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Elmo's World
Party
Tips and ideas
for the perfect Elmo's World Party
Party Tips
1. Mail invitations two weeks
before the party date.
2. Plan a
safe, comfortable place for the party where the
children can have fun, but will not hurt themselves
or your home. If planning an outdoor party be sure
to have a backup plan in case of bad weather.
3. Limit
the party time to two hours or less for children
under six years of age. Up to three hours is fine
for older children.
4. Prepare
more activities than you plan to use in advance.
Activities often take less time than planned and you
may want to keep the children busy.
5. Include
the birthday child in preparations as often as
possible. Let him or her stuff the party favor bags,
make suggestions for games, help with the
decorations, set the table, and mail the invitations
- even if that only means putting them in the
mailbox.
Fun Activities
Elmo's Follow the Leader
Join in
the fun with this silly activity! The first thing
you need is music. If you have Sesame Street music,
that's great, if not, any children's music will do.
Choose a leader to be Elmo (the birthday child makes
a great first leader), and have all the other party
guests line up behind him/her. The leader makes all
sorts of creative moves and the rest of the line
follows. If the leader needs some help you can
suggest hopping, jumping, twirling, rolling on the
ground, etc. Pick a new leader every few minutes.
Play until everyone is ready for a new activity.
Snuffleupagus Peanut Hunt
Snuffy’s
favorite food is missing. Can you help him hunt down
his peanuts before snack time? Depending on the age
of the children, hide peanuts throughout the house
(or party area) in easy or harder to find locations.
Give your hunters a sack to put their peanuts in and
let them loose to collect as many as they can find.
It’s fun to see just how many peanuts actually make
it to Snuffy at snack time!
Balloon Relay Race
Have the
children stand in two single-file lines, facing the
same direction. Place a balloon between the knees of
the first child in each line. When the race starts
the child turns to face the next person in line, the
second child must grasp the balloon with his or her
knees and turn to pass it on to the third person,
and so on. If the balloon falls to the ground the
team must start over. The first team to successfully
pass the balloon down the line, wins!
Ha, Ha, Ha!!
The
object of this game is to keep a straight face while
the other players try to make you laugh. The players
form a circle and one player begins by saying, "Ha."
The next player says, "Ha, Ha," followed by the next
player who says, "Ha, Ha, Ha," and so on around the
circle with each player adding a "Ha" to the string.
Each player must pronounce the "Ha Ha"s as solemnly
as they can, to avoid laughter as long as possible.
Any player who laughs or makes a mistake must drop
out of the "Ha Ha" circle. However, he or she now
gets to try to make the remaining players laugh in
any way they can (except by touching them or
talking). The most serious player (the one who keeps
a straight face the longest) wins the game.
Delectable Treats
Sesame Street Sandwiches
Get the
gang together for these fun-shaped sandwiches. Let
the guests choose the shape of their choice by
selecting from a tray full of sandwiches. Prepare
the type of sandwiches the birthday child enjoys
most and use cookie cutters to cut them into fun
shapes. Reinforce the lessons taught on Sesame
Street by using triangles, squares, circles, etc.
Have the children declare out loud what shape it is
they’re choosing before they remove it from the
tray.
Alphabet Soup
See how
many letters each child can find in their bowl! Make
your own chicken broth with alphabet pasta, or
purchase and heat a prepared alphabet pasta soup.
The children will love spelling their names and
other simple words.
Kermit's Swamp Punch
It's not
easy being green, but Kermit's swamp punch is easy
to turn green. Add a few drops of green food
coloring to your favorite light-colored beverage:
lemonade, lemon-lime soda and apple juice work well.
Cookie Monster's Monster Cookies
What
is Cookie Monster to do at a party without cookies?
Make your birthday child’s favorite cookies, only
monster-sized! Bake cookies at a slightly lower
temperature than recommended for a longer period of
time to accommodate for the larger size. Many cookie
varieties will turn out well by cooking them at 250
degrees for 20-25 minutes.
Decorating Tips
Spread your tablecover on your
party table. If your child has any theme-related
toys, you can add them to the table for a more
festive display.
Cut
several one-to-two-foot-long pieces of curling
ribbon. Curl the ribbon by pulling it between your
thumb and the blade of your scissors. Lay the
resulting curls on your table for added color. Hang
balloons in bunches for the best effect. If you
choose to fill balloons with helium, wait until the
party day to ensure they float well!
Use
balloons to mark the party spot; hang them on the
mailbox, near the front door, or tie them to the
birthday child's chair to mark the seat of honor.
Place
balloons anywhere that strikes your fancy. The more
the better!
Gather six
or eight streamers and attach them to the ceiling in
the center of the party room (or over the table).
Use a light fixture over the table, if you have one,
as the center point for the streamers.
To
create colorful two-tone streamers, put two
differently colored streamers back-to-back, twist as
you walk them to the wall, and attach at shoulder
height.
Smile for the Camera!
Be sure to take lots of pictures.
You and your child will want to remember this
special party. A helpful hint: Order extra prints
and send them to the parents afterward. Remember,
it's not necessary to have everyone in each picture.
Focus on small groups and avoid posing all the
photos. Candids capture the laughter best!
© 2002 Birthday Express
Elmo & Cookie Monster are registered trademarks of
the Children's Television Workshop.
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