An ocean party

It was decided upon early on that the birthday celebration will be at school. It can be simple and have all the little people needed to make the party a happy one.

As simple as we wanted to keep things, it still had to be special. It took forever to decide what to do though. Eventually, the day before the sem break ended we decided on an ocean theme — primarily because the little boy wanted to “fish.”

Not wanting to disrupt the class and also trying to avoid limiting the part to a few minutes of snack time, I came up with a plan to integrate the party with the class structure. In about two hours, the children have (among others) a couple of structured activities, a story, rest time, and of course, eating time. I was going to make use of them all.

We decided to hold the party on the Monday after his birthday. Granted, I almost forgot to send out the invitations on time, the date gave me enough time to pick up last minute things and prepare the details over the weekend. And yes, there were a lot of details.

Fishy games and stories were lined up. Though we tried to avoid being fancy, we still wanted to be creative. Paper plates, art materials, and a paperclip were given to each child to assemble into a fish. Fishing rods were made out of cocktail stirrers, yarn, and magnets.

Story time with dad and a special film showing of the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium, the second largest aquarium in the world).

(Watch the video here.)

And of course, some fun with food and the cake. On the menu: octopus hotdogs, pesto shell pasta, and “ocean juice” (apple juice with a drop of blue or green food color).

I confess to no real prowess in the kitchen, but shopping and improvising I’ve the skills for. I believe the kids agree — just see how they couldn’t wait to demolish the cake.