Comments on: Things to Come: Cardboard Forts Courtesy of Budget Truck Rental http://www.thingamababy.com/baby/2007/07/cardboard.html A dad's eye view of baby and toddler stuff Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:02:36 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Linda http://www.thingamababy.com/baby/2007/07/cardboard.html/comment-page-1#comment-4113 Linda Thu, 26 Jul 2007 18:07:35 +0000 http://s54748.gridserver.com/baby/2007/07/things-to-come-cardboard-forts-courtesy-of-budget-truck-rental.html#comment-4113 <p>Once upon a time (aka before parenthood) I used to go to gaming conventions. One of our favorites was a smalltown con in Port Huron, Michigan called "Please Name Our Con". See, the founders didn't know what to call it, and wanted the people who came to name it. Each year everybody voted to leave the name the same - Please Name Our Con II, III, etc. The first point being that you don't really NEED a special name or theme to have an incredibly fun party. And the second point's that you could leave it up to the people who come to apply their imagination. With three year olds it could be something (or things) you'd have never thought of yourself.</p> <p>Should you decided to go with a theme, here's a couple ideas that popped into mind:</p> <p>August has no major holidays. But wait -- it's summer -- the whole dang month is like a holiday! You could celebrate summer with a harvest themed party, and with whatever food you traditionally have in summer. For us that's tons of fresh fruit, macaroni salad, corn on the cob and a grill full of hotdogs, hamburgers and barbecued chicken. Mmm. If you made it a beach theme, the fort could be the biggest sandcastle around! Hmm. Maybe that would be best done outdoors.</p> <p>As August is named after the Emperor Augustus, you could have a Roman themed party. Put lots of columns and courtyards on the forts, and let the kids draw "statues" on the walls by tracing around the child lying on the cardboard, then letting them color/decorate the figure before adding it to the building. Eats would be italian, like spaghetti, lasagna, or even pizza.</p> <p>Rockets & Moonbase -- Okay, so the landing was actually in late July. So what? Still fun. Meet each guest at the door with a wagon/stroller/tricycle decked out as a rocket and blast them off into the moonfort.</p> <p>Make a tiny town. Individual building could be post office (playing mail), school, pet store (lots of plush animals), houses, grocery store, restaurants, etc. I'm sure the kids would love to help decide what else the town needs... </p> Once upon a time (aka before parenthood) I used to go to gaming conventions. One of our favorites was a smalltown con in Port Huron, Michigan called “Please Name Our Con”. See, the founders didn’t know what to call it, and wanted the people who came to name it. Each year everybody voted to leave the name the same – Please Name Our Con II, III, etc. The first point being that you don’t really NEED a special name or theme to have an incredibly fun party. And the second point’s that you could leave it up to the people who come to apply their imagination. With three year olds it could be something (or things) you’d have never thought of yourself.

Should you decided to go with a theme, here’s a couple ideas that popped into mind:

August has no major holidays. But wait — it’s summer — the whole dang month is like a holiday! You could celebrate summer with a harvest themed party, and with whatever food you traditionally have in summer. For us that’s tons of fresh fruit, macaroni salad, corn on the cob and a grill full of hotdogs, hamburgers and barbecued chicken. Mmm. If you made it a beach theme, the fort could be the biggest sandcastle around! Hmm. Maybe that would be best done outdoors.

As August is named after the Emperor Augustus, you could have a Roman themed party. Put lots of columns and courtyards on the forts, and let the kids draw “statues” on the walls by tracing around the child lying on the cardboard, then letting them color/decorate the figure before adding it to the building. Eats would be italian, like spaghetti, lasagna, or even pizza.

Rockets & Moonbase — Okay, so the landing was actually in late July. So what? Still fun. Meet each guest at the door with a wagon/stroller/tricycle decked out as a rocket and blast them off into the moonfort.

Make a tiny town. Individual building could be post office (playing mail), school, pet store (lots of plush animals), houses, grocery store, restaurants, etc. I’m sure the kids would love to help decide what else the town needs…

]]> By: stlmom http://www.thingamababy.com/baby/2007/07/cardboard.html/comment-page-1#comment-4112 stlmom Thu, 26 Jul 2007 15:16:15 +0000 http://s54748.gridserver.com/baby/2007/07/things-to-come-cardboard-forts-courtesy-of-budget-truck-rental.html#comment-4112 <p> How about a "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Box" party?<br /> Toddlers might be a little young for C.S. Lewis allusions, but they might enjoy running through the witch's castle playing freeze tag. They could take turns being the witch who turns people into statues or the lion who unfreezes them.</p> How about a “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Box” party?
Toddlers might be a little young for C.S. Lewis allusions, but they might enjoy running through the witch’s castle playing freeze tag. They could take turns being the witch who turns people into statues or the lion who unfreezes them.

]]>