Play Dress Up
Everyday items help kids play dress up. Kids play dress up as an opportunity to role-play and dream; the clothes and accessories are the tools kids need to transform into their fantasy character. It takes little more than a cape, hat, mask, old prom dress, gloves, or shoes to inspire a child’s mind. Kids dress up costumes often come from old items around the house as well as garage sale wigs, hats, bathrobes, purses and jewelry. Add tiaras, wands, sports gear and play swords for a wide variety of ideas.
Make an idea box to hold all the magical elements of the kids dress up costumes. Visit www.treasureboxkids.com for children’s clothing and ideas. Be sure to look through our archived blog posts for more activities, fun kids crafts, tips and birthday party ideas.
Play Dress Up
Dress Up Idea Box Possibilities:
- Boas, Tiaras, Wands
- Hats – straw hats, cowboy hats, etc.
- Shoes or Boots
- Oversized t-shirts
- Belts – to hold swords
- Gloves – Easter gloves, gardening gloves
- Halloween Clearance Items
Baby’s First Birthday
The time for baby’s first birthday has arrived and the celebration is as much for parents as it is for the youngster. Your baby’s first birthday is an event where precious memories can be saved for years to come. Plan the first birthday party as a short event (about an hour to an hour and a half), preferably after naptime. If possible, plan the first birthday party in your home or an environment that your baby is comfortable with.
Baby's First Birthday
Simple themes for the first birthday party, such as a favorite color, storybook or cartoon character can be the main point of focus for your decorations and activities. Keep the baby’s needs in mind when planning for his or her first birthday. Visit www.treasureboxkids.com for adorable baby outfits for your baby to wear at their first birthday. Look through our archived blog posts for more birthday ideas, children’s clothing and kid’s activities.
Decorations
- Decorate with pictures of your baby over the first year of life, including important milestones like crawling and taking the first step.
- Cut out large number ones from brightly colored paper to mount on walls
- Decorate with colorful balloons and streamers
Activities
- Place a colorful blanket on the floor with easy to manipulate toys (busy boxes or play gym) to create a safe baby play area
- Place push toys, foam blocks, or cloth tunnels for toddlers to play with
- Create a cupcake decorating station for older children and adults
Easy Crafts
Tie pillows are easy crafts for children to make. Easy crafts, like these cuddly fleece pillows are inexpensive and fun to make. Your fleece pillow can be made from old fleece blankets or remnant fleece material. Materials needed to make your fleece pillow are fleece, scissors, a ruler, fabric chalk and fiberfill. No sew this fleece pillow by tying knots with fringe cut into the fleece edges.
Easy Crafts
- You need two separate pieces of fabric for the pillow; one will be the front, one will be the back. You can choose two coordinating fabrics or the same fabric.
- Lay your fleece with wrong sides together and edges matching up.
- Use a ruler and chalk to mark out fringe at one inch intervals and 4 inches long.
- Cut the fringe through both layers of fleece.
- Tie double-knots close to fleece pillow edge by using one strip from the front and one strip from the back to create finished fringe edge. Continue around 3 sides of the pillow.
- On the 4th side of the pillow, tie knots until only 4 pairs are untied.
- Stuff the pillow form with fiberfill. Tie the remaining fringes. Brush off any chalk marks that still remain.
Visit www.treasureboxkids.com for children’s clothing and more kids craft ideas. Be sure to look through our archived blog posts for more activities, crafts, tips and birthday party ideas.
The Office Baby Shower
Elected for the office baby shower? It is becoming more common to host baby showers for your boss or co-workers, so here are some tips for the office baby shower. Before you begin make sure that you receive management approval for hosting the baby shower in the office instead of an outside venue. Also make sure that the employee will be available at the planned time by checking with their manager. Recruit one or two other co-workers to divide the tasks.
The Office Baby Shower
- An office baby shower should be held during lunchtime when it is easiest for employees to take a break.
- Keep the office baby shower short, no more than 30 minutes.
- Ideas for baby shower should be kept simple. There is often no time for standard baby shower games or room for elaborate decorations. A cluster of helium balloons and a banner honoring the guest of honor will help to set the baby shower mood.
- Attendees can purchase their own gifts or contribute to a combined gift. It is not mandatory for everyone to participate.
Visit www.treasureboxkids.com for adorable baby outfits or onesies. Look through our archived blog posts for more baby shower ideas.
Space Birthday
Take your son’s space birthday out of this world! He and his space birthday guests can explore strange new worlds or visit planets in our own solar system. Decorate the space birthday with black fabric on the walls and furniture. Use glow in the dark stars or make your own from card stock wrapped in tin foil. Make planets from paper mache, craft foam or Styrofoam balls.
Space Birthday
Hang stars, planets and white twinkling lights from the ceiling with fishing line as space themed decorations. Younger astronauts can have Disney’s Buzz Lightyear visit their space themed party. Astronaut games and activities can include a Moon Rock Relay, Saturn’s Rings toss, or Asteroid Belt. Visit www.treasureboxkids.com for children’s clothing and ideas. Look through our archived blog posts for more activities, crafts, tips and birthday party ideas.
Moon Rock Relay: Before the party, cut or tear several pieces of foam padding (egg crate, mattress pad foam or craft foam). Divide the children into teams. Give each team a pile of “moon rocks” and a set of kitchen tongs. Pace a bucket for each team at the finish line. The object of the game is to be the first team to transport all of the moon rocks from the pile to the bucket using only the tongs (astronaut robot arm). The first racer will pick up a rock, run to the bucket return to his team and pass the tongs to the next player until all of the moon rocks have been moved.
Saturn’s Rings Toss: You will need a hula hoop and bean bags. Mark an “x” with tape on the ground or floor. Have 2 helpers hold the hula hoop a reasonable distance from the “x”. The players take turns trying to toss the bean bag planets through the ring.
Asteroid Belt: A great indoor game for younger children. Before the party inflate several balloons. When it is time to play have the children form a circle. Toss the asteroids (balloons) in the air and the children have to keep the asteroids from hitting the earth.
Tissue Paper Crafts
Inexpensive and simple tissue paper crafts are versatile ways to decorate for your next party, patio or room. Tissue paper crafts are easy for young hands to work with to help them participate in your celebration. These tissue paper party pom poms make really fun ceiling decorations for a girl’s bedroom or they can be hung from trees for an outdoor party.
Tissue Paper Crafts
Ceiling decorations are a great craft activity to take home from birthday parties as well. Visit www.treasureboxkids.com for children’s clothing and ideas. Be sure to look through our archived blog posts for more activities, crafts, tips and birthday party ideas.
What you need for each tissue paper art pom pom:
- 9 sheets of tissue paper (20″x25″)
- 1 pipe cleaner
- 36″ piece of string or fishing line
- Thumb tack
- Scissors
How to make tissue paper art pom pom:
- Stack 9 pieces of tissue paper on top of each other. Alternate colors however you like.
- Fold sheets accordion style, with 1.5″ folds, beginning at the 20″ end.
- Loosely wrap the pipe cleaner stem around the center of the folded tissue paper and twist once.
- Tie the end of the piece of string around the pipe cleaner by tucking it underneath the pipe cleaner and tying it around in a knot (See above photo).
- Continue wrapping the pipe cleaner around until completely wrapped.
- Use scissors to trim the ends of the tissue paper. Use round or pointed cuts.
- Lay the tissue paper in front of you and start separating the layers, one by one. Continue separating the layers until finished (See above photo).
- Hang from the ceiling with a thumb tack.
