Royalty Training School -6yr- Scroll Invite

I was having a hard time nailing down a theme for my daughter’s 6th birthday party.  Well, my mom suggested I do a princess party.  I wasn’t really sure I wanted to do a party that was a little gender biased and was also having a hard time visioning what I wanted to do.  My daughter has a first-reader’s book about princesses and I remember seeing pages that said, Princesses are Kind princesses are Brave Princesses have good manners And on and on and that sparked my idea of doing a ‘training school’ of sorts!  SO, the idea was born, and the ideas immediately started flowing.  I did integrate this to be a Prince and Princess Training school(and the two boys that actually came, informed me that they were ‘Knights in training’) so, it worked well for boys and girls!  The basis was that each child was summoned for training at the Royalty Training school.  They would have to pass classes in bravery, kindness, general knowledge, strength, good manners, and talent, in order to be ‘crowned’ a REAL Prince/Princess.

***INVITATIONS*** I wanted each child to receive a formal looking letter summoning them to this training school.   My sister made these up for me, and they looked terrific!  Somehow, she found an unrolled scroll, and that was the backdrop of the letter.  This was a sepia type color.  Then in fancy black font, the letter summoned each child to Royalty Training school.  It had on there to wear formal dresses, and such.  And that opening ceremonies would start at 1:30 pm, and Itineraries would be passed out.  Tardiness was frowned upon, etc.  These turned out so cute!  She made separate letters for some of the close family and friends who were invited, that didn’t have kids.  Same format, but more along the lines of, you are invited to support our students as they work their way through a difficult training program.  They need all of the enthusiastic support that you can provide, etc, etc.  My sister also addressed each attendee as Baron and Baronness of Sunny City Prince and Princess of Garden Manor Lord and Lady of Fairview Yards relating to the street they lived on, or town they lived in.  This was well received, and I think the adults got a real kick out of this!  Name tags were also made up for each child and adult, to be given out at the party.  Children were called, Anna, Daughter of Lord and Lady of Fairview Yards etc.  Being that the kids weren’t ‘real’ Prince and Princesses quite yet. 

***DECORATIONS/TABLEWEAR* ** I let my birthday girl pick out most of this, because I really wanted her to be involved.  We went to the local dollar store, and she picked out heart shaped pink plates that had a crown on them(the only princess themed plates they had), she also got napkins to match, and then picked out light blue tablecloths, and light blue flatware(because Cinderella’s dress was light blue, apparently).  She also picked out 2 bundles of pink flowers to set on the food table.  I really kind of skimped on décor this time, actually.  So much more could have been done, I just kind of got lazy at the last minute.  However, each ‘class’ did have a sign that went along with it.  I used the book that inspired this party, (Princesses Are?) and scanned images in from some of the pages that pertained to each class.  For instance, there was a page that had Snow White kissing the top of Grumpy’s head, so I scanned in this page, and then replaced the text with KINDNESS.  I then matted each sign on colored cardstock to match or contrast and then mounted THOSE to cardboard(from the top of pizza boxes, or cereal boxes) to make them sturdier.  Each sign was then duct taped to a dowel rod.  I then pushed each one into the ground where each class was taking place.  The other images that I used:  A picture of Princess Jasmine sticking up to the evil Jafar (BRAVERY), A picture of Sleeping Beauty singing/dancing in a forest (TALENT), and a picture of Belle reading books(KNOWLEDGE).  Those were all right from that book.  For STRENGTH, I found an image of Prince Charming carrying Cinderella, so I used that.  I found a picture of the Beast(from beauty and the beast) with food all over his face, and used that image for Good Manners.  I was also going to make up a sign that said Royal Powder Room that had some powder puffs and decorative soaps in a basket.  I was going to put that on the door to our restroom right off the kitchen, I just didn’t get it done.  I also erected our drying rack, and  hung up some of my daughter’s princess dresses, and jewelry, and feather boas, and such, so that anyone that didn’t bring ‘formal wear’ could choose from her selection. 

***FOOD***  I usually do a bigger meal but decided to do some lighter fare this time.  I had fruit and dip(strawberries with stems left on, fresh pineapple chunks, purple grapes, and apple slices).  I made a fruit dip to go with it(I just mixed cream cheese and marshmallow cream, you CAN add pink jello to it to make the dip pink if you want).  I also had spinach dip (from the back of Knorr vegetable soup mix), and cubes of Hawaiian bread, and baby carrots to use as dippers.  I also made up snicker apple salad, and set out some butter snap pretzels.  A week or so prior to the party, my daughter and I did make up pretzel rod wands, just to add to the theme a little bit. We dipped pretzel rods in white chocolate and then sprinkled with colored sugar, and such.  I froze them(so they wouldn’t go stale), until the time of the party.  I made up a neat punch that was orange sherbert mixed with 7-up.  This went down great!  Then, of course, the cake and ice cream.  (I’ll expound on the cake further down). 

