The Ballerina & Astronaut Party - Games & Activities

Activities

Crafts are a good ice breaker for young children who don't all know each other. I'll have each child decorate a paper rocket or ballerina when they arrive. I bought paper rockets at Hobby Lobby, but I had to cut out ballerinas. The template came from Pottery Barn Kids so at least I didn't have to draw it. The craft materials will come from the supplies we have around the house (glitter, stickers, ribbons, etc.)

I strongly believe in unstructured play time. If you give children a few props and a lot of leeway they can create some amazing games on their own.

Dress Up & Play Time

This is my big splurge - a costume for each party guest. I confess that when I found tiaras and armor at Dollar Tree I tried to talk Danielle into switching to a princess and knight party. No go - she is set on ballerinas and astronauts. It makes me laugh. It's the kind of party we would have had when I was a kid in the 1960s and 70s -- very retro.

Ballerinas: I bought the girls each an adorable tutu from Halo Heaven. With shipping, the tutus were on sale for just over $2 each. (Tip: Get on to their mailing list. They have amazing sales!) They are every bit as nice as ones I've seen for $7-10 in stores. They have satin waistbands and three layers of tulle. Really lovely.

I'll hang the tutus over the windows so they look like curtains before the little girls put them on.

How to Make a Tutu

I think it is impossible to make a tutu for less than the prices at Halo Heaven. However, if you're feeling crafty & brave you can make your own no sew tutus by tying 20 inch strips of tulle around some elastic. All you have to do is fold the strip of tulle in half lengthwise, lay it over the elastic and then pull the cut ends over the elastic and through the loop. There are tons of tutorials out there if you want to go that route. I will warn you, however: one tutu requires about 20-25 yards of 6-inch wide tulle- and a lot of time! I priced 6" wide tulle at $4.99 for a 25 yard roll from Hobby Lobby- wider tulle was 97 cents a yard at Walmart if you don't mind more cutting.

 

I did make one tutu - to go around the cake plate. I love the way it looked and it cost less than $6.

Astronauts: Space helmets for the boys cost $4 and are adorable. Frankly, I think they are cooler than the tutus so I ordered extras in case some of the girls want to be astronauts as well. (My husband assures me that it is unlikely any 6-year old boys will want to wear a tutu. I'm not so sure...) In fact, I think the astronaut theme is much cooler than the ballerina theme - especially as Danielle dropped out of her ballet class.

How to Make an Astronaut Costume

Another idea is to make a simple NASA inspired baseball cap. Use a blue baseball cap ($21 for a dozen from Oriental Trading) then attach a space themed sticker to the front ($2.50 for a roll of 100) with fabric glue. Any leftover stickers can go in a pinata or goodie bags. Or - if you have only a few guests or an unlimited budget - use iron on printer paper to print the NASA logo onto inexpensive white T-shirts.

Games: Dancing & Rocket Launches

I had a hard time thinking up dance games that didn't involve a pretend ballet class. First we'll play Freeze Dance. For younger kids you can play the Choo Choo Soul Freeze Dance or Fresh Beat Band Freeze Dance songs. For this party I also like Laurie Berkner's Rocketship Run.  Danielle says those are "too babyish" so we'll probably play Rianna or Usher if I can find songs with G ratings...

Next I created  "Dreamlight Studio Stage" for dancing with colored shadows. Happily, my daugher thinks any raised surface is a stage - it doesn't have to be high. This is one of the rare instances where being a pack rat paid off. We nailed a scrap piece of plywood onto a pallet to create a sligtly elevated  stage. We washed them, then painted the top a pretty pink made from paint samples we had in the garage. Of course, Danielle helped with the painting. Then I draped the ceiling with tulle to create curtains.

This is secretly a very cool science experiment about light. You need three bright lights with colored bulbs (or covered with colored cellophane) and a light or white surface to create shadows against. You'll need a red, green & blue bulb (about $3 each at Lowes). With these three lights you can make shadows of seven different colors: blue, red, green, black, cyan (blue-green), magenta (a mixture of blue and red), and yellow (a mixture of red and green).

If you can only find low wattage bulbs, the kids will have to be close to the wall to see the different colors. I hope I can resist explaining the physics to a bunch of 5 and 6 year olds....


The backyard will be "Mission Control". We'll have a "Launch Pad". We have a stomp rocket already. The kids can also play with rocket balloons and big Styrofoam gliders from Dollar Tree.

I'll create a "Flight Training Center" where the kids can take turns on our zip line. I made sure to include a warning on the sign for the zip line. I'll set a basket of bike & horseback riding helmets near the steps. We wrapped the "target" tree in heavy duty foam padding. I want to keep this as safe as possible.

I found a tutorial on how to make a cardboard rocket playhouse from a garment box. I didn't have any friends who had moved recently but I was able to pick up a new one at a local moving center for $12- beats the $60 kits for sale online!

Party Favors : Moon Rock Hunt

Instead of a pinata we'll end the party with a Moon Rock Hunt. I'll wrap small toys left over from previous parties in aluminum foil and hide them around the yard. There was no candy in these since I was hiding them in the yard. I can't imagine anything grosser than picking up a prize covered in ants.

I'll use bouncy balls, small bottles of bubbles, shaped erasers, pencil sharpeners, plastic rings, yoyos, small plastic figures.  The kids can collect them in brown paper bags labeled "Moon Rocks" in a retro NASA font.