Category: party

Join Tommee Tippee For a Twitter Party 6/18

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Our friends over at Tommee Tippee are holding a Twitter Party on Thursday, June 18 1-2pm! Tommee Tippee will be chatting all about what parents are doing this summer with the kid lets. If you aren’t already following Tommee Tippee, be sure to check them out at @tommeetippee_NA and I’m at @jenrab.

I hope to join in, so if you participate, be sure to say hi. We have a busy summer planned already, I can’t wait to get the show on the road! 2 more days of school!

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Full disclosure: this is a sponsored post. As always, all opinions on NKT are my own.

Hosting a #DisneySide Playdate

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

After such a brutal winter cooped up indoors, not only for the crazy weather, but also because of the kid’s ongoing medical issues, we were more than happy to host our friends over for a #DisneySide playdate.  

Thanks to the generous party pack provided by Disney, we were decked out with supplies to entertain and enjoy.  It doesn’t take much for me to get excited about parties, but when it involves Mickey-shaped food, I’m all in.  From Mickey chicken to Mickey-shaped fruit, we were totally in magic mode.

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Since we had an after school soiree, the boys played Disney Infinity while the girls did Disney-inspired crafts.  

Untitled Because we’re all about Frozen, we did a fun Olaf project.   After we cut up the Olaf printable, we connected him at the joints with brads and then sang all about summerrrr!

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Thanks to Hanes, we broke out the fabric markers and decorated our own t-shirts.  Everyone’s shirts were beautiful, but Jack’s Spidey-themed tee was one of the faves. Even our littlest guy designed his very own tee!

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From primary colored decor to the awesome HP photo paper to print our favorite photos, our playdate was Disney-fied through and through.  And after so many not-so-easy days this winter, a little magic is just what the doctor ordered.

 

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For more ideas on how to post your own DisneySide party, check out Spoonful.com, DisneySide and DisneySide Celebrations. Thank you to Disney and MomSelect for including us in the #DisneySide Party initiative.  Samples were provided, but all opinions on NKT are my own.

Royal Wedding Fever

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Despite the excessive media coverage of Will and Kate’s nuptials, it was hard not to ignore the elaborate details that came together for the whole world to see.  I originally had this post scheduled to post yesterday—before the wedding.  Obviously, that never happened.  And since the wedding happened today, I thought I’d share a few kid-related items that gave a nod to Prince William and the now Princess Kate’s Royal Wedding.

Kate Middleton Paper Dolls

As a little girl, I can barely remember Princess Diana and Prince Charles’ Royal Wedding, but what I do remember was THAT dress.  And perhaps, just like many of us thought of Will’s beloved mother in her gown 30 years ago, I’m willing to bet a generation of little kids will forever remember just how beautiful Princess Kate’s dress was today.

Princess Kate’s dress was a secret leading up to the moment she stepped out onto that Royal red carpet.  The Wedding watchers of the world let out a collective gasp when she revealed that lace and satin gown designed by Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen. I thought she looked demure and elegant, with the classic lines and modern details.  As one of the many people gawking at Kate’s dress, to get kids on the dress action, I particularly love Disney Family Fun’s paper dolls that you can print out online.  It’s basically the Disney princesses’ dresses with a brunette Princess that looks somewhat like Kate. Grab the glitter pen, crayon and help the kids create their versions of Princess Kate’s wedding dress.  If only there was a Wills Paper Doll to go along with Kate!



Lego Royal Wedding

Speaking of Wills…have I ever mentioned how much I love when people create Lego Art?  Or my love of Lego Mini Figures?  Check out the creativity of this Lego Royal Wedding featured over on BBC.  My favorite is I Thee Wed, although the real church scenes were much more romantic!  Be sure to check out the rest of the scenes!

Playmobil Special Correspondent

Playmobil has been cracking me up over on their FB page. They’ve had “Sarah” as a special correspondent covering the Royal Wedding all week.  Hilarious!

The Ultimate Block Party Set for Oct. 3 in NYC

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

“How you play is who you become,” is the convincing tagline for this weekend’s Ultimate Block Party in NYC.  With playful learning in mind, Play for Tomorrow, a nonprofit organization dedicated to shedding light on the crucial role of play in children’s development and education, is hosting the Ultimate Block Party in Central Park this Sunday, October 3.

Described to be the first “play date” in a national education movement, the Ultimate Block Party is poised to transform the Bandshell area of Central Park on Sunday, October 3, into the world’s most innovative playground by demonstrating the power of fun and games for learning and helping to reinforce that how we play as children helps form who we become as adults.

As a champion of playtime and getting outdoors here at NKT, I was so thrilled to learn about this fun event from some of my colleagues. In fact, if our schedule permits, I’m hoping to bring our family out to the Ultimate Block Party on Sunday to take in some playtime of our own.

Play for Tomorrow, together with their partners, are inviting families with kids 12 and under to head to Central Park on Sunday to join in the fun.  The rain or shine event, which goes from 11am to 5 pm by the Naumburg Bandshell (Enter at 72nd Street and Fifth Ave), will have a myriad of playful activities and mini-master classes with leading architects, scientists, engineers, musicians, artists, inventors and business leaders from around the City.  Best of all, it’s free.

Free fun for the kids in NYC: it doesn’t get any better than that!

