Hosanna is turning 9. Her favorite books right now are Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. So, of course, for her 9th birthday we sent her off to Camp Half Blood. Or rather, she invited friends to come to Camp Half Blood with her.
Also before the party, I went to Hobby Lobby to buy orange youth T-shits. They didn't have enough, but when I asked at the checkout they said they could order them because they had more in the warehouse, it would just take 2 weeks to get them in. Since I was planning this party a month in advance that was no problem. Each shirt was just $2.50 because Hobby Lobby is almost always the best place to get colored shirts. I used iron on paper to create these:
I loved this idea form this blog to have the kids paint shields while waiting for all the guests to arrive, but ordered the black foam off of Amazon without checking the dimensions and ended up with black foam board that was too small to be turned into shields. Oh well. So instead, I ran each name on the guest list through both an ancient Greek translator and a modern Greek translator. I did both because some names are the same in ancient Greek, and some names look cooler in modern Greek. I printed off the names and had that set up on a painting table along with the gold paint and black foam boards. While waiting for the kids to arrive, the guests could paint their greek name in gold on a black board.
In order to make sure everyone was safe for Archery, Ax throwing and foot races, I conscripted three "camp counselors." They were trained in their specialty and given Camp Half Blood T-shirts.
Once the party was all set up, the guests started arriving! Each gust was welcomed, told to change into a Camp Halfblood shirt, and then taken on a tour of the camp. Then they were left at a table where they decorated black styrofoam boards with gold paint. I had printed off each child's name in Greek, so they could paint that on their board.
Once everyone arrived and had finished their craft we broke up into three groups, each group got assigned to a an area and a camp counselor, and then we rotated through the three activities.
After that the kids were thirsty and hungry! We called for everyone to come to the campfire and talked about what a great day at camp that was. The kids roasted hot dogs and helped themselves to some blue food: Blue Tortilla chips with salsa and guac, blueberries, and then we all roasted s'mores.
Here are words to help the Heroes’ quest:
Poseidon lends his help on this hard test
The gods of Olympus will guide you.
Listen to their words to find their clue
To kill woman of stone in Antaeus’ arena
Find the golden spear of the goddess Athena
To find the spear of the goddess of war,
Find the gazebo of the days of yore
Morning flowers and green vines hang
creeping up a wooden frame
A final warning for your next fight
Beware! You may meet Death this night
Hey Larry, Frank, and the rest of you kids. You’ve found the spear, so congrats or whatever. But life is really all about having fun. So head back to camp and let’s PARTY!
Mr. D