We had a Martha Stewart challenge yesterday: we hosted 15 kindergarteners plus Lucinda, Arno and one girl's 4-yr-old sister at our house to celebrate Lucinda's 6th birthday. (We had the party early because so many families leave Tokyo for vacation right after school ends.)
This put me in manic/slight panic mode last week, as I shopped at supermarkets, craft stores and Costco to put together a kid-friendly menu plus craft activities and enough presents to play "Pass the Parcel" and "Simon Says." I was determined to keep the cost reasonable and to avoid handing out a bunch of small plastic goodie-bag toys that would end up in a landfill somewhere.
The party was just 2 hours long - with lunch and cake - which seemed daunting but doable. And, I'm relieved to say, it went really well! The girls were remarkably well-behaved, maybe because we didn't give them any sugar until the end.
They did the crafts - a girl-friendly collage of sequins and feathers, plus beaded necklaces and bracelets - for about 45 minutes. Blaine ran Simon Says and Pass the Parcel... who knew he could entertain 6 yr olds for a half hour? (One girl told me, "Lucinda's dad is really funny.")
Lunch: PB&J and egg-salad sandwiches, chips, carrots, fruit-juice jello squares and fruit salad. Then cake from Duncan Hines, which the girls didn't like very much, topped with homemade frosting and M&Ms. After months of discussing this party, Lucinda had a lot of fun with her friends - and is now talking about her upcoming "real birthday" celebration with her family.
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