Daniel's Train Party

Finally, it was time for the long awaited party - excitement filled the air. I dug out my train cookie cutter for the biscuits, decorated my marshmallow lollipops with Thomas cake toppers, this time my fruit sticks took the form of traffic signals, the cake was perfect. All this, along with the train foil balloon, was enough to set the scene I think. It filled my heart with joy watching Danny take it all in with the biggest ever smile on his face. He was so excited especially when his friends arrived to join in fun!

We invited a few special friends to our house for the party. Danny's two best friends: Ernie and Eli were top of the guest list along with their older sisters Olivia and Megan. No party of ours would be complete without Phillipa and Erin, Genevieve and Oliver and Siana and Amaya. 12 kids ... the perfect size for a three year old's party!

I tried to make the party games train themed too. I think pass-the-parcel is always a firm favourite with the kids especially if they each get a surprise (this time each one got a wind up toy train). The next game, a number themed treasure hunt, led the children outside (three to five year olds and numbers are a pefect combination; and who doesn't like a good old treasure hunt). I took the game where two teams compete to see who can collect the most items and turned it into a train themed version (our balls were pieces of coal and each team had to gather as many as possible for to store in their stations). And finally I adapted 'Wolf Wolf What's the time' to 'Fat Controller what's the time'. The kids absolutely loved this game and in the end there wasn't even time for Musical Railway Tracks!

Free play outside

Pass the Parcel

The coal game

Fat Controller what's the time

Happy Birthday Danny Boy

The obligatory family photo

The party bags and thank you cards were also themed. The idea I had this time was for the children to gather the contents of their party bags during the party proceedings. The train whistle was part of the table setting, the wind up toy trains were in the pass the parcel and the sweeties were the treasures in the treasure hunt. These were all added to the loot bag containing a Thomas activity book. I recycled some Thomas wrapping paper for the thank you cards and turned it into a cutting, sticking, writing and drawing activity for Daniel.

Thank you, everyone, for all the lovely presents.

Daniel certainly is a lucky boy.