Last week we celebrated Koala’s 4th birthday with an outdoor ‘everything Koala loves’ party. Ok, not everything Koala loves; I couldn’t get a real policeman to breakdance on a firetruck, for instance.
It came out looking more like a superhero birthday party. Superhero outdoorsy explorer theme with chocolate cake.
First, the binoculars. Because I’m crafty and not an entertainer in any way, I went for the super simple art project (so simple that his two-year-old sister and her group of two-year-old sisters of his friends could do it too). I wanted to do something with toilet paper rolls – do you ever realize just how many you go through in a week?!
Here’s what I did to prep:
- Measure colorful wrapping paper against the roll, cut a bunch of sheets.
- With a glue stick, stick the paper onto the roll.
- Hole-punch one side of each roll.
- Staple two rolls together, with the holes on the outside.
Here’s what the kids did:
- Pick the color binoculars they wanted.
- Stuck various kinds of stickers all over their rolls.
- Picked the color necklace string they wanted for me to tie on.
As four year olds, they totally could have done more, and if we had been indoors, I would have left the gluing for them. I also appreciate that not all 3-4 year olds are patient enough to sit with an art project. It worked out better that way.
Now on to the next piece: the CAPES! Yes, I bought a giant roll of cheap thin kindergarten fabric and cut pieces into cape shapes.
The outcome:
I had a plan for the kids to use silvery crayons to decorate them, but at the party I realized they were too ready to get flying so I let them go…
But not before handing each kid a nature hunt list; I printed pictures of outdoor items – rocks, leaves, sticks – and sent the kids to explore.
Worked out really nicely! Though if you ask any of them, I’m betting the cake, being cake, was the biggest hit (even if my son thought the drawing was a pizza…)
I could have totally gone all out and done the perfect Pinterest birthday… in the States. But I think there’s a simple modesty to appreciate in what gives a four year old a good time.
Whadya got: