Octo-Alert!!!

Yesterday was Monkeys party day. It was an Underwater Octonaut party, now if you havn't been introduced to The Octonauts then you are really missing out. Basically they are a group of animals who live under the sea whose mission it is to "Explore, Rescue and Protect". It is a lovely show and here on at 5.15pm perfect for dinner prep time.

The scene was set with the Octonaut Invitations I made. For decoration I painted the shows characters and we decorated the lounge like an undersea cave complete with a kelp forest to walk through to outside. There were even sharks and fish swimming around above our heads.

 

A special new shirt for Monkeys big day... soon to be the most often asked for and worn shirt Im sure.

As Monkey is getting older I decided that for this party I needed a little more structure than just come play eat go. 

So as the kids arrived they were invited to make a fish tank with Dr Shellington. I had a bunch of fish bowl shaped blue card and some ocean animal stickers. The kids loved it. 

Afterwards the kids played for a while and Monkey opened presents. Then we had food. As usual I made a bit too much, but better that way then the other I recon. All the food was fishy or Octonaut themed, from Octopus sausages to fish crackers and chocolate crackle coral. I was really pleased I managed to only have 2 items that weren't gluten free, so Miss Boo was able to tuck in too.

Check out the hat, so easy to make!

After food the kids played and practiced their bandaging at the Peso bandaging station. Then I played my first ever party game.. pin the eye patch on Kwazii. 

Finally the cake. Dashi Dog as requested by Monkey, made with three different types of gluten free cake. It was a huge success. 

It was a very low stress party in the end as all my planning payed off and I had lovely helpers. 

Things I have learnt this time:

• Having both a start and end time is great as there is a very defined moment to start packing up. 
• A loose timetable or plan works wonders to reduce the stress and means people helping know what they can do (I might even be really teacherish and write it down to go on the fridge next time). 
• Finally kids just want to have fun and play together but having a couple of activities rather than just heaps of games seemed to work really well at keeping the flow.

Oh and as always you can never have too many bubbles!!!

 

Time for a tidy up and sleep I think!