Day 57 - Minecraft Birthday Party

Kid Two is turning 7 on Sunday and requested a Minecraft party. I'd prefer a swim party. I mean, we are in Arizona and Grandma lives just down the street and has a great pool. But alas, he had his heart set on Minecraft. 

Since I know nothing about Minecraft, it was Pinterest to the rescue. That, and asking Kid One & Two questions about the games they've really only been playing a week or two.

Decorations

I kept it simple. Black and green streamers and balloons, black table cloth, green plates, and traditional birthday banners.

Craft

I modified a creeper shirt idea I found here. 

Supplies:

-Green Shirt

-Cardboard

-Spray Paint

I bought green shirts from Dollar Tree for each of the boys. (A quick tip about Dollar Tree shirts; watch out for holes.) I cut a stencil of a Creeper face out of a piece of cardboard. When the boys came for the party, they chose a shirt (there were a few different shades of green), laid it on the grass, placed the stencil over it, and sprayed it with flat black spray paint ($1 at Walmart). They then out the shirt in the back of a chair to dry. The spray paint dries very quickly. We made Kid Two's shirt the day before and washed it to check the results. The excess spray from the paint washed off leaving a clear creeper face.

Games

I wanted to play water games so we could be outside. From what I understand about Minecraft, you can do pretty much anything and tie it back to the game

Dynamite Toss-We did a water balloon toss but said the water balloons were dynamite since that is in the game.

Fill the Creeper Trap Relay: I guess, in Minecraft, Creepers can be trapped in water. We used bowls and played a game I found here. Basically, you have two teams. The team members stand in a single file line. The first person scoops up some water from a bucket (or in our case, a kiddie pool) they then bring the bowl over their head and dump it behind their back. The next person in line has to catch the water in their bowl, then pass it in the same manner to the next person in line. The last person in line dumps whatever water got to them into a bucket at the end. Whichever team has more water in their bucket at the end wins.

Mining Gems: I found mining games like this one here, but thought I would change it up to make it a little more messy and fun. Instead of mining through dirt, I had them use their hands to search for white stones through shaving cream. Each plate of shaving cream concealed 10 stones. The first boy to find all 10 stones won the game.

Cake

I used 2 square pans to bake chocolate cake. Make sure to oil and flour the pans well so the cake is easily removed. I then made a double layered cake with green frosting, but I didn't cover the bottom. The green frosting on the top and the brown cake on the bottom apparently looks like a Grass Block from the game. We did spell out his name with chocolate chips on the top, which didn't look too great.

Party Favors

We made up little bags with thank you cards we found here, chocolate rocks (which look like real rocks), smarties, and suckers. We gave them to the boys as they left. I love taking care of thank you cards right away.

So his party was very lightly Minecraft themed, but enough that he enjoyed it. Do you do theme parties for your kids?

Day 7 - i.d.e.a. Museum

It's starting to get hot. That means we need more indoor activities. My oldest daughter hadn't been to the children's art museum, the i.d.e.a. Museum in Mesa, AZ and had been begging to go. We used my membership I bought with a groupon deal ( admission for up to 4 people) and Kid One's Pogo Pass (discount pass for multiple Phoenix attractions) for a free, fun outing. Read my review of the i.d.e.a. Museum here.

Why I Love Children's Museums

My kids love to craft, but I hate the wasted glue, tape, and paper and even more, the mess. That is why the I.d.e.a. is so great! The museum provides all the craft supplies and the glue and scraps don't get on my table. My kids can make all the junk they want and we can leave it on the table for other visitors to admire instead of bringing it home to clutter up the house.

Speaking of messes, I love that the employees are wandering around picking up stray trash and toys while I just get to play with the kids. I don't need to worry about the clutter around me when we are at a children's museum. I can enjoy my children without the stress of household responsibilities right in my face.

Another thing I love about children's museums is that everything is a novelty to my kids. We don't have a light bright wall at home so they think it's extra special and sit and and stick pegs in holes for half an hour. The toys are all new to them so it takes longer for them to get bored.

I like that there are areas specifically for babies. Kid Five gets attached my her brothers all day at home but in the baby zone, big brother's aren't even allowed. I know she is safe from bigger kids who do t know to watch out for little hands. I also know she has age appropriate toys that she can't hurt herself on.

Last but not least, I love that I can have fun too. I also like to create things out of old scraps of cardboard, but I don't have time at home. I enjoy putting on a puppet show with my son or doing puzzle on a giant touch screen while the kids play around me. I like interactive museums as much as my children.

What do you love about going to children's museums? 

Day 6 - Bleach Print Shirts

My kids have loved doing tie-dye the past few summers, but since one can only have so many tie-dyed shirts, I decided to try something new. I've had friends do these type of shirts in the past but I followed a basic guideline from here.

How-To Make Bleach Print Shirts

Supplies

• Colored t-shirts (ours are from Dollar Tree)
• Spray bottle
• Bleach
• Gloves (to protect hands from bleach)
• Cardboard boxes (cereal boxes work fine)
• Scissors
• Tape if you want

We thought about sponging the bleach solution on but decided against it (that's why we had sponges and a cake pan)

1. Cut shapes out of cardboard. We just used cracker boxes. Most of the shapes we did free-hand, but I did print a silhouette of a car that I traced. 
   
2. Mix a solution of half bleach, half water inside your spray bottle. A stronger solution might work well too but since I'm working with kids, I decided to go with a 50/50 mix. 
3. Put a sheet of cardboard inside your shirt. This protects the shirt from getting image bleached through to the other side.
4. Arrange shapes on your shirt. I just set the shapes onto my shirt, but for the kids we did tape them down so they wouldn't blow away.
   
5. Spray with bleach/water solution. From about 2 feet away, spray around all your images, but avoid soaking the shirt. If it's too wet the bleach will bleed under your stencil.
   
6. Allow image to develop. We removed the stencils and let the bleach sit until the surrounding area was a light as we wanted.
   
7. Rinse shirt. To stop the bleach from doing its job, give it a quick rinse with the hose.
   
8. Wash before wearing. You want to be sure you've removed all the bleach. 
   

Tips:

*Use simple, clearly defined shapes without too much detail

*Wear clothes you don't care about in case of bleach spills

*Make sure you give the bleach enough time to develop before rinsing

*Darker shirts work better (we really like the rust color the bleach produces on the black and navy blue shirts)

*Spray from above as opposed to from the side. This prevents the bleach from going under your stencils. 

*Don't over-saturate your shirt. It seemed to work best doing a light but completely covering spray from about a 2-feet above the shirt. (also, make sure your spray bottle lid is on tight so it doesn't spill on your shirt like it did for kid 4)

Have you done bleach print shirts? Share your images in the comments.