A Successful Robot Birthday Party

The birthday boy declared the robot birthday party a success.  Everything went great.  Below are some pictures and some tips on what I learned.  You can see the prep in my last post.



Be sure the bean bag toss can be moved.  You need to measure it for transport.  Our bean bag toss game will fold down flat, but my DH made it so it also could slide in whole to his truck bed.  He also made it so it can lay flat (like cornhole) with the image correctly displayed or stand up with the image displayed.



And make sure you put a backdrop or stopper behind a game like this. We lost a beanbag somehow in the nest of plants behind the game.  The kids loved this.  We line up by height, shortest goes first and they have to take steps away depending on their age. So the two year old is two feet away, etc...  And we awarded 2 points for going through the top hole and 1 point for going through the bottom.  Some kids went multiple times.



The banner and whirlygigs were great.  We ended up changing the ribbon out on the day of the party on the banner because I had used raffia, which just wouldn't hold up in the wind.  The curling ribbon was much better.

After the party, I kept the Happy Birthday part and turned this part with his name into a mini banner for his room. He seemed excited by that idea.

The whirly gigs were put on the front porch and around the yard.  They added just an extra touch of color.  I took the robot paper from Paper Source and cut out the individual robots for these, rather than stamping.

We set up the Create a Robot station and tried to be very careful to keep the magnets back from the edge. We also warned the parents about the magnets - we wanted to be careful that they weren't swallowed. 


Create a Robot station.



 



I thought I had plenty of supplies.  But, some items were more popular than others.  I glued everything to magnets.  I then set them up on cookie sheets, so the kids could see what was available.

So, there were feathers for wings or hair (or whatever the kid decided) and multi-colored pipe cleaners.  I also took apart an old keyboard and glued different letters and some of the word buttons onto magnets. The flat round items were mostly beer bottle caps. I kept the glue gun in the kitchen and extra parts available. I ended up mostly repairing parts that separated from the magnets and makeing more pipe cleaner pieces.



Some examples for the kids to see.  These were done with a glue gun, not magnets.



Another example I made for them.  This one was made using all magnets, just like they had.



The kids made a variety of robots.   And they kept coming back either tweaking their design or asking to make a second one.

We didn't focus too much on the food.   The mom had the kids help make chocolate dipped marshmallows and pretzel rods.  I did make signs.  The marshmallows and pretzels dipped in chocolate were called "Welding Rods."  We called chips - "Memory Chips."  We had some pasta salad we called "Nuts & Bolts."   We labeled the cooler of drinks as "Machine Oil." 



My BFF (the mom of the birthday boy) made these great favor bags.  She made coloring books for the bags, printable from here.  She included a small box of crayons and glow-in-the-dark bracelets. 





So a great day was had by all.  The birthday boy was happy and that is what it is all about.









Robot Birthday Party Prep

My best friend's son requested a robot birthday party.  As I have mentioned, I do love theme parties, so I totally took over most of the crafting and party planning.  Just trying to help my BFF out by pulling the theme together so it really stands out.  Her son is great kid and I think he'll get a real kick out of all the details.

The party is tomorrow, so I just wanted to show you some of the items we made.  I'll take more pictures of it all set up and post those later this weekend.

So what did I make?

Robot Birthday Banner

Stamped & Embossed

First, I made a robot birthday banner.  I traced "nut" shapes (really hexagons) onto blue paper.  I used the robot stamp from Paper Source to mark the beginning and end of the banner.  I used silver ink and embossed them with glitter just to give it a little pizazz. 

Then I cut red stripes to put across each nut and glued them in place. I varied the placement to add visual appeal.  Then, I cut out Happy Birthday Aaron in silver sticky back foam. 

I learned from my last banner making experience to put the holes closer to the top of each individual nut.

I strung it together with black curling ribbon.  I'll post a photo tomorrow of it hanging up.

Robot Decorations

I made some robots for decorations.  I took random pieces of metal laying and starting hot-gluing them to tin cans.

The hair at the top is wind chime pipes, the eyes are beer bottle caps, the arms are little screws with nuts attached, and the rest is random other pieces of metal.

Robot Bean Bag Toss Game

Then, we needed a game.  We decided I should make a robot bean bag toss game.  DH (Dear Husband) was instrumental here - built the board so it can used over and over.  It will stand up on it's on and it can be placed like corn hole or stood up, depending on what I paint on it.  

He will cut out the holes for the tossing part.  Advice if you decide to try this - cut the holes first and work your design around the holes.  Especially if you plan to use the same board over and over with different designs.  You want the holes centered.

I then used a projector to pencil in a robot design.  Once it was penciled in, I used black paint to outline it.

 And yes, I am painting it while watching TV in my pajamas!

He came out pretty adorable.  The holes will show in the next post.

Party Activity - Make their own Robots

We also decided that one of our activities at the party will be for the kids to make their own robots.  I saw this on Pinterest and it came out pretty well.  We'll see how the kids do tomorrow.

I asked my DH and every I knew for random extra metal parts that they had around their homes.  Amazing how fast some of them gave me items. 

Then, I sorted them out.  I had to figure out what would work best for the kids.  I got small magnets (about 3/4 inches across) at Walmart and began gluing them onto the different objects.

I took an old cookie sheet and starting placing the items on there.

I took beer bottle caps and glued magnets on the back. I also used metal wire thread to make curly lashes for some of the robots.  The can with the pipe cleaners sticking out the top is an example for the kids.

Utensil Holders

And finally, I used my stamps and extra paper just to decorate some cans to use for utensils or some of the food.  I glued strips around the cans and cut out the individual robots after I stamped them.

I promise to show the results tomorrow.  I hope you enjoyed this.