Disclosure: I was invited to participate in a #DisneyKids Jake & the Neverland Pirates Preschool Playdate and was sent free products to facilitate the playdate. I was not paid for this article. All opinions are my own.
My youngest (and 3rd child) spends a lot of the time in his carseat driving his big sister to soccer practice, on the sidelines cheering on his big brother’s football game, or trying to get a word in at the dinner table. He barely has a completed baby book and don’t even ask me what his first word was. Sigh.
So when I was offered a chance to host a #DisneyKids preschool playdate for his pals and his most-favortiest Disney Character in the world, I jumped at the chance to do something special for him. My little man has been a fan of Jake and the Neverland Pirates for a few years now. In fact, on his first trip to Disneyland 2 summers ago, he was so thrilled to meet him in person. You know, one of those amazing memories you have of your child that you won’t ever forget? This is one of mine:
Being that he is the third child, and this mom expended A LOT of creativity & energy on the first two, he often gets the slack job when it comes to fun. Like seriously y’all, I bought store-made cupcakes for his class last week – I never would have done that with the other 2 – even if it meant staying up late to bake homemade treats. Nope, not anymore. I just don’t have it. So I was a little apprehensive as to how much work this playdate might require.
I should never have worried! We received a great big box of goodies to create a fun playdate with. And we found lots of great ideas on www.disneysidecelebrations.com to add to the party. If you are looking for Disney-themed party ideas, this is a great resource!
All we needed was a few friends and presto, we had a playdate!
Our box came with some fun Jack centerpieces, but we added some fun decorations like a treasure map, eye patches and this homemade “treasure chest” to our playdate table.
Our “Bounty” – a rewarding treasure chest full of delicious snacks to feed this hungry crew.
And we had fun activities planned – like buried treasure with this cool Kinetic Sand. Each child had a chance to dig through the sand to find as many pieces of treasure that they could find. The Kinetic Sand has such a cool texture & feel to it, even the moms wanted to play with it. I liked that it was super easy to clean up too. We kept it on the kitchen counter and barely had anything to clean up. The grains of sand seem to want to stick together.
We made pirate hooks with black cups & tin foil, played a fun round of #DisneySide bingo, and all made fortune tellers.
Moms pitched in to help with the folding, but it was a great activity for these 5 year olds to have to listen and follow directions. Their little fingers got a great workout learning how to manipulate the fortune teller, but my little man is still playing with his 2 days later.
After a mostly nutritious snack, these little pirates ran off to play and the moms got to relax and have a nice chat. It was a great “excuse” to get the friends together (both kiddos & moms). I think the aftermath of the party says it all: fun was had by all.
Here’s a great recap to show you just how much fun we had at our Jake & the NeverLand Pirates #DisneyKids Preschool Playdate:
Jack had a blast! Thanks Ian!!