Spiderman Theme Party for Kids

Spiderman is a very popular theme for a boy's birthday party. I helped a friend organize her son's 4th birthday couple of weeks ago. The outcome was great, from the decor to the entertainment and the food. One thing I learned when organizing parties is to let go and to delegate a part of the preparation (to the people that you can rely on of course). Because putting together a birthday party can be overwhelming and time consuming. 

The colors used for the Spiderman theme party were red, blue, yellow and black. Every element of the party (the tablecloth, balloons, party favors, the napkins..) respected these colors. There are a lot of sites that sell Spiderman supplies, tags and masks. You can purshase them online or make them yourself if you feel like being creative. A simple way to decorate the table is to wrap a box with red, blue or yellow wrapping paper and to glue black squares to make it look like a building (since Spiderman swings from building to building in New York City). You can add Ka-POW – BAM – BoooM to the decor as well.  See  image below. 

Spiderman masks were given to each child, red (for boys) and pink (for girls). Spiderman along with Spiderwomen came to the rescue and kept the kids entertained with amusing games, music and piñata. 

Although healthy snacks were part of the menu, the sweet table stole the show. Dessert is everyone's favourite part of a party, from cake pops, sugar cookies, fruits and the theme cake. 

The party ended with the party favors to say a little thank you. Red for the girls and blue for the boys.                   

Looking forward to the next theme party:)  

Yours truly,

Olga Markiza

Children and the Dentist

I had the most wonderful patients today, as young as 3 years old! With a lot of patience and basic tricks, I find that cooperative children are the easiest to treat. Children’s fear of the dentist originates or from an experience gone wrong or from an anxious parent that themselves are afraid of the dentist. 

Here are couple of tips that I have for parents:

1. If you are an anxious parent, especially regarding dental care, please control yourself:) A child will feel any anxiety or fear displayed by you. It is normal to have a child that is fearful from the unknown or from being separated from the parent and they don’t need the extra stress! 
2. Couple of days before the child’s dental appointment, mentally prepare him or her about the visit, with the least possible details. Avoid words such as “pain”, “It won’t hurt” or “needle”. Children don’t know these things if you don’t tell them! 
3. Don’t share any personal negative experiences with your child. 
4. Chose a kid-friendly dentist. 

Parents and dentists play an important role in making a child's dental visit a positive experience. 

Yours truly,

Olga Markiza 

Little Red Riding Hood theme party for kids

This past week was a busy one. I helped a friend organize her daughter's second birthday party. The theme she chose was her daughter's favorite Little Red Riding Hood. 

We incorporated a lot of greenery, wood and the colour red to the decor. Apples, red and white mushrooms and extracts from the story were used to decorate the room.

A big challenge when it comes to kids parties is to keep them entertained. Since we couldn't find a wolf piñata, we coloured a white cat piñata in black, which didn't make a difference for them :) We prepared Little Red Riding Hood headpiece for girls and animal masks for the boys. Musical chairs, pin the donkey, dancing games kept the children busy. 

The dessert table was everyone's favorite. We prepared cupcakes with little Red Riding Hood toppers, strawberry jam brownies, red Jell-O, berries, lollipop tree and of course the birthday cake.

Our little Red Riding Hood and her friends were happy which meant that we succeeded!

Yours truly,

Olga Markiza