***GAMES/GETTING STARTED***  I had made up some corrugated clipboards out of corrugated sheets(the top of a pizza box, can be cut down).  Each one had one of those clippy things you get from office supplies that clip stacks of paper together.  That way, when the kids got their ‘itinerary’ they could clip it to the clipboard.  I set out foam stickers and crayons and had the kids at least put their names on their clipboards and decorate them how they wanted.  As people started arriving, the adults were given their name tags with the appropriate title.  Ha, they liked this.  Once all the kids got here, I started the Opening Ceremony and introduced each child.  It went something like this:  Anna, daughter of Lord and Lady of Fairview, please step forward to receive your itinerary and your nametag.  Then I passed out their itinerary, and I put their name tag on them.  I just went through each child introducing them to the crowd.  I better explain this itinerary.  All this consisted of was that same back drop of the unrolled scroll used for the invitations.  It listed each class in order, Bravery, Kindness, etc. and then next to each class was a small circle.  As the kids passed each class, they would get a sticker of completion to put on the circle corresponding to that class.

BRAVERY CLASS.  The kids had to be BRAVE enough to touch, smell, and taste things  I covered containers with paper, so that the kids could put their hand through the top, and feel something, without being able to see it.  I did 5-6 containers, which contained spaghetti(in a Ziploc bag), pinecones, puzzle pieces, cellophane, and a blankie.  Then they had to be brave enough to smell things.  Alright, I’ll downright admit, I was a little rotten here I chose most smells that weren’t overly pleasant.  Ha.  I used plastic containers, like those ones that you can buy gum in.  Those plastic canisters that the lid open up and it also has a small opening on the side.  You can find these right by the cash register at most stores.  I put things in the bottom of them, and then covered them with cotton balls so the kids couldn’t QUITE tell what they were smelling.  Smells ended up being cider vinegar, tuna, coffee grounds, vanilla, and minced garlic.  (I know, I said, I was a little mean here but this was hilarious).  Then I bought an assortment of baby food, and the kids had to taste some of that.  The kids did really good with the touching/smelling stuff.  But I DID have a few kids that were stubborn and downright adament that they were NOT tasting the baby food.  So, that might not have been the best choice!  I also did 6 things in each category and I would probably pare that down to 3 or so it was a bit much.  I was going to have the adults go through and figure out what was in each container for an adult prize, and most adults were too busy socializing.  I also had stickers set aside in envelopes for when the kids passed each class.  They got a sticker with a picture of a 1st place ribbon on it(from one of those teacher sticker books).  The kids really liked getting the stickers. 

KINDNESS CLASS.   I couldn’t think of anything for this and so I ended up having the kids tell me examples of how you can be kind.  Then I told them, that the Queen(my mom) would be watching out for random acts of kindness throughout the day, and they would have to earn their sticker that way.  My mom was equipped with stickers, to hand to each child as she seen them taking turns, etc. 

STRENGTH CLASS.  I had the kids do some basic calisthenics, and then told them that they would have to compete against the strongest man in the world(my brother in law).  My brother-in-law came out and flexed and showed off.  I made up a punch board like on the price is right.  Essentially, I cut holes(I did 9 holes) in posterboard big enough for a kid to punch their hand through.  Then on the back side I hot glued/taped a plastic drinking cup to cover the hole.  (tip:  make sure the HOLE you cut is a little smaller than the cups you use!)    I made up tokens to put in each cup.  Each token was just a cardboard circle(from a cereal/oatmeal box) with a picture of each competition glued onto it.  I found clipart for arm wrestling, weight lifting, running, and throwing, and then used a star for free choice.  I put one token in each cup.  Then, I taped a double layer of tissue paper over each opening.  If you WANT, you can then cover the whole thing with another piece of poster board, with the holes cut out in the same place as before.  Then you won’t see the ‘excess’ tissue paper.  You will just see nine circles of tissue paper.  Anyways, one at a time, each child, ‘punches’ through a spot, and retrieves the token that tells them what they will have to compete in.  The kids thought this was so cool!  *you could just have them draw a card, or roll a dice, or spin a spinner to figure out what they need to compete in.*  So, then, the kids had to beat the strongest man in the world by either out running him, out throwing him(we used croquet balls thrown AWAY from the house/party), lifting more weight over their head, or arm wrestling.  I saved back some empty water bottles and filled them with different amounts of water.  I then used scrapbooking paper, and covered the label on each bottle and labeled them 1lb 2lb 3lb etc.  For the 1 pound, I filled the bottles half full of water.  For the 2 pound, I filled them full of water.  For the 3 pound, I filled them full of sand.  And I had 2-5 pound weights to use, also.  Whoever could lift the MOST weight over their head, won the weight lifting competition.  Of course, my brother in law, was directed to LOSE to each child, after a good amount of struggle!  I was going to have them team-compete against him in a tug of war challenge, and we just didn’t get around to it.  After they passed their class they got a ‘trophy’ sticker. 

