Magic Tree House - Five Books of Adventures

My son loves the Magic Tree House Series and we thought this would be a fun and educational theme.  Invitations  Were paper scrolls we created on MS publisher then tied with ribbon.  

The invitations we created from a scanned copy of the back of the book, over layered with a clip art scroll, then layered with a text boxes that said Climb the ladder to adventure to Drew’s Magic Tree House Party.  We added to the invitation the magic words The tree house started to spin.  It spun faster and faster and faster.  Then everything was still. Absolutely still  On the scroll we typed the when, and where information.  

In the corner of the invite I layered a picture of Jack and Annie from the book cover and added the text "We will travel through time like Jack and Annie!  Entrance to Party: We had a sign on the door that read the magic words and had a rope tied to the door handle as if the children were climbing into the tree house.  I greeted them dressed as the books central character Morgain Le Fay.   We ushered the children in and handed them their backpack (oriental trading company mini book bags), notebook (pamphlet I created on publisher to explain the different time travel zones), and a pencil for the children to take notes.   

Party Plan: The children were divided up into teams four teams D, R,E,W (the teams letter spelled out my child’s name.  The children were broken up into teams and then sent to their time travel zone that was listed in their note books.  I then instructed the kids that they must visit each time zone and complete a challenge to help Jack and Annie find the secret message left behind in time.  Once the message is complete they must tell Morgain Le Fay the message to receive their reward and Master Librarian Card (this is part of the story line of the books).    

The note books had scanned pictures of the covers of the Jack and Annie Books, brief history of the time, the challenge, and a place for them to write the secret word they find to complete the secret message.   Example of Birthday Party Team Event Schedule 

Team D
1.Mummies in the Morning
2.Tonight on the Titanic 
3.High Tide in Hawaii 
4.Vacation under the Volcano 
5.The Knight at Dawn   

Team R
1.Vacation under the Volcano
2.The Knight at Dawn
3.Mummies in the Morning
4.High Tide in Hawaii
5.Tonight on the Titanic 

Birthday Boy Schedule was made so he could move between teams and spend time with each group of friends. 

Team E
1.High Tide in Hawaii 
2.Vacation under the Volcano 
3.Tonight on the Titanic 
4.The Knight at Dawn 
5.Mummies in Morning

Team W  
1.Tonight on the Titanic
2.High Tide in Hawaii 
3.The Knight at Dawn
4.Mummies in the Morning
5.Vacation under the Volcano

Party Time Travel Areas: Each team was given 20 minutes in each area. 

All teams met after two areas in our main living room for High Tide in Hawaii for the birthday cake and presents Luau.  After cake and presents they were sent to accomplish two more challenges.   Each Time Travel Area had two adults stationed to help the children.  

Mummies in the Morning ANCIENT EGYPT:  5000 YEARS AGO  Mission:  Go back to Ancient Egypt, uncover the puzzle of the hieroglyphs, and follow the hieroglyphs to discover a Mummy who holds your Secret Code Word.  Notebook Notes:  Page with hieroglyphs translated into the English alphabet.  This translation can be found on the internet.    Jack’s Note Book: Pyramids were called Houses of the Dead.  They were nearly all solid stone, except for the burial chambers deep inside.  Hieroglyphs (Hi-row-glifs) were the ancient Egyptian way of writing.  Writing with pictures.  Mummy Ancient Egyptians tried to protect the body of the dead so it would last forever.  First it was dried out with salt.  Next it woas covered with oil. Then it was wrapped tightly in bandages.  The coffin was called a sarcophagus.      

