Rainbows and Butterflies

...is the theme Katy chose for her party. As we were a little scarred from the freezing conditions at Ella's outdoor party, we decided to play it safe and have this one at home. The only problem being - how do you keep the children entertained. Can't say we are ones for traditional party games (much to the disappointment of one party goers who asked me towards the end of the party when the games were going to start!!) and we've done enough treasure hunts so we thought perhaps some sort of craft….a few hours of surfing the net and we came up with several easy, not too messy and relatively cheap ideas.

It was easy to bring rainbow colours into the food…a rainbow fruit platter and veggie plate with dips, m&m's stacey biscuits plus the obligatory fairy bread. I did over several days make rainbow jelly cups too which went down a treat with the children. Plus the cake designed as per Katy's instructions!

A cracker of a canberra winter day dawned - beautiful blue skies.  However we were unable to take advantage of the sunshine as a very slight breeze sprung up which meant we retreated the craft tables to the garage to prevent paper being blown around.

The crafts were a hit. There were three activities on offer -

Rainbow glue/salt pictures - Ella was very keen to help out during the party so she chose this table. Firstly the children created their own design by drizzling white glue onto black card. Then poured salt over the top and the excess was shaken off. The children moved to the watercolour painting table, where using cotton buds, they coloured in their picture. They found it interesting watching the salt soak up the watercolours.

Flower sun catchers - Some preparation required by halving soft drink bottles; slits were then cut lengthwise to the base and flared out to create the petals. Children painted a layer of glue on the inside of each petal and arranged colourful tissue paper before finishing with another coat of glue. A hole punched in one petal and string attached. Perfect to catch the sunshine through a bedroom window!


Coffee filter / egg carton butterflies - Using watercolours with cotton buds, the children painted their butterflies wings (coffee filters). Once these were dry, they were glued onto the pre cut egg carton bodies. Then goggly eggs and pipe cleaner antennae were added to create the final product!