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE CLASS.  The kids had to pass a ‘trivia’ type game.  I made up circle tokens, again, cutting small circles out of cardboard(I did this so that they wouldn’t blow away as easy, and they would be sturdier).  Anyways, I then glued colored circles onto each cardboard circle, making tokens that were red, orange, green and blue.  I made up a poster board that had 4 drawings of each category.  I got 4 sheets of printer paper, and trimmed 1 inch off in the length and 1 inch off in the width.  (I did this so that I could mount it on regular sized colored cardstock).  I then gave these to my daughter and  asked her to draw things related to Sports, Places, Prince and Princesses, and Nature on each piece of paper.  She did a GREAT job!  She put the name of each category on them too.  Then I just mounted each picture on colored cardstock that corresponded to its category.  Therefore, Sports was mounted on orange, Nature on green, Places on Blue, and Prince and Princesses on Red.  Then I put all four pictures on to a poster board.  That way, the kids could look at the poster and choose a category.  So, to start this, each child got tokens for all 4 categories.  They had to get one question right in each category to PASS the class.  So, I would ask one child to choose a category, then ask them a question.  If they got it right, then they put that color token in this clear jug.  I went one child at a time until all had answered one question right from each category.  After that they each earned a sticker(these stickers had pencils, or an apple or school house or bus on themessentially school related). 

GOOD MANNERS CLASS.  I had a poster made up that had pictures of Good Manners and Bad Manners (again, my daughter drew pictures symbolizing each one).  The good manners were in green and the bad manners were in red.  I reviewed this with the kids and had them shout out whether it was GOOD or BAD things like using a Kleenex?  Picking your nose?  Sharing with your friends?  Eing mean to your friends? Saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’?  Saying, I want it right now! And so forth.  I was going to have my sister come in and act like Sloppy Suzi using bad manners and have the kids correct her…but she wasn’t available to do this.  Thankfully, I had a back up plan.  I had made up a poster of a proper place setting.  It had a placemat on there, with a paper plate, napkin, fork, spoon, knife, and cup all glued down in their proper location.  I then had enough dinnerware for 2 teams to set up.  So, I divided the kids up into 2 teams, and relay race-style had them retrieve a placemat, then a plate, then a cup, etc and set the table just right.  Both teams ‘won’, and then they received their ‘happy face’ sticker(resembling a ‘clean face’) for passing the class. 

TALENT CLASS.  Here, I had star diecuts cut out with an idea on each one, such as, hula hooping, telling jokes, doing a cartwheel, dancing, singing, juggling, etc.  Each child would have to select a star, and then perform that talent.  I had selected 3 judges out of the crowds, and each judge was given 2 paddles one with a 9 and one with a 10 on it.  I just cut circles out of cereal boxes(it’s a good thing we eat cereal!), and glued a tongue depresser to each one.  Then in black marker wrote 9 or 10 on the blank side.   Each child would have to earn at LEAST one 10 from a judge to pass the class.  Of course, the judges were prepped and knew that they had to give a 10 out!  Ha!  The kids had a fun time with this.   Some jump roped, some told jokes and some made funny faces(we got some good pictures).  Then the kids received their ‘star’ sticker for passing the class.  After this class we took an ‘intermission’ and let the kids get some refreshments.  (I had instructed the parents to just go ahead and eat while the kids were in class.)  

***CAKE*** After the kids finished their classes we had cake.  I made a crown cake, by making a 9 x 13 cake, then cutting it out in the shape of a crown.  I frosted it yellow, and was going to have my daughter decorate it with some candies.  I didn’t end up buying the different candies needed, so I just used a star tip to pipe on some different colored gems, and also used the writing tip to make diamond shaped stones and gems and such.  It did turn out really cute!  And two parts of the cake that I cut off from the 9 x 13, I was able to put them together, and make a butterfly of sorts.  The butterfly didn’t necessarily go with the princess theme, but at least I was able to make it into a cake!  We also had cupcakes with little flowers on them(to go with the butterfly/princess theme).  My daughter really liked the crown cake.  We served it up with birthday party or vanilla ice cream.  After cake, my daughter opened gifts, and then we had our ‘closing ceremony’.  I was going to ‘crown’ each child an official prince or princess, and I really wanted to give them a crown, or a necklace with a crown(or shield for the boys), and at the last minute, I just had to cut some corners and such.  So I did call them up, and they each received an official activity book that was Princess, Fairy, or Pirate themed.  And they received the title of Prince or Princess.   This party turned out very well, and was actually one of the cheapest parties I’ve ever done, as most of the decorations and games I do using things around the house, etc.  My daughter and her friends had a WONDERFUL time, and I had some adults comment, well, you did it again it was a great party.  So, I would say it was a huge success.