Indian Braves Party

Good Monday morning!

The Showcase Pic today is of Roxie and Hannah. Just a pretty summer picture of two pretty summer girls.

The Gallery is starting off a little slow this week, but that means it will only get better. The first picture is of the bagel pizzas we made over the weekend. I'll put them in the recipe section tomorrow along with the other summer offering. I can't put it by itself because it is too easy, and that would be cheating.

Brad and Josh spent the day together Saturday playing X-Box and swimming. Nothing extraordinary, but fun for them. Although it hurts that everyone is growing up, I have to admit it is nice when Austin and Brad can go to each other's house for visits. Since we live a little over 20 minutes from Bev, it does help with the picking up and dropping off of the cousins. It also helped pass some of the time for Josh since Austin is gone.

Josh helped me set up my new Tiki torches, and except for one which burned to the ground (I accidentally poured the flammable liquid on the outside of the bottle) the rest look pretty good.

Roxie and Hannah took over the afternoon slot at our house. We made bagel pizzas and they helped me with the twinkly lights in my magnolia tree. (That's right, Mikie! Twinkly lights in the magnolia tree. For those of you who don't know, Mikie has something against too many twinkly lights. I think they make everything right in the world, but what do I know.)

Where in the world are Mikie and Austin?

Here's a little play-by-play...

Friday - Mike and Austin left JSU headed for Washington, D.C. a little before noon. They went through Tennessee and ended up in Wytheville, Virginia around 10:00 p.m. CST Friday evening. Austin drove 1/3 of the way while Mikie napped, so I don't know if they were trying to get to Wytheville, Virginia or that's just where they wound up. They were not tired, and they figured they had only four more hours before reaching Washington on Saturday. They also received a phone call on the way telling them they were going to have a White House Tour after all. It seems someone knows someone who knows someone, etc., etc. That was the only thing "missing" from the itinerary and Wednesday morning they're in, baby!

Saturday - After a quick run by Virginia College to look at the stadium (I have no idea why), the boys went the scenic route and enjoyed the rest of the day riding through the Shenandoah Valley.

Little Known Fact: I play the harmonica. My favorite song to play on the harmonica is Oh, Shenandoah. Does anyone remember the old Jimmy Stewart movie of the same name? I loved that movie when I was a kid, mainly because I loved Jimmy Stewart. I wanted Austin to watch Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (starring Jimmy Stewart) before he left, but we ran out of time. But I digress. They said it was beautiful, and Austin even said he would love to see it in the fall. Yes! I've instilled some autumnal lovin' in that boy after all.

They are staying in a little hotel in Arlington, Virginia and Sunday is a Smithsonian Day. (I also wanted to watch both of the Night of the Museum movies with him before he left so he would be up to speed, but we ran out of time. But I digress again.) They sound happy and well.

NOTE: If you ask me to play the harmonica for you, I will always refuse. There was a time when I would have played for you, but I saw myself playing in a mirror once and it wasn't pretty. Not pretty at all. That's why I play in private. I started playing when I was 16 years-old. That is probably one of those things that fall under the category TMI (Too Much Information). I understand.

Sunday - They went to two Smithsonians yesterday (Natural History and American History). They LOVED them. When they called around 9:00 Washington time, they were sitting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial looking at the Reflecting Pool. Pretty cool, huh?

That's pretty much it for their weekend... Unless they're hiding something from me. If they come back with pictures of Mount Rushmore, I guess we'll know they got me. All I can say is THERE BETTER BE PICTURES!

Indian Braves Party

Introduce the boys and girls to Native American culture with this fun-filled party. The young braves will enjoy wearing their colorful feather headbands, playing Indian games and making Indian crafts. The theme, from Joshua 1:9, centers on bravery. "Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."

Suggested Size: 5 to 10 kids
Suggested Time of Day: Morning or afternoon
Type: Boys, girls or mixed
Ages: 2 through 5

You will need:

Construction paper
Feathers
Plywood
Fabric
Poster board
Toothpicks
Food

INVITATIONS -

Cut 5" triangles out of poster board and tape three toothpicks at the top of each. Cover the triangles with fabric and cut small flaps to open in the middle. The party information will be written inside the tepees and should read as follows:

Chief __________(Child's Name)____________ invites young braves to a powwow.
Date:____________
Time:____________
Location:___________________________
RSVP to Squaw:_____________________

DECORATIONS -

Make a tepee using three 5' plywood boards. Attach them together at the top using rope. Put a bed sheet around the frame or purchase some fabric to staple to the frame. Place the tepee in the backyard or in the main room for the party.

For the front door of your house, make an Indian face out of poster board. Add black construction paper hair and a headband with a feather. Draw the eyes, nose and mouth. On the headband write the word "How."

Inside your house, place arrows made from poster board or purchase inexpensive toy arrows from the toy store. Hang the arrows on the walls to point the way to the activities. Party colors are red, black and turquoise. Purchase balloons, streamers and paper goods in these colors.

