Mac finally had his 10th birthday party – some two months after the actual event. We haven’t done a formal birthday party since kindergarten, so we figured it was about time and double digits is always call for celebration.
After much debate, the WHO, WHAT & WHEN was settled.
the who…
all the year four boys (28) in total with 20 coming out for the fun
the when…
dates were negotiated with others planning similar festivities around the same time
the what…
activities were discussed, plans hatched and invitations sent
CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE
The party started with a bike ride. Mac’s bike jogger was attached to Shawn’s bike, and off they went. All but three of the kids had bikes so those guys took the iPad and filmed the ‘riders’.
A treasure hunt was next on the agenda.
We set up the treasure hunt so that Mac’s could have his iPad using Proloquo2Go (P2Go) speak the clue. When the kids arrived at each location the clue envelope simply pointed them to the next colour clue Mac was required to give them. What worked particularly well was that it didn’t matter how far ahead some kids got, they needed to wait for Mac and his push-buddies to arrive before they could move on. We didn’t do teams it was an “all for one and one for all” type of event.
Here’s how it worked with P2Go, the clues and the audio (a bluetooth speaker made it loud enough for all to hear).
CLICK VIDEO TO RUN (FULL SCREEN AVAILABLE)
So, I wonder, would you have found your way?
With some daylight remaining before the bonfire lighting we decided to give the “paint bomb catapult” a go. We had set up a water balloon catapult with the plan to pelt a 1m x 1m canvas with paint filled water balloons fired from the catapult. It might have worked… if we had some better shots and some harder timber behind the canvas. Instead, we reverted to 60ml syringes, paint tubes, cups and 20 kids (channeling Lord of the Flies on occasion) to decorate the canvas.
While Mac can’t do any of this physical stuff (until I build that switch adapted, self loading catapult) what he does get to enjoy is an amazing artwork, made by his mates, which will hang on his wall above his bed.
The weather stayed fine and the wind didn’t pick up too much. So, the bonfire was lit, sparklers were had and bellies were fed.
We had an awesome day and were pleased to be able to give Mac a great party, but also thrilled to let all the kids enjoy the same sort of stuff I got to do as a kid growing up here on the farm.
So the next one isn’t needed until 16, right?