Decorations:  Paper with printed hieroglyphs on them for children to translate into words hidden through out the house.   Start point pyramid cut out of a cardboard box with first hieroglyph on it.  Pot (looked Egyptian) with fake snake coming out of it with second hieroglyph.  Blow up skeleton with bandages wrapped around it as our mummy (hidden in our bathtub) with third set of hieroglyphs on it.   Prize:  Mini coffins from oriental trading company that I pasted with a print out of King Tut’s Egyptian Sarcophagus clip art.  Inside the coffins were skeleton parachutes from oriental trading company, treat, and secret code word.  Goal: This game took the form of a treasure hunt. The children translated the hieroglyphs into the alphabet which spelled the words that led them to the next spot.  The children write their translations into their notebooks.  The pyramid had the word snake, which led them to the pot with the snake. The snake had the word tub which led them to the mummy in the bathtub.  The mummy had the word bed which led them to my childs bedroom.  The bed had the word dig.  The children then pulled up the covers to find the coffins.  I had a sign that was the mummy’s warning to only take one or be cursed.  (I had wanted the final clue to be Sandbox and lead the children to our sandbox outside.  I thought it would be more like an archeologist to have the children dig in the sand to find the coffins, but it was raining the day of the party.)  The Secret Code Word:  7th  (the age my son was turning) Make sure they write the secret code word into their notebooks.  

Tonight on the Titanic ATLANTIC OCEAN:  APRIL 14, 1912  Mission:  Build your own unsinkable ship, sail your ship on its maiden voyage, then beware for icebergs.  Be wise. Be brave. Be careful.  A life savor will lead you to the Secret Code Word.   Notebook Notes:  Jack’s Note Book:  Late at night, on April 14, 1912, an English ocean liner was making her first voyage across the Atlantic Ocean.  She was going to New York City.  Carrying 2,200 passengers, the ship was four city blocks long.  Most people believed the ship was unsinkable.  Her name was the R.M.S. TITANIC.    The ship hit an iceberg at 11:40 P.M. and the ships radio operator sent out an SOS.  An SOS is an international distress signal in Morse code.  No ships were able to get to the Titanic in time.    The ship had only 20 lifeboats.  To save all the passengers the ship needed twice as many.    The Titanic sank around 2:20 A.M. 

Decorations: Clip art printed out of sinking ship, ship portholes and Captain faces.  Bathtub or pool filled with water, paper for boat folding, bag of ice cubes.    Prize:  Life saver candy with the secret code word rolled up and tied to it.  Goal: The parents at this station help the children fold origami paper boats.  The children then take their boats to the bathtub to float them.  Then the fun part begins. The children take ice cubes and throw them at their boats to sink them.  Once their boat sinks they get their prize.    The Secret Code Word:  Happy Make sure they write the secret code word into their notebooks.  

High Tide in Hawaii OLD HAWAII:  2OOO YEARS AGO  Mission:  Go back to old Hawaii and enjoy a Luau.   In early Hawaii Luaus were held to celebrate special times in a life. A time to share food, dance, and song.  A party to give thanks for our friends and family.   

Decorations: This was the only area I spent special time decorating with raffia floral streamers, fake blow up palm trees, Tahitian plastic masks, and Luau cut outs.   All luau decorations I ordered from oriental trading company.  We wanted to have this part of the party outside, but it was raining the day we had the party.  The family room area was set up in a picnic format.  Tarp covered the carpet to protect from spills, and luau paper table cloths were placed to cover the tarp. Hawaiian Luau music played on the stereo.  Food:  Fruit platters, Hawaiian potato chips, cupcakes, ice cream cups, juice boxes.  Goal: Each child was greeted with a Leigh and an Aloha as they came to the Luau.  The children then sat on the floor in traditional Luau custom. They served themselves the fruit and chips.  Parents handed out the cupcakes and ice cream cups.  We sang Happy Birthday and my son opened his gifts. The children really liked the Hawaiian music and some stood up and tried to Hula.     After gifts the children were then told by Morgain LeFay to move to their next time travel area.  

Vacation under the Volcano ANCIENT ROME:  POMPEII 79 AD  Mission:  Go back to Ancient Rome and find a Roman Scroll.  Save the Secret Code Word and escape the city before it is destroyed by a Volcano.  Notebook Notes:  Clue:  Natalis Jack’s Note Book:  Latin the language of the ancient Romans in Italy  2,000 years ago, on August 24 A.D. 79, the seaside town of Pompeii (pom-Pay) was a typical Roman town.  Many Romans went there on vacation.  They lived in houses called villas and planted groves of olive tree along the slopes of Mount Vesuvius.    The Romans wrote their books on scrolls of papyrus paper.  They used pens made of small reeds and ink from the black ink of octopuses.    At noon Mt. Vesuvius erupted into a deadly volcano.  Hot melted rock called magma was pushed to the surface.  The magma cooled so fast that it froze into small rocks called pumice.   A great cloud of pumice, ash, and burning rock shot miles into the air and rained down on Pompeii.  It completely buried the town! 

