I love it when a plan comes together. I had big visions for Em's 5th birthday party. Five is a milestone year, afterall. And as part of the month of mirth and merriment (yep, we celebrated her birthday five times leading up to the big day), I planned a humdinger of a homeschool birthday party. The theme: Winter Solstice. (Em's b-day is 12/21, same exact day as Winter Solstice).
"Wait...you threw a homeschool birthday party?" you ask (meaning to imply: Uh, that sounds totally NOT fun). Well, I sure did. And the party kicked ass!
Here's what we did:
First: The kids made glitter scented pine cones (purpose: solstice celebrators bring elements of nature indoors during the bleak winter months to remind them of spring's beauty). The pine cone craft was quick and easy (paint pine cones with glue, toss them in a bag with glitter and spices, tie a ribbon on top: Wah-la!!) making it perfect activity for the 5+ year olds and their 2-yr old siblings.
Second: The kids learned about wassailing (which is pretty much a merge of Christmas caroling and Halloween. Basically kids would sing songs door-to-door but if you didn't invite them in for wassail, they'd play pranks on you). I sang the wassailing song for the group (you know: "Here we come a wassailing upon the leaves so green") and then I served warm cups of homemade wassail...which HELLO, turned out AWESOME, if I do say so myself. So so yummy.
Third: We crowned Emerson the "Lord of Misrule" (history: As part of the ancient pagan Saturnalia celebration, from which many solistice traditions derive, a Feast of Fools celebration was held. A subdeacon or peasant [person of low-power] was crowned the Lord of Misrule for the festival and was in charge of leading the revelers in merry mischief and much partying). I made a Lord of Misrule hat (a garishly decorated New Year's Eve hat) and crowned Em. She then led her guests in a rousing game of "Emerson says", which included lots of hopping on one foot and running in circles "faster, faster, FASTER!". Each of the other children then took a turn as the Lord of Misrule. Needless to say...5 years olds getting to be "the boss"...yea, this was a huge hit.
Fourth: We made Yule Logs...and OMG...these turned out so beautiful (see pic above, which doesn't do them justice). All the moms kind of stood around oohhing and ahhing at them. We're all a bit reluctant to actually burn them. (history: a yule log is a regular log decorated with elements from nature: leaves, branches, flowers, etc. and then burned on Winter Solstice, which is the longest night of the year, to help bring light and warmth to the dark winter.) We wrapped our logs in hanging moss and wrapped that in red raffia. Then the kids tucked all sorts of snippets in between: clover, fern leaves, flowers, berries, etc. Each child then wrote three wishes for the new year on white paper and we tied the wishes to the logs and curled the paper strips up. Seriously...these turned out bea-u-ti-ful!
Fifth: After lunch (everyone brought their own) we went out on the dock over the lake and talked about why solstice celebrators might miss the sun during the winter. The kids took turns thanking the sun for its many gifts: warmth, light, energy, helping plants grow and then took turns making a wish for the earth and the people that live on it. Lastly, each person went around the cirlce and voiced a birthday wish for Emerson....everything from lots of playdates together to much inner happiness. This was a very sweet part of the party.
Sixth: We had cake! Of course we had cake. Can't have a party without birthday cake. But, in keeping with the theme, I made a traditional solstice sun cake. Okay true, my friends are still doing situps trying to burn this thing off (It had FOUR sticks of butter in it.) but I was being "authentic", right? Anyway, the cake was a hit (although, to save my waistline, all leftovers were deposited in the trash can as soon as the party concluded. I bet my wasitline wished I'd done the same with the four batches of cookies I baked during the holidays as well).
And that's all she wrote.
It was a lovely, lovely party. The kids had a blast and learned a few things about Winter Solstice along the way. The parents had a blast (mostly because we didn't have a bunch of kids running around like maniacs. Other than a little free-for-all after lunch, the kids were engaged the entire time).
Most importantly though, what did Emerson think? When the party-goers departed. We collapsed on the sofa together for a cuddle. "So Lovebug, how did you like your party?" I asked. "Oh Mama," she replied "It was so nice. That was the best party ever."
(sniff, sniff)
All worth it!
"Good Yule", Everybody!
"Wait...you threw a homeschool birthday party?" you ask (meaning to imply: Uh, that sounds totally NOT fun). Well, I sure did. And the party kicked ass!
