Yesterday we had a party to celebrate the start of the holidays. We were sent several craft party packs from Interplay to try out. these are a brilliant idea. All you need to have a fun craft party in one box.
We were sent two different party packs to try out: Fairy Princess Party and Mad About Ponies.
Preparations
Part of the party was to host a twitter party with ten other families. This was to start at 4pm. This was a long wait for the girls and they were starting to ask me when the party was going to start at regular 5 minute intervals. I had the inspired idea to use the very large box all our goodies came in and make them a castle and stables backdrop to go in the party room. I cut out some turrets and towers and they spent about an hour happily painting them. A lot of people say they hate crafting with the kids because it is so messy. I would argue that while there is a mess element and some children are naturally messier than others (I’m looking at you – Charlotte), there is no other activity which will keep most children as absorbed and entertained for so long. It was the only point in the day that I was able to get on and get organised without having to constantly stop what I was doing.
Rose was very proud of her tower. She had found the little bits of cardboard I had cut off from the battlements and lined them up, then painted them and finally worked out that they would stick to her tower.
While they were busy I was able to make a cake. Charlotte found the not licking the bowl instruction impossible!
I cut a circular cake into a horseshoe shape and decorated it with sprinkles and icing. Molly saw what I was doing and told me to stop making a cake as it wasn’t anyone’s birthday.
We also decorated some cupcakes provided by Interplay with their lovely logo on. I think the girls were a bit stingy with the buttercream!
Fairy Princess Party
Finally the party started. I put out all the craft materials and they looked very inviting. After a bit of running around and jumping on the trampoline the guests were all keen to get crafting.
We had a mixed group ranging from 2-7 year olds so some were younger than the suggested age on the box. They all made some beautiful creations and were very excited to join in. In the fairy princess pack you had enough materials to make a wand, a tiara and a pair of fairy wings for six people. There were ample shiny stickers, jewels and feathers to make some really pretty creations and I loved how different they all were. Only the wand needed a bit of explanation to put together and it was great to give the children the freedom to decorate them how they wanted.
I did add a few letter stickers for the twins – only because I am teaching them to recognise their name and I can’t help but sneak it in every chance I get!
Once they were finished we had a party room full of fairy princesses. They went and flew around the garden (jumping on the trampoline) and ate their honey and dewdrops (pizza and cake). There was a set of instructions for party games all with a fairy theme.
Mad About Ponies
I was really impressed with the second party pack. I liked how it was a more unusual idea and great for any child who is mad about ponies.
In the box are six really lovely pony statues for the children to paint. They have a paintbrush each and a pot of horse coloured paints to share between two. There were some pictures in the instructions of real horse colourings but they were happy to just paint away and even the younger children finished a pony. Unfortunately this was where we ran out of time and didn’t have chance to play the games in the box. If you were only doing one theme then this would not be an issue as you would have lots of time.
This morning the girls were really keen to play with their horses. There are three games included in the instruction sheet and they were all lots of fun. Each child has a score card and pencil and there were some card jumps for the horses to race on.
You can either race the horses across the jumps throwing a dice each time or play a slightly more complicated game with different dice scores for each jump. At the end there are rosettes for the first and second place. The games were great fun and easy to play for the age of child suggested.
I was really pleasantly surprised with the crafts in both the Interplay boxes. They are easy to pick up and run with – you don’t need very long to set them up and there was very little mess. The painting on the horses could be messy of course but the brush is small and that does limit it. On the whole I preferred the ponies party because it was a bit more unusual and it would be hard to source the craft materials yourself. The packs cost between £20 and £25 and I think this would fit with the average party budget. If you were having six children it would actually make it a budget party which kids will love. These are great for a tea party with a few friends. I would definitely check out the other packs in the set – the pirate party and a treasure box party both look equally fun.
Disclaimer: We were sent all the craft packs and some party food and party bags for the purposes of this review.
