Kids Party Theme Ramblings for Moms (and Dads)

Elsie — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:59:10 +0000

I must admit, since my visit to Germany in August this year and my subsequent stay in Rapunzel’s Tower in Clarens, I am a little obsessed with castles. To be more specific, with the towers of old castles.

I love the textures of the different bricks and building materials, the weathered look, the moss and other strange stuff that grows on these walls.

It reminds me of all the stories I read as a child, not only of war and poverty, but also of romance; beautiful princesses, handsome princes, fairy godmothers and wicked stepmothers, and always, but always, happy endings.

Even in today’s modern world, kids still love these stories. I think in a way we need stories with happy endings even if we just use it for party themes; we all have to take a break from normal living and what better way than to have a party on your birthday.

I have been trying to come up with a theme for a Rapunzel party for the last two weeks… take a look at the date of my last post… I think sometimes one of the most difficult things for a parent is to come up with an appropriate theme for their kid’s birthday party…

They grow up sooo fast; one day they like Winnie the Pooh, the next they like Spider Woman or Spider Man; what a vast difference… from a cuddly little bear to this alien eight-legged “thing” that can climb walls and do impossibly human tricks…

and then we as parents are bombarded with stories about how bad it is for your kid to believe in fairy tales… and I must admit… these old stories are rife with crime… but maybe we should take this with a touch of salt… did the victims in these stories not always survive? Snow White awakes after the handsome prince give her a kiss…. jeez, did they not all awake after a kiss???

When we have children and raise them to our values should we not also include a little “make-believe” in our teachings? Our responsibility lies in teaching them about the real world – to make them aware of crime and to always be on the look-out for things that can hurt them, but we should never, ever take away the “magic” element in life…

There is so much good in life, we just have to look past the bad things that happen and if it not touches our lives, teach our children to be thankful.

So hopefully, in my next post I will tell you how to organise a Rapunzel party… does any of today’s girls have these “elle” long hair… just think how much pain this girl must have suffered when the enchantress climbed up her long golden tresses – I wonder what she ate every day – sandwiches? hmm, do you know how you can turn simple sandwiches into good party food by using cookie cutters???

Last word… parties are about fun and imagination… who cares if it is true???

Have fun planning your kid’s theme party.

Oh yes… click on the image to open in a new window, right click and save to your pc so your kids can start colouring their Rapunzel Tower adventure.

Interesting facts about birthday parties

Elsie — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:17:13 +0000

I just returned from a three-week long trip to Germany and Austria and it really felt as if everyday was like a birthday; full of surprises. Lovely buildings and statues around every corner, loads of decadent cakes and “tortes”, ice creams and other treats and every house and second building adorned with window boxes filled with vibrant, colourful flowers.

During a visit to Schloss Shoenbrunn on the outskirts of Vienna, I could quite imagine myself in a bygone era where ladies of the court, dressed in finery, were spoiled with chocolates or having their tea and dainty cakes in the rose garden, maybe sitting underneath giant trees listening to music, laughing at the antics of the court jesters or just walking around the grounds of the castle, having a good time until it was time for the ball in the evening with fine food and wine.

Isn’t that what birthday parties are all about? Today, we celebrate birthdays with treats, cakes, and tons of fun shared by close friends and family. However, birthdays were not always the joyous occasions that it is today. In fact, centuries ago, especially in Europe, birthdays were considered to be something much different.

Originally, people feared their upcoming birthdays and were quite fearful of this special day because they believed that evil spirits could harm them. So birthday parties were devised as a way to keep those spirits away by surrounding yourself with friends and loved ones who often brought small tokens and food to share. People also used noisemakers to scare off the spirits that may be hanging around the house.

It was in the middle ages that birthday parties began to take on a more celebratory status and the tone turned more positive. But they were not yet commonplace amongst peasants as it was usually only celebrated by royalty or some of the lords and ladies that were very wealthy.

It wasn’t until reformation that the birthday party became a more common occurrence in England. Then people would begin to make cakes for the birthday person and they would place hidden fortune tokens in the cake for the guests to find.

It is thought that children’s birthday parties originated in Germany and was called Kinderfeste.

Over the years, the art of throwing birthday parties went form a small party to elaborate parties that are only fit for royalty. The art of throwing parties have come along way and today a lot of planning goes into choosing a theme for your kid’s birthday party to ensure that it will be a day that will be remembered not only by your kid but also by his or her guests.

Kids Birthday Party Ideas » Germany

Kids Party Theme Ramblings for Moms (and Dads)

Interesting facts about birthday parties