Blue's Clues -1yr- Parent Games

BLUES CLUES THEME PARTY FOR AUDREY'S FIRST BIRTHDAY  My daughter, Audrey, had a huge first birthday which was held in a hotel function room. The party had been planned for three months and most of the items were ordered from Ebay. I planned it ahead so I wouldn't have to bid over my budget-so if I find an item overpriced there'll be lots of time to search for cheaper items. The party consisted of games that alternated with prize-giving events. About 20 kids joined the games.

INVITATIONS: Custom-made BC invitations so that my daughter's pic could be on it. On the front was a pic of her looking up at a picture of Blue digitally put in the upper corner of the card and inside was a pic of her sitting on the Thinking Chair (digitally-made; the Thinking Chair wasn't real) with all of the BC characters surrounding the Thinking Chair from the show). Part of the invitations stated "Blue will be joining us so try not to be late" and also "Kid's please come in BC clothing or shirts". My daugther wore a party dress at first but wore Blues Clues pants and shirt when the games started.

DECORATIONS: Lavender, blue and pink balloons were tied to some chairs. The function room had about 10 round tables and on the front center was a dance floor for the games. There was a long table on the dance floor where all the prizes were as well as her cake on the center. A BC banner hung in the back wall behind the long table with two BC poster boards stating "Happy Birthday Audrey" on each side of the banner. I had purchased the original Nick Jr. wood Thinking Chair furniture and put it in front of the long table with a huge 14-inch Blue stuffed animal on it and also a mylar balloon of Blue's head (28 inches), with its' string tied to a paperweight just behind the stuffed animal.

CAKE: I had a bakeshoppe design a huge rectangular cake with one side of the cake showing the living room where the Thinking Chair is from the show. A driveway is on the center of the cake and on the other side is the backyard. I put a BC playhouse at the back of the cake (bakeshoppe gave me something to elevate the house to be level with the cake) with it's purple door aligned with the driveway. I put BC toy figures (about 2 inches tall) purchased from Ebay; the Thinking Chair, Side Table Drawer, Tickety Tock, Slippery Soap, and Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper in the living room; the purple wagon with Periwinkle in it, Magenta, Pail and Shovel in the backyard, and Blue, Joe, and Mailbox on the driveway. The Blue figure is actually a candle wax and it was lit during the Happy Birthday singing. Also a paw cake pick with "Blues Clues" written on it, which was originally part of a BC cake kit was put in the front of the cake.

ENTERTAINER: I hired a young male entertainer from an entertainment company to oversee and emcee the games. He wore an actual orange "Joe" shirt which I had purchased from the Internet. I also bought him an actual Joe's Handy Dandy notebook. MASCOT: I found a party shop here that actually has Blue as one of their mascots and hired it to appear at the party after the Happy Birthday singing.

PARTY FAVORS: The loot bags were not the traditional plastic ones but they were cloth pull-string ones so the kids could still use them after the party instead of throwing them away. They were brought over by my mom from the Philippines very cheap.  Contents include:  Toy magnifying lenses Handy Dandy notebook BC party favor BC blowout BC pencil - also super cheap at a bargain store in the Philippines BC stickers 

SOUVENIRS: I ordered custom-made magnets that are a bit larger and thicker than business cards. My daughter's pic was in it and beside it is the BC theme with Blue, Magenta and Periwinkle. It stated "Thanks for sharing my first birthday with me, Love Audrey". Instead of giving Thank You cards, this one they get to display on their fridge and remember the party forever instead of throwing the card and forgetting such memorable event. The souvenirs were paid for by my daughter's godmother.

PRIZES:

1) The first prize-giving event was that the kids who were in BC clothes or shirts were asked to come forward. They were given BC coloring books for following what was asked on the invitation. (BC shirts were hard to find in Canada as stores don't sell them anymore so I was surprized that about 8 kids wore them; three of which were actually bday gifts from me as I ordered them through ebay.)

2)Kids were asked to look for clues on the pages of their Handy Dandy notebooks. The entertainer Joe showed his notebook as he explained this. I put BC pawprint stickers on the pages of eight notebooks. (Some of the clues were in the middle part so they were really flipping!) These eight kids received BC party boxes with the following BC goodies: BC plastic cup, BC party favor bounce ball, Slippery bubble maker, BC figure, BC sticker, BC tattoo, and BC fruit snacks.