Decorations: We had rented a 20 ft giant inflatable slide for our backyard to be our volcano. We had a bucket full of soft balls labeled pumice stones.  Out of white poster board I made some pillars.  I created a mini Roman structure from the pillars titled in Roman font with the Latin word for Library.  The structure sat in front of a bucket full of paper print outs rolled into scrolls. Each scroll had a Latin word with its deciphered English translation. Latin words were found on the internet and all were the title of books found in libraries.  One scroll had the word Natalis and its translation Birthday.      Goal: Children play on the giant slide.  The children waiting in line can throw balls pumice stones at the children sliding down (escaping) the volcano and look through the scrolls for the Secret Code Word.  It was raining so we picked up some cheap plastic rain coverings for the children to wear during this outside adventure.     The Secret Code Word:  Birthday Make sure they write the secret code word into their notebooks.   

The Knight at Dawn MEDIEVAL ENGLAND:  12TH -14TH CENTURY AD  Mission:  Go back to Medieval England and join in a thrilling jousting tournament.  Live by the Knights Code of Chivalry, victory, honor and the Secret Code Word will be yours.  Ano.  Notebook Notes:  Jack’s Note Book:  Knights wore armor when they traveled.  The armor was very heavy.  A helmet alone could weigh up to forty pounds.  Each knight wore their own colors and symbols (coat of arms, heraldry) to be recognized in battle.     Knights would often hold tournaments outside the castle walls in a field.  In a tournament knights would hold contests to see who had the best fighting skills.   The tournament events were the swordfight, the ball and chain, and the joust.     In the joust each knight had a long pole called a lance and a shield.  They would race toward each other on their horses and try to knock each other off his horse.  Whoever knocked the other off his horse first would win the contest. 

Decorations: Printed out clip art of Knights and Knights banners.  Banner flags hung across the room.  Kids mini coaster ride (we had one, not needed).  Piñatas made from brown paper bags glued with Knight clip art and streamers hanging from it.  Piñatas were filled with andy and secret code words.  Have one piñata per team. Costume knight armor (not needed). Joust was made from plastic piping tubes, but any stick will work.    Goal: Parents stationed in room hang piñata from a broom handle and hold it over the end of the mini coaster.  The children dress in armor and mount the wheeled coaster car (their horse) holding joust pointed at piñata. The child then rides down the hill trying to joust the piñata.  This game could be played in normal piñata fashion also.    Prize: Candy and secret code word Once the piñata breaks the children can put candy in their backpacks and write down the secret code word into their notebook   The Secret Code Word:  Drew (birthday childs name) Make sure they write the secret code word into their notebooks.  

End of Party  Morgain LeFay gathers the children together.  She thanks them for coming to the birthday child’s party and for going back into time and finding the secret message for Jack and Annie.    I asked the children to stand in line and had each child tell the secret message to my son (the birthday boy) which was Happy 7th Birthday Drew.  My son handed out with Morgain LeFay’s assistance (me) the Master Librarian Cards and a Magic Tree House book to each child.  The children were then free to leave.   

Time of  Party:  The party ended in exactly 2 hours.    To make Master Librarian Cards:  I made the cards on publisher. I printed rectangles that were 4 inches by 3 using a wood looking background with a giant gold M on them.  I then cut the rectangles out.   

Gift Bag:  The tote bag Backpack given to them at the beginning of the party should now contain, notebook, pencil, coffin with toy, candy, life savor and luau Leigh.  

Adventure Reward: We then handed each child one Magic Tree House Book (I ordered the books from Scholastic Books with a discounted price for the packaged set of 8 books).  Each book was bookmarked with the Master Librarian Card I created.    High Tide in Hawaii 4.The Knight at Dawn    Team R 1.The Knight at Dawn 3.Mummies in the Morning 5.Team R  Vacation under the Volcano 2.High Tide in Hawaii 4.