Here's what we did:
First: The kids made glitter scented pine cones (purpose: solstice celebrators bring elements of nature indoors during the bleak winter months to remind them of spring's beauty). The pine cone craft was quick and easy (paint pine cones with glue, toss them in a bag with glitter and spices, tie a ribbon on top: Wah-la!!) making it perfect activity for the 5+ year olds and their 2-yr old siblings.
Second: The kids learned about wassailing (which is pretty much a merge of Christmas caroling and Halloween. Basically kids would sing songs door-to-door but if you didn't invite them in for wassail, they'd play pranks on you). I sang the wassailing song for the group (you know: "Here we come a wassailing upon the leaves so green") and then I served warm cups of homemade wassail...which HELLO, turned out AWESOME, if I do say so myself. So so yummy.
Third: We crowned Emerson the "Lord of Misrule" (history: As part of the ancient pagan Saturnalia celebration, from which many solistice traditions derive, a Feast of Fools celebration was held. A subdeacon or peasant [person of low-power] was crowned the Lord of Misrule for the festival and was in charge of leading the revelers in merry mischief and much partying). I made a Lord of Misrule hat (a garishly decorated New Year's Eve hat) and crowned Em. She then led her guests in a rousing game of "Emerson says", which included lots of hopping on one foot and running in circles "faster, faster, FASTER!". Each of the other children then took a turn as the Lord of Misrule. Needless to say...5 years olds getting to be "the boss"...yea, this was a huge hit.
Fourth: We made Yule Logs...and OMG...these turned out so beautiful (see pic above, which doesn't do them justice). All the moms kind of stood around oohhing and ahhing at them. We're all a bit reluctant to actually burn them. (history: a yule log is a regular log decorated with elements from nature: leaves, branches, flowers, etc. and then burned on Winter Solstice, which is the longest night of the year, to help bring light and warmth to the dark winter.) We wrapped our logs in hanging moss and wrapped that in red raffia. Then the kids tucked all sorts of snippets in between: clover, fern leaves, flowers, berries, etc. Each child then wrote three wishes for the new year on white paper and we tied the wishes to the logs and curled the paper strips up. Seriously...these turned out bea-u-ti-ful!
Fifth: After lunch (everyone brought their own) we went out on the dock over the lake and talked about why solstice celebrators might miss the sun during the winter. The kids took turns thanking the sun for its many gifts: warmth, light, energy, helping plants grow and then took turns making a wish for the earth and the people that live on it. Lastly, each person went around the cirlce and voiced a birthday wish for Emerson....everything from lots of playdates together to much inner happiness. This was a very sweet part of the party.
Sixth: We had cake! Of course we had cake. Can't have a party without birthday cake. But, in keeping with the theme, I made a traditional solstice sun cake. Okay true, my friends are still doing situps trying to burn this thing off (It had FOUR sticks of butter in it.) but I was being "authentic", right? Anyway, the cake was a hit (although, to save my waistline, all leftovers were deposited in the trash can as soon as the party concluded. I bet my wasitline wished I'd done the same with the four batches of cookies I baked during the holidays as well).
And that's all she wrote.
It was a lovely, lovely party. The kids had a blast and learned a few things about Winter Solstice along the way. The parents had a blast (mostly because we didn't have a bunch of kids running around like maniacs. Other than a little free-for-all after lunch, the kids were engaged the entire time).
Most importantly though, what did Emerson think? When the party-goers departed. We collapsed on the sofa together for a cuddle. "So Lovebug, how did you like your party?" I asked. "Oh Mama," she replied "It was so nice. That was the best party ever."
(sniff, sniff)
All worth it!
"Good Yule", Everybody!
2 comments:
Ah, sounds like so much fun! I'm glad your daughter liked it. I'm actually starting the preps for my daughters 2nd birthday. :)
So absolutely, totally bummed Aiden & I didn't get to join in and celebrate Emmy, appreciate your smart plan and revel with you all.
I love all the ideas/plans...you should charge for those...
I'm forwarding your blog to my mommy friends...although we're all working outside the home full-time and our little guys are in preschool, I think they are just as hungry as I am to have engage the boys in meaningful learning and experiences and would be willing to join me in putting into action some of your plans for our playdates.
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