If you have access to large rolls of paper or fabric, you could make a large triangle tepee to put on the front door. Cut it in the middle for the children to walk through as they enter the party.

SCHEDULE -

15 Minutes - Arrive and dress up
20 Minutes - Indian games
20 Minutes - Powwow
15 Minutes - Open Presents
15 Minutes - Free play

Arrive and Dress Up - Greet each young Indian with a "How." Give him an Indian headband made out of construction paper and paper feathers. After presenting your guest with his headband, tell him to follow the arrows to join the rest of the kids. During arrival time, have the following activities for the kids.

1. Indian Vests - Make Indian vests out of brown grocery sacks. Cut a slit up the front of the sack and cut around the bottom of the sack to make the hole for the head. Cut an arm hole on each side and fringe on the edges of the sack. Let the kids decorate and color their vests with markers.

2. Indian Names - Help the children think of Indian names to call themselves. Each child should think of his or her talents and relate them to an animal. They can come up with names such as Running Horse, Fast Deer, or Singing Cow. Write their Indian names on their headbands and vests. (NOTE: When we had this party, Mike picked the name "Chief Pickabugga." As you can imagine, the boys loved it. Me... not so much.)

3. War Paint - Apply Indian war stripes using lipstick and eye pencils.

Indian Brave Games - Direct the children in several running races. Give stickers as prizes to be placed on the vests of everyone who finishes. Give the first place winner a feather for his headband.

The games can be simple races to prove their bravery and speed. Start off with a running race. Then have the kids hop from start to finish. They can race running backwards and then running sideways. You could also make a race in which they roll to the finish line.

Give the kids a small ball made of crumpled-up foil (the Indians used roots from trees), and kick the ball from start to finish.

Play Bear Hide and Seek. Have one child become the bear who hides while all of the Indians count to 20. Then all of the Indians seek the bear. When someone spots the bear, he shouts, "I found the bear," and everyone runs for home base. The first person to touch home base becomes the next bear.

Powwow - Tell the young braves to all sit Indian style in a circle. Introduce the children to some Indian food, such as beef jerky, cornbread, popcorn and berries. Let the kids have a small portion of each. Serve the birthday cake with a tepee and Indian figures on top. (See cake ideas below.)

Use this time to tell the boys the Indians were very proud of their bravery. Say, "It was a great honor to be considered a brave Indian. What does it mean to be brave? Do you know the Bible encourages us to be brave with God's strength? Listen as I read what God told Joshua before the Israelites were about to go into the Promised Land."

Read Joshua 1:9. Have the verse written on a colorful poster even if the children cannot read yet. Ask the children if they want to be brave. Tell them to remember God can give them the courage they need when they are following Him.

Open Presents - Put all of the presents in the tepee. Tell all the children to sit in front of the tepee. When you call a name (do not forget to use the Indian name), that child should go into the tepee and come out with his present and give it to the birthday child.

Free Play - Allow the kids to play with their ponies and bow and arrow sets. You may also want to set out some small plastic cowboy and Indian figures. You also have time to play Bear Hide and Seek again.

FOOD -

Beef jerky
Cornbread
Berries
Popcorn
Water bottles (Indians drank a lot of water)
Cake

Cake - Use your favorite recipe or mix to bake a rectangular cake. Ice the cake with vanilla or chocolate icing. Make several tepees on the top of the cake using ice cream cones (upside down) with toothpicks sticking out of the top. Place some of the plastic Indians on the top of the cake. Make a lake using blue icing. Put a paper canoe in it. (I made this cake for Josh's 4th birthday. It was easy AND very cute.)

FAVORS -

Favor bags - Use brown paper lunch sacks and cut fringe on top
Headbands, feathers and vests
Bow and arrow sets
Plastic Indian figures
Stone arrowheads
Beef jerky
Microwave popcorn for later

This party was a huge success. The games were great because when it was time for the Powwow, snacks and opening presents, the boys were tired and calm.

Also, the party was taken from Parties With a Purpose by Karol Ladd. Although I have tried over the years to order more of these books, I have been unable to find them in print. However, when I checked on Amazon.com last night, they did have them for sale (new AND used). If you have children (small up to teenagers), this is the book for you. It has over 80 parties for every sex and every age group. I personally used ten parties out of this book for my own kids (and I recommended many more to friends and family.)

I hope you have a splendid Monday. I am going to be working at home today (much needed). Josh is cutting a yard (as always), but has Ultimate Frisbee to look forward to tonight, and Roxie is working at the library until 2:00. I'll have an update on Mike and Austin's leg of their trip today on Tuesday. I'll also have a recipe that is just lovely in the good ol' summertime... especially if you like fruit. (And I'll add the simple instructions for the Giant Pizza Bagel Bites if you haven't already guessed.)

Take care, and I'll talk to you tomorrow.