decals and ribbon ties. Do all of your child’s chores for the day. Have fun with the tasks by asking your child how they do their chores. Present your child with a ‘my life retrospective’ display. Collect pictures of your child growing up, tape them onto colored construction paper and stick them around the party room so everyone can see how much your child has grown and changed over the years! Have the guests try to guess how old the birthday boy or girl is in each picture. Let your child break a rule. On this special day, let your child break one rule, such as ‘bedtime is 8pm’ or ‘no elbows on the table.’ Videotape memorable messages. Videotape special messages from your child’s friends and family members; then play it back at the party. 16. 11. Serve your child’s favorite dinner. Let your child choose the menu for their birthday and select all of their favorite foods. 17. 4. 5. Bake the cake together. Instead of ordering a cake from the bakery, make it yourselves, and let your child decorate it any way they want with colored icing, candies or little toys. Bonus idea Capture the memories. Give your child a disposable camera and let them take pictures of everything that happens throughout the day. Then give your child a scrapbook to fill with snapshots of birthday memories. 18. Send your child on a present hunt. Hide the birthday gifts and create a treasure hunt, leading from clue to clue, until they find the loot. Gift-wrap your child’s lunch. If it’s a school day, wrap all of your child’s lunch food in party paper and place the 6. 7. Bring your child breakfast in bed. When your child wakes up, bring them breakfast in bed. Fill the tray with their favorite breakfast items, a little gift and the comics page. 12. 19. Birthday email. Before your child’s birthday, email friends and relatives and ask them to surprise your child by sending virtual birthday greeting cards throughout the day. Start a birthday ritual. Choose any of the above tips and recreate it each year on your child’s birthday. Penny is an author and a party-planning expert for Balloon Time. CCM 20. Let your child design the decorations. Have your child help you with the party decorations and turn it into a craft project. Inflate balloons and let your child decorate them with faces of 13. 2012-1071 MORE THAN A BIRTHDAY PARTY No fuss, no muss. We offer unique and affordable birthday packages. Choose from Surf’s up Swim and a variety of special theme and active parties. SOUTHLAND LEISURE CENTRE 2000 Southland Dr. S.W. 403.648.6587 VILLAGE SQUARE LEISURE CENTRE 2623 56th St. N.E. | 403.366.3905 c calgary.ca alg ar y y. .c a | call c all 3-1-1 Onward/ By 2036, 90 per cent of Calgarians will participate in b both oth informal and structured recreational structur ed r ecr eational opportunities. July-August 2012 • calgaryschild.com • 15

20 Quick And Creative Ways To Make Your Child’s Birthday Extra Special

Penny Warner

Your child’s birthday is the most important day of the year! You can make it even more memorable by adding these easy, inexpensive and imaginative touches throughout the day. 1. Make your child ‘king’ or ‘queen’ for the day. Let your child do whatever they want all day - within reason, of course! 2. Wake your child up with bunches of balloons. About an hour or so before your child wakes up, inflate a bunch of balloons, and while they are asleep, fill up their closet, bathroom or even the whole bedroom with balloons. 3. Give your child a birthday hat. Buy or make a silly hat decorated with candles, balloons, ribbons and so on. Or, make your child a special birthday T-shirt or slippers using fabric paints, stick-on sequins, decals and ribbon ties. 4. Do all of your child’s chores for the day. Have fun with the tasks by asking your child how they do their chores. 5. Bake the cake together. Instead of ordering a cake from the bakery, make it yourselves, and let your child decorate it any way they want with colored icing, candies or little toys. 6. Send your child on a present hunt. Hide the birthday gifts and create a treasure hunt, leading from clue to clue, until they find the loot. 7. Gift-wrap your child’s lunch. If it’s a school day, wrap all of your child’s lunch food in party paper and place the food inside the lunchbox or bag to unwrap at lunchtime. For added fun, fill their backpack with birthday cards and balloons. 8. Send your child a surprise package. The day before your child’s birthday, mail them a surprise package to be opened on their birthday. Insert a card but sign it ‘Secret Admirer’ or ‘Mystery Friend’ to keep your child guessing. 9. Take your child to lunch. Take the birthday child out for a special lunch at a fancy restaurant – just the two of you. Order a decadent dessert and tell the staff it’s your child’s birthday so they’ll sing, Happy Birthday! 10. Create ‘Happy Birthday’ Coupons. On colorful paper, write down a dozen suggestions for your child to enjoy, such as ‘Good for One Dozen Chocolate Chip Cookies,’ ‘Good for a Get-Out-of-One-Bath Free’ or ‘Good for One Hour of Game Playing.’ Assemble them in a coupon book, and give the book to your child on their birthday. 11. Serve your child’s favorite dinner. Let your child choose the menu for their birthday and select all of their favorite foods. 12. Bring your child breakfast in bed. When your child wakes up, bring them breakfast in bed. Fill the tray with their favorite breakfast items, a little gift and the comics page. 13. Let your child design the decorations. Have your child help you with the party decorations and turn it into a craft project. Inflate balloons and let your child decorate them with faces of the guests, using permanent markers or stickers with eyes, noses and mouths. 14. Pick a picnic place. Instead of having a meal at the table, spread a blanket on the floor or lawn and have your breakfast, lunch or dinner picnic-style. 15. Make your child a ‘personalized picture puzzle.’ Surprise your child by having one of their photos enlarged and glued to card stock paper. Cut the picture into puzzle shapes, place them in a small box or envelope and have them do the puzzle – without telling your child what it is! 16. Present your child with a ‘my life retrospective’ display. Collect pictures of your child growing up, tape them onto colored construction paper and stick them around the party room so everyone can see how much your child has grown and changed over the years! Have the guests try to guess how old the birthday boy or girl is in each picture. 17. Let your child break a rule. On this special day, let your child break one rule, such as ‘bedtime is 8pm’ or ‘no elbows on the table.’ 18. Videotape memorable messages. Videotape special messages from your child’s friends and family members; then play it back at the party. 19. Birthday email. Before your child’s birthday, email friends and relatives and ask them to surprise your child by sending virtual birthday greeting cards throughout the day. 20. Start a birthday ritual. Choose any of the above tips and recreate it each year on your child’s birthday. Penny is an author and a party-planning expert for Balloon Time.

City of Calgary Recreation (The)

URL: http://calgary.ca/recreation

Previous Page Next Page

Publication List

Click Here