Willy Wonka -6yr- Kit Kat Bar Invite

In November we had a Willy Wonka Party for my six year old.  We made invitations using kit kat candy bars wrapped in Wonka Bar wrappers that I just printed off of the computer on my color printer.  I found them when I  googled wonka bar.  We printed the actual invitation on gold paper I found at Michael's and used the wonka font.  The invitation read: GREETINGS TO YOU THE LUCKY FINDER OF THIS GOLDEN TICKET.  FROM MR. (MY SON'S NAME) PRESENT THIS TICKET AT THE FACTORY GATE: OUR ADDRESS, THE TIME AND DATE AND DO NOT BE LATE.  IN YOUR WILDEST DREAMS, YOU COULD NOT IMAGINE THE MARVELOUS SURPRISES THAT AWAIT YOU!  The paper was white on the back, so I got some gold wrapping paper at the dollar store and glued it to the back.  We wrapped the invitation around the candy bar and then put the wonka wrapper around that.  We hand delivered them and they were a hit! One friend told me her daughter ran around the house yelling, "I've got a golden ticket!" 

We got empty candy boxes from Sams Club and cut out the names of the candy and used those as decorations.  It was just after Halloween and some of the Christmas decorations were out and we got some candy garland and cheap post Halloween candy!  We made lollipop streamers to hang when the kids came into our basement where most of the party was. (kinda like the beads you hang in front of doors and walk through)  We just taped lollipops on string vertically.  I made a black and white long candy mural by coloring lollipops and candy canes and any other simple candy shapes on mural paper.  The kids than used it like a coloring book and colored it in.  It is still hanging on the wall!  We made lickable wallpaper like suggested in other postings.  We used contact paper and melted jolly ranchers and painted it on.  Each child had their own strip of paper and their names were on top, so they each had their own to lick!  My sister found a purple top hat on sale, post Halloween, and my son wore it during the party.  We also had a Willy Wonka poster that I was going to use for pin the ticket in Charlie's hand, but we ran out of time.  (I just cut up rectangles of the gold wrapping paper and put each child's name on it)  When the kids arrived they decorated their white goodie bags.  These were gift bags with handles.  We had collected candy wrappers and used those and some we just color copied to decorate the bags.  (Having a candy party after Halloween really helped!) I had already put the kids' names on them using the wonka font (found online) again. 

We played hot lollipop with a large lollipop and each child got a small one when they were out and the winner got to keep the large one.  We used the music from Willy Wonka for the game. While I was setting up for the next activity upstairs, my husband played guess the jelly belly flavor with the kids.  We made "candy men" with various candies.  I drew gingerbread shapes on thick cardboard and the kids glued different candy on them for decorations. We used skittles, pez, runts, etc.  They turned out cute, but some were still wet when it was time to go even though this was one of the first activities.  I should have had ziplocs handy. 

While half of the kids were making the candy men, I took kids upstairs in the kitchen to dip chocolate.  Using the chocolate melts you find in craft stores, we dipped graham crackers, pretzels and marshmallows on sticks.  It was a little messy, and I did have a couple of adults helping, but it went much smoother than I thought.  The kids decorated them with sprinkles and m&ms and they didn't take too long to harden.  I had written their names on wax paper before so I would know whose were whose and when they were dry we put them in plastic gift bags with twisty ties. We played hunt for the starburst.  We divided the kids in four teams, one for each color and they had to find the starburst of their teams color that were hidden in the basement.  My niece hid them while we were upstairs playing a game.  Little prizes were given to all kids and they just put them in their goodie bags as we went along.  We also had made a candy bingo game using candy wrappers that we copied to make the cards.  I had a real candy of each one, so when I called a candy, they could see the actual candy bar.  We used m&m's as markers of course! 

Besides the prizes and chocolate dipped stuff, we gave out balls that look like gobstoppers, and little champagne bottle bubbles that I wrapped with paper that said "Fizzy Lifting Bubbles" (Both from Oriental Trading).  I had also purchased foam candy beads but we ran out of time.  I thought about making candy necklaces with licorice, but I thought they would have enough candy!  I had the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory DVD on hand just in case, but we didn't need it. 

My son designed the cake.  He drew a picture of the chocolate room from the movie and we used candy and frosting to recreate his drawing on a 9x13 cake.  It turned out really cute, it looked just like his drawing.  We even figured out how make gummy bears hang from trees, using green peeling licorice and gummy bears!  The best part was that we did it together and he was so proud of his cake! 

We really had a lot of fun planning this party and love this website and all of the great ideas!  My younger son actually wants a party at home and I'm excited to start planning it!