A PARTY CENTERED AROUND AN ACTIVITY
If you have a child that’s about 3-7 years old, I’m sure that you’ve had your fill of children birthday parties. You might even consider yourself a birthday party “expert”. The bad part about that is after going to parties week in and week out, things start to get pretty old.
But what if I told you that there’s a different way of structuring your party program, centered around an activity that:
- Is interactive (not only for kids, but for parents as well)
- Is fun, exciting, new
- Involves shopping
- Teaches children the value of money, budgeting, and trade-offs
Awesome video by Lemon Three Films!
Just this month, Party Magic did a truly unique concept, this time for my client Joanne and her daughter Isabeli. And the big idea is this:
WEEKEND MARKET SHOPPING
At the beginning of the party, all kids will be provided with a “starter” pouch of play money. We designed the play money for Isabeli’s party like this:
Upon entering the party, guests will notice around 4 separate, well-decorated booths that contain various items. For Isabeli’s case, we arranged a:
- Toys and Novelty Booth
- Pastries and Cakes Booth
- Fresh Flowers Booth, and
- Fruits and Veggies Booth
During the 1st half of the party, the kids are encouraged to participate in the games, as the prizes that will be given out will be more play money. Yep, that’s right. More play money = more money to spend for toys, pastries, flowers, and fruits!
But let me stop yakking for a minute and show you instead with the sweet highlight reel below, done by no other than the great Lemon Three Films:
THE GOOD THINGS
I can’t tell you enough good things about this activity. For one, there is the anticipation factor. At the beginning, kids (and their mommies) often walk around the booths, taking note of the items they’d like to “purchase”, and doing general scouting and planning. Talk about family bonding time!
Secondly, this is a highly interactive activity that teaches children basic budgeting and math skills in the process. They have fun, and learn in the process!
And third: NO NEED FOR GIVEAWAYS. Because of the amount of goodies kids get to take home, the items they purchase double up as their giveaways already.
CAVEATS
Here’s the caveat: as you might have already guessed, pulling this off requires a LOT MORE work than your usual party. For starters, you have to prepare all the items in your booths beforehand, take note of their inventory. Coordinators / staffs to man each booth need to be hired. Booths need to be set up and prepared.
But if the goal is to create an unforgettable party, isn’t all this work worth it?
Perhaps the real secret is that this is actually not a new activity at all. I conceptualized this type of activity years ago, and have been implementing this to select clientele ever since.
More details / photos from Isabeli’s Sunday Market party soon!
Love,
Michelle
