Argh, A Pirate's Life For Me!
Today was His and Her Pirates Day! Our birthday boy, Richard, was turning four and loves pirates so his mom asked us to custom design a pirate-themed craft for the party. Amanda, our creative director, decided to design pirate masks, an age appropriate craft not just for the boys, but for the girls too! The masks were versatile enough with style and color choices so each child's craft would turn out unique.
When we arrived to set up, we were greeted immediately by Richard, who wanted to know exactly what we were doing, what all of our stuff was and what we were going to be doing there. To say that Richard was the best four year old host is an understatement. He was the life of the party, greeting each guest as they arrived. His mom told us they often call him "the mayor" because he has to make sure he talks to everyone. It was the cutest thing to observe and honestly, we can't say we have ever seen that before from a four year old.
The beginning of the party was a little challenging to get the kids over to the craft table because we were competing with a bouncy house. However, once we got one child to partake, more started to come! It was really great to see how they took to the craft right away and became so creative with their pieces and color combinations. Not only did we entertain the kids, the adults enjoyed the crafting as well! Richard's teacher made an awesome pirate resembling Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean and the parents were bonding with their children as they lent a helping hand. We always appreciate when the parents come over and try to get their child involved if they're a little shy at first and the kids delight in having some help from their parent as well. Of course we had some brave participants who marched up to the table with their sibling or friend and followed our lead, which we always find so special. We had two sisters who made their masks with our help and the parents observed. The older girl was helping her little sister, about 2 years old, who even though she could barely reach the table impressed us with her dexterity and determination to make her mask complete! She was following our instructions but really wanted to copy the format of her sister's mask however told us exactly what colors she wanted, which made hers a tad different. Her sister was kind and allowed her to follow how she made it and at times helped her understand the process of exactly how to put the pieces on (insert "aww" and heart melting here).
Those kind of moments are why we do what we do. All the work and the preparation pays off when we see how great the kids are with each other, how they take turns and help one another and the amount of achievement they feel when they're done with their creation. We often notice that we are both able to teach the kids something new and original AND they wind up teaching us! Every party is a great learning experience. We've been so lucky so far with the crowds we've received and this one wasn't any different. Thank you to Richard and his lovely parents for making this day such a success!