3) All guests were asked to look for a clue on the balloon tied to the chair they were sitting on. I put the BC pawrpints stickers on three balloons; one on a blue one, one lavender purple, one pink. Blue balloon owner won a 9-inch Blue stuffed animal, lavender balloon owner won a Periwinke 9-inch stuffed animal then the pink balloon owner won the 9-inch Magenta stuffed animal.

4) Kids were asked to look for clues in their stickers from the loot bag. The sticker showed the house, driveway and all the characters out in the lawn (I really searched for a sticker that shows all five characters). They win whichever character the pawprint is on with the corresponding prize which is the official Nick Jr. character soft toy/plush. Five stickers had clues as follows: Pail and Shovel, Slippery, Tickety Tock, Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper (with baby Paprika attached to Mrs. Pepper with velcro), and Mailbox. All were brand new with tags and all from Ebay-these are pretty common in Ebay as well as the Blue, Periwinke and Magenta plushes all starting at 99 cents bid!

GAMES FOR KIDS:

1) Musical Blue: Ten kids formed a circle and they passed around a small BC plush keychain. Music was played and when it stopped, whoever was holding the keychain get to keep it. The music was actually recorded from the BC TV show. There were six small keychains passed, two 7-inch Blue stuffed toy, one 10-inch Blue stuffed toy then for the last one in the circle, that winner got the 14-inch Blue stuffed toy. The six keychains and 7-inch Blue were just given to me by a friend of my mom so I didn't have to buy them.

2) Pin the Flag on Mailbox: I actually found an official Pin the Flag game on Ebay. I thought it didn't exist but there it was-an official licensed product with the actual Mailbox printed there. Five kids joined. Winner got a BC domino game board, the four non-winners got a BC memory card party favor (only $1 for four at the dollar store). Again everybody got a prize.

3) Pail and Shovel Relay: Twelve kids divide between two teams (six each). Both teams raced to put BC beanbags (also bought from Ebay) inside a red pail (painted with Pail's face). They would have to use a yellow shovel (also painted with Shovel's face) to carry the beanbags. Beach sets are common at the dollar store so they were pretty cheap. Non-winners got to keep a beanbag each. Winners got a beanbag each as well as BC window cling décor.

4) Pin the Paw on Blue: I printed Blue and the paws from the Nick Jr. site and had them enlarged so they could be more appreciated by the audience. I put plastic adhesive protection on each side so it is more sturdy and a double sided adhesive at the back so it could be peeled off just before the kid takes it. Five joined; four non-winners got the BC memory game card party favor and the winner got a BC game board.

GAMES FOR PARENTS: My husband drew four not-so-common characters on poster boards and colored them with paint and the moms were asked to guess the name of each. They were: Baby Paprika (everybody was yelling either Mr. Salt or Mrs. Pepper), Side Table Drawer, Orange Kitten (I acutally heard somebody yell Magenta here) and Mrs. Marigold. The winners got BC plastic purses with BC stuff inside: BC tumbler, Joe shirt notebook, and BC face cloths. Again these four purses and its' goodies were just given to me by my mom's friend (how lucky is that!) Then for the dads in the audience, they were asked to name that tune. I found a BC karaoke cd at Ebay and it plays BC songs without the vocals. The Blues Clues Theme Song and the Song Long song were played. The first winner got a BC party shapes game board and the other dad got a BC puzzle.

Lastly, three kids were asked to sing any songs from the TV show: One sang the clean up song (I think this was from the episode where Mrs. Marigold came to visit Blue at her house so they were cleaning up the place).  He actually just said "clean up, clean up" in it's right tune and nothing else but I still gave him his prize-BC toy figures. The next sang the Mailtime song (given a Steve plush) and the third one sang the So Long song (given a BC mini backpack). Then the kids were asked to sing Happy Birthday (I actually had to remove the big house behind the cake as it was in the way of the candle blowing)and when they turned around, Blue the mascot was there. Everybody enjoyed and it was a really unforgettable birthday party! Took more preparation and is more costly than average parties but Audrey would have fun watching its' video when she's older.