The sponsors and activities* that will be at this fantastic event include many NKT faves such as KaBoom!, Crayola, CMOM, Imagination Playground, Chicago Children’s Museum, Legos, Electric and many, many more.  If you’re in NYC, come join us!  If you’re not in the area, don’t worry, word is, there are already plans to launch the Ultimate Block Party in other U.S. cities and internationally.

Giveaway

One of the sponsors of the event and NKT fave, Lego, will have a LEGO imagination construction zone at the Ultimate Block Party.  And for those of you not in the area, LEGO isn’t forgetting you.  To encourage personal LEGO imagination construction zones at home, they are kindly offering one NKT reader a LEGO DUPLO Play with Numbers set.

Want to win the Duplo set? Just tell me what sort of things do you and your kids like to build with Legos.  Please comment below.

*Want to see small a sampling of the activities planned for The Ultimate Block Party?  Click after the jump.  I’m getting even more excited just reading about all the fun!  If you’re planning on going, let me know!

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Party On with Perfect Piggies

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

It’s a sunny Monday in our part of the world; what a great start to another week.  This week marks the kid’s last week as a two-year old, and so in the week leading up to his birthday, I will be spotlighting his favorite things à la Oprah.  Unlike Oprah, I won’t be giving away a bazillion and one things to all NKT readers, but I will be hosting some exciting giveaways and downloads—fun toys and goodies that have made our lives a little sunnier.

One of the kid’s favorite authors, Sandra Boynton recently released a fun new book, Perfect Piggies.  If you love Boynton’s books as much as we do, then I’m sure you’re familiar with classics like Moo, Baa, La La La and Barnyard Dance.  Many of her books have a sing-song appeal that’s catchy and memorable, just like this instant classic.

“We are all perfect piggies and we know what we need.  It’s really very simple, very simple indeed: a troughful of food, a place in the sun, and a little bit of comfort when the day is done.”

Perfect Piggies, a simple celebration of being unique, echoes the same, fun rhythm and rhyme that Boynton on Board books are well known for, but better yet, this one has a downloadable song that goes along with it.

The Perfect Piggies song is sung in a cappella, and has a sweet swing to it.  It’s catchy enough to induce some toe-tapping, finger-snapping and definitely kid-dancing.  The song reminds me so much of one of my favorite groups, Straight No Chaser, an a cappella group that’s been known to make people laugh and swoon with their fabulous performances.  And no doubt, the Perfect Piggies song and book make us swoon just as much, if not more.

Want to check out the song for your crew?  Download the Perfect Piggies song for free here.  Oooh, and there’s more, since we’re in party mode, have your own Perfect Piggies themed party, too!  Download some activity and craft sheets, a party poster and even the song sheet, and throw yourselves a party that’s perfect for all piggies and kids alike.

 

Download me!

 

Perfect Piggies is published by Workman Publishing and retails for $6.95.  The song can be downloaded for free online, and the book is available in bookstores now.

Balloon Time Put a Face on Fun Contest is Underway

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

We’re in party-planning mode over here; well, actually, it’s more like mini-party-planning mode since we’re still in the middle of home renovation.  But nevertheless, my guy turns three next week.  THREE!?  I can hardly believe it.

 

While I’ve been scouring the web for easy DIY party ideas, I couldn’t not mention Balloon Time.  In essence, Balloon Time offers helium balloon kits that are available at a variety of stores.  There are a number of kids available for DIY balloon creation, including: Balloon Time 30 Helium Balloon Kit, Balloon Time 50 Helium Balloon Kit, Balloon Time A La Carte helium tank and Balloon Time Party Create-A-Face Sticker Kit.   I love the idea of having a kit at home to decorate for a party, but I do worry about balloons as choking hazards for little kids, as well as the hazards the stems of balloons might pose on the environment.  With these valid concerns in mind, since we’re having a small party with plenty of adults around, I’m thinking Balloon Time might be right up our alley for our mini-celebration.

 

Check it

Have some funny faces you want to show off?  The fourth annual “Put A Face On Fun” contest is now open, and the grand prize sounds pretty sweet.  In addition to participating in a professional photo shoot and being featured on Balloon Time’s packaging for the following year, the grand-prize winner will receive a Disney Cruise Line family vacation for four (subject to availability). Fifty first-prize winners will receive a Balloon Time 30 Helium Balloon Kit.

To enter this year’s contest, parents can upload their child’s photograph at www.PutAFaceOnFun.com. Uploaded photographs must be in GIF (.gif) or JPEG (.jpg) format and may not exceed a file size larger than 200 KB. Professional photographs will be disqualified.

Children ages 3 to 11 are eligible for the contest, and entries will be accepted through Nov. 14, 2010, noon ET. Each photograph will be scored by a panel of judges based on the following criteria: smile, age appropriateness, expression of fun and suitability for appearing on packaging.  And guess what, yours truly is one of the judges!

 

And that’s not all, taking a page from all those televised talent shows, parents and friends of the Put a Face on Fun participants are encouraged to join in;  a portion of the final tally will be determined by America’s vote.

If you’ve got some funny faces, be sure to enter before November 14th!  I want to see an NKT reader take home the grand prize.  Now, that would be fun!

 

Disclosure:  I am a guest judge for the Put a Face on Fun contest.  I am not being compensated, but will receive product for review.  As always, all opinions expressed on NKT are my own.