Lego birthday party

Cameron turned six on Saturday.

Since he lives and breathes Lego - Star Wars Lego in particular - there was really no doubt that he had to have a Lego-themed birthday party this year.

We agreed that the party would start with about an hour of indoor play at various Lego stations. Even the dining room table, territory he and I struggle over in Battle-of-the-Somme-type fashion (me daring to advance with meals and baskets of lemons, he trying to establish planet Tatooine), would be fair game.

We set up various Lego stations on the table, living room rug and a small kids' craft table. Naturally, the dining room table's prime real estate was devoted to Star Wars.

Ellis (left) and Cameron assembled some sort of Star Wars fighter jet thingie....

...and the whole cast of characters...


 

...including these guys, (prequel and original film characters mixed together - yes, I know), made for a pretty popular set-up. Anticipating fights over the Star Wars dudes, I coerced my tallest (and hopefully suitably intimidating) friend, David, to help Derek and I supervise. Luckily, there were no scuffles over storm troopers, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Anakin, or even Princess Leia.

Lego expert Noah channelled his inner Jedi knight.

 

A couple of new, more basic kits were assembled during the party, which was satisfying for kids newer to Lego (the youngest guest was three). More experienced Lego builders were able to help out, with only a moderate number of "Brandie, I need another window piece/blue flower/picket fence piece" kind of requests. That's Maddie in the background. She knows from Lego.

My favourite thing that happened spontaneously was this group effort to make a Lego plane fly using helium balloons (not that any of these kids had seen the movie Up).

Note the engineering using pieces of Lego to attach the ribbons to the wing. One side of the plane was actually raised a little.

I can only handle 10 kids inside the house for so long, so they were all kicked outside after about an hour, a plan Cameron and I agreed upon ahead of time. We had no outdoor activities planned, but they got up to their own thing on the play structure...

...while the adults "supervised" from the patio table.

 

Cameron (left) opened his presents (Charlie, middle, Seamus, right)...

 

...and then it was time for cake!

The cake was made by Sweet Escapes in the Distillery District. The red brick was red velvet, the yellow brick lemon, and the blue brick chocolate.

I've never commissioned a fancy birthday cake before, but this time it seemed worth it, since I wasn't killing myself with elaborate and clever Lego games and crafts, and this would enforce the theme in a way Cameron will (hopefully) remember. (And I don't have the cake-decorating chops to take on something like this without serious risk of meltdown.)

 
I think he was pleased.

 

Everyone had their preferred colour or colours of cake...

Adults lingered over cocktails and cake at pick-up time, while the kids played inside and out. Each kid took home a $4 box of Lego and (after a clean-up that seemed to last 24 hours) that was that.

(Only we've gotta do it all over again this Saturday for little brother Alister's 2nd birthday. Help.)

Comments

[Trekker1]

Brandie,

I loved reading this. Sometimes its the simplist party that children enjoy. There was some structure but for the most part the kids seemed to have been left to play on thier own and come up with their own games. Instead of spending money on an over the top party, you spent on the parts of the party that were important.

[Maria @BOREDmommy]

That looked like a great party! My 5 year old son is also obsessed with LEGO and particularly, STAR WARS LEGO. He cannot have enough, although stepping on it and trying to reassemble ships that have been broken or dropped, is the bane of my existence!! Thanks for sharing some great ideas!!

[carpet cleaning medford]

I love the kids so much; and I'm fond of staring at them when they are happy. The kids are cute, celebrating the birthday party. And their photos seem enjoying. And the cake is colourful and unique in its design. Nice sharing your thoughts.