Tag Archives: party favors

February 28, 2012

Lots and Lots and Lots of Legos

I have been spending a lot of time with Legos.

I never had them growing up. I am not claiming depravity. (I had Lincoln Logs, and Mandy Dolls, Barbies, and a Light Bright – just no Legos.)

I also never bought them for my 3 older girls, as their was always a baby in the house who could choke on them. When my little guy finally passed the stage of stuffing everything under the sun into his chipmunk cheeks, we started hoarding these little blocks by the hundreds.

Preparing for this birthday party was really the first time that I ever played with Legos, and you know what? THEY ARE FUN! I actually kept a little container of them on my art table. Just for me. Don’t tell Harry.

I thoroughly enjoyed planning all aspects of this birthday party for my son. Maybe too much. I might have gone a little overboard.

I blame Pinterest. And the fact that last year we had just moved to the area and we didn’t know anyone to invite to a party. So, this was a celebration completely fueled by guilt and an overwhelming indulgence in creativity.

I give fair warning that you are about to be inundated with bright, plastic, geometric photographs and ideas.

Here is our Birthday boy:

ATTIRE:

Note his cool and very boyish Lego necklace, a Mom-painted t-shirt and the Lego crocs he bought with his very own money.

I grabbed a t-shirt for $3 and painted the Lego-guy with acrylic paint. Even the sisters sported Lego colored t-shirts and fantastic baubles.

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INVITATION:

I took a photo of my son and a photo of a large green Lego board and then created this on Photoshop. I printed them as 5×7 photographs.

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DECOR:

Our party location was in 2 great playrooms. The colors were a perfect backdrop for a festive Lego party. The bright tiled walls were fabulous. The red and blue tiles almost make the number 8 over and over again. On a different note, this decor was extremely challenging when I was putting together an adult holiday soiree – but for the kids, PERFECT!

We didn’t have to do much in regards to party decor – we just incorporated Legos in wherever we could and included some framed photos of the boy of honor.

Harry’s seat at the table was distinguished by a Lego 8.

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FOOD

Bright Lego colored food.

Hot dogs, Baked beans, Salad, Chips, Fruit, Veggies, Chocolate dipped pretzels, Jello, M&Ms and Cake: a Lego man and Lego bricks.

As a person who has to watch what I eat carefully, it is important for me to know what ingredients are in a salad or crock-pot along a buffet. I tied in the geometric feel and Lego colors with cardstock, mailing labels and some round pricing stickers. So easy and it helped to put all those with food allergies at ease.

We offered both chocolate and vanilla cakes (gluten-free) with obnoxiously colored frosting. The cake was baked into a Lego man, with some extra Lego brick cakes on the side. To make Lego man, I used one Rectangle cake for the legs, one square cake for the torso and arms, 2 cupcakes for the hands, and I baked the head in a small pampered chef measuring bowl then cut it in half for a rounded effect. The bricks were baked in a mini-loaf pan, then decorated with frosting and M&Ms.

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GAMES

CHOPSTICKS

Place 2 bowls in front of each player. One filled with Legos, the other empty. They have 1 minute to move as many Legos as they can from the full bowl to the empty bowl using chopsticks.

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LEGO RACES

This is a team event. Based on your numbers, split the kids up into teams of 3 or 4 kids. Each team has 25 Legos and they have to be passed from one member to the next and then back again through tubes. (I used varying sizes of paper towel and wrapping paper rolls.)

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PASS THE PARCEL

We picked this game up when we lived in England. Just like Hot Potato, the participants pass around a package – or parcel – while music is playing. When the music stops, the person holding the parcel is OUT. Before they leave the game, they unwrap a layer of the parcel and receive a small present. It can be candy or a favor. We filled each layer with a Lego mini-figure. No one minded leaving the game because they were off to put their figure together.

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GUESSING GAMES

All the guests guessed how many Legos were in the jar. You need a jar, Legos, slips of paper and pencils.

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TWISTER

This game has nothing to do with Legos. But it is geometric and colorful and fun for all ages!

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PARTY FAVORS

I like party favors to be a fun reminder of the party. I like the gifts to be unique and useful. I usually shop for party favors alone, as I am sure the gifts my son would have chosen would have been along the lines of noisy and sticky. We may have been popular with the kids, but not so much with the parents. Our “goody bags” included Lego Frames, bubbles, fruit snacks, M&Ms, colorful pencils, Lego jewelry (for the girls) and small Lego sets (for the boys.) Thank you to www.lego.com and the sales and deals section of the shopping.

Lego Frames

I found some sturdy frames for under $2.50. I used Elmer’s GLUE-ALL to secure the bricks to the frames. Allow glue to set for a good 12 hours.

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Lego Jewelry

This was my favorite part of the preparations. After studying a few websites that sell Lego jewelry, I decided that I didn’t want to glue anything, and I also didn’t have a small enough drill bit to drill holes. I scoured our tubs of Legos and found all the pieces that already had holes in them. Who knew that so many were jewelry-ready? I made bracelets using Legos and beads strung on heavy-duty elastic. I used pre-made necklaces to hang my Lego pendants.