The Tres Amigos Playdate- Upcycled Birthday Party

When we realized that both Jessica and Gina had weddings to attend on the day of Bradley's Birthday Party, we were all so disappointed. After going through so much together during pregnancies, baby showers and births, it was a huge disappointment to all of us that they were not able to share in the excitement of Bradley turning one. When I realized it was my turn to host the next playdate, I decided to to plan a recycled birthday party theme for the week after his real birthday party. My goal was to re-create the Cookies and Milk/Cookie Monster theme through left over supplies from his party.

When I set the buffet table, I made sure to use many of the same items I saved from Bradley's party. I hang the Happy Birthday Bradley sign, that was made by my friend Heather at MyPartyPartners@comcast.net. I used the extra table clothes that we had left over from that party and made sure to display the Letter B that I made from cookie crisp cereal.  I also had extra got milk mini cups and straws so made sure to have vanilla, strawberry and chocolate milk. Then, I served bagels with egg, tuna and chicken salad as well as fruit and snacks for the kiddies. For dessert we of course had an assortment of COOKIES. Lastly, I made sure to save Mason and Luke the party favors which included the music clappers, Cookie Monster cake pops, and the got milk? Magic Straws .

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Activity 1: Monster Straw Art

You will need:
Washable Colored Paint
Straws
White Card Stock Paper
Googley Eyes (assortment of sizes)



Since I had tons of left over barbershop striped paper straws from his party, I wanted to make sure we used them for an activity. First, we took globs of paint and placed them on white card stock paper, then we used the straws to blow the paint around to make unique splattered designs. To incorporate the theme of cookie monster and his googly eyes, we placed different size googly eyes on each glob of paint to create friendly monsters. We all loved our finished product!

Activity 2: Recycled Fill and Spill Bank

You will need:
Empty Oatmeal Container or Baby Formula Container
Colored Card Stock Paper
Scissors
Hot Glue Gun

Ribbon (optional)

Stickers (optional)

Empty tops of baby jars (used as coins)



In sticking with the idea of recycled materials around the house, we made a fun toy for the babies to practice their hand eye coordination and fine motor skills. First we used a scissors to cut a slit on top of the container. (Depending on the age of each child, depends on the length and width of the slit you make.) Make sure you can place a baby jar top nicely inside without difficulty. Next, we glued card stock around the outside of the container and glued stickers and ribbon that was left over from the birthday party around the perimeter of the container for decoration. At around 8-12 months of age, kids start to love filling and spilling objects, this activity is perfect for that.

Looking forward to our next playdate at Gina's! 

Upcycled Butterfly- Flying 'Round

Bradley and I have Mommy and Me every Wednesday and Thursday on a preschool campus. I always love watching Bradley's facial expressions and sounds that he makes while we travel through the hallways and see all the "big" kids learning.

Today something especially beautiful caught my eye that I had to snap a pic of and share with all of you. From a distance it looked like a huge mosaic, but when I walked up closer and realized what it was, I loved it even more. It was a colorful butterfly (cut from a piece of scrap plywood) made out of round plastic recycled caps of all kinds.


I had so many different teachable moments fluttering through my head... This is definitely a great idea to do with kids of any age. Whether it be in school or at home, kids can take so much from this fun and creative activity. The best part is, when your masterpiece is finished, you can hang it up outside as wall art.

Life Cycle of a Butterfly
Earth Day
Grow a Butterfly Garden

Recycling
Upcycling

Counting

Sorting Colors

Sorting Size

Symmetry 

Patterns 

Textures 

The list can go and on... 

Please leave a COMMENT and SHARE with everyone any other ideas you can think of! 

Please link up your Earth Day ideas to help make our families Eco Friendly Everyday!

Here's a list of all the participating blogs:

Hosts: Mommy Labs, Greening Sam and Avery

Teach Preschool | Ready.Set.Read | Living at the Whitehead’s Zoo | The Outlaw Mom Blog | Rainy Day Mum |The Golden Gleam | Inspiration Laboratories | Nurture Store | Experimenting Mom | Kids Stuff World | Artsy Craftsy Mom | Creativity My Passion | Imagination Soup | Caution! Twins at play |Rockabye Butterfly | Explore Education | Getting Messy with Miss Jessy | Daria Music | Mama Smiles |Let’s Lasso the Moon | Reading Confetti | The Educators’ Spin On It | Kitchen Counter Chronicles | De tout et de rien | Our Feminist Playschool |The Wise Owl Factory Book a Day | Mommy and Me Book Club | Dirt and Boogers | Carrots Are Orange | Putti Prapancha | Toddler Approved | Imprints from Tricia | Smiling like Sunshine |