Me & Marie: Planning a Patriotic Preschoolers Playgroup (with GIVEAWAY)

I love to plan little playgroup parties for my daughter and her little friends. They get some great social playtime and I and the other mommies get great social time as well! I have planned several playgroups...Lil Punkin Playgroup for fall, Toddling Turkey Playgroup, where we made cute little turkey feather hats and the Naughty or Nice Holiday themed playgroup where we did a little book exchange. Well, now I'm hosting a Patriotic Preschoolers Playgroup. I thought I would share my plans before the playgroup occured in case any of the mommies reading wanted to plan thier own!

The playgroup itself is quite easy but FUN! I always plan 2 crafts, a snack, sensory play and plenty of time for free play! I usually think of something fun to give the kiddos to take home. Sometimes, we as a group of moms bring different things to fill goodie bags.

For the Patriotic Preschoolers Playgroup here is plan... (please feel free to use some or all of these plans if you are planning a July 4th themed playgroup)

Snack: Patriotic Pudding. I plan on making a large batch of vanilla pudding. Each kiddo will get to choose to make red or blue. I will add thier choice of food coloring while they get to stirring! I will also have red, white and blue sprinkles on hand to make this pudding sparkle!

Crafts:

-Star Sun Catcher
Materials: clear contact paper, the star template, red, white and blue tissue paper
Using the star template (printed on cardstock) I will cut around the outside and the inside of the star. I will add contact paper to the inside of the star. I plan on doing all of this ahead of time. When the kids are ready to craft, they will tear red, white and blue tissue paper with thier fingers (fine motor) and stick it to the contact paper. I will encourage them to fill all the sticky side up with tissue paper. When they are done it can be taped in a window as a festive 4th of July sun catcher.

-Star Studded Leis, from Family Fun
I featured this craft idea during Red, White and Blue week on Tuesday. If you missed it, here is the link to making the leis. All you need is straws, some kind of string to use as the base of lei and craft foam sheets (but I might just use construction paper or card stock).

Sensory Table
I am the kind of mom that allows her sensory table inside during the winter filled with beans, colored pasta and many other things (I will say rice does draw the line!). If you are not comfortable with it, no worries... you don't want to be worrying about the mess all through the
playgroup and not enjoying your time with friends. But, if it sounds like fun then first what you need is a sensory table or sand and water table. If you don't have one you can easily use a large shallow plastic tub. Or, create several sensory stations by putting the materials in cake pans.

For the Patriotic Preschoolers, some of the ideas I had
- color pasta red and blue (use rubbing alchol + food coloring and submerge pasta)
- use plastic stars (like buttons from the craft store)
- confetti or pieces of red, white or blue curling ribbon
- tissue paper squares (left over from the craft)

For this playgroup I found adorable little red and blue necklaces in the dollar bin at Target. The kiddos will be going home with these and also a set of their own sparklers (but these sparklers will not be the kind that can burn them!) We will have dipped large pretzel rods into white chocolate (melted white chocolate chips) and added 4th of July sprinkles. To store and give out these yummy 'sparklers' I will use these ADORABLE Sparkler Holders from Print your Party.

Print Your Party is owned and operated by a pair of sister in laws and they create the cutest party supplies that you can print right from your computer! They have designs for weddings, birthdays, baby showers and so much more! Need printable invites? They have them and will customize! Their graphics and designs are amazing! These products will defiantly get noticed at your party as being sleek and adorable!

I got the chance to try out their Sparkler Holders for my party. They are SO easy to create. First, I downloaded the Sparkler Holders, very simple. Then, I printed (on cardstock), cut out the holders and add slits (a craft knife is needed). Done! You can print as many as you need. There are three designs included. Note: these Sparkler Holders were created for real sparklers, but for the age of the children at the playgroup we will be doing edible sparklers :)

Will these not be the cutest way to give out a fun party favor at your 4th of July bash? It's all in presentation!