Ideas To Throw A Birthday Party In The Monsoons

Monsoon may be a welcome season for more reasons than one after a gruelling, terrible summer. It is a time of the year that reminds us of a time when we used to look at water-logging as an opportune time to stream paper boats and used to love the tediousness of wearing gumboots, raincoats and carrying an umbrella just to head out.

But we know monsoons or summer, birthdays know no season! So for all those born in the monsoons, let’s celebrate with the rain gods! Here are a few great ideas to celebrate your child’s birthday during the monsoons! Remember, you can take all or some of these ideas. Feel free to customise!

Venue:

Don’t just think indoors:

Unlike before, the venues need not be indoors since now a lot of venues have areas that can be covered to host events. You could also host a party at home or your club house, depending on your convenience. Whatever the venue is, include getting wet as part of it for the kids!

Theme:

Think monsoon, think water. Think water and you have so many interesting things to club it with. Monsoon can be clubbed with some interesting themes and we can title them in interesting ways like:

• Hawaiian/A day at the beach
• Garden: Little (Johnny)wants to play
• Art & Craft: Colour Splash/Creative Monsoons
• Scavenger Hunt: The Monsoon Treasure
• Monsoon Theme/Baarish
• Rain Forest

Invites:

An invite describes and outlines your party and hence plays a vital role. Though it’s a digital world, I feel we should add a personal touch to them. Simple props, chosen based on the theme add their unique touch to the invite, like Mocktail umbrellas, cotton clouds, Rainbow cutouts, a dressed coconut (for a beach theme), and a paintbrush with an umbrella attached to it (for an art & craft theme). If you plan to let the kids get wet, make sure to mention on the invite that kids need to carry a change of clothes. Keep the invite simple and mention the facts.

Entrance Gifts:

Start the party at the entrance itself and give guests a prop (like an umbrella hat, or a raincoat type apron) to set the mood for the party.

Décor:

My favourite part that brings life to the party! Start with the entrance welcome board. I made a board with mini paper umbrellas with the matter in the centre for one of my parties!

The entrance gate could be as simple as a VIBGYOR balloon arch or a floor carpet. You could also do a dark cloud cluster on the ceiling with paper droplets. The elements around can be cutouts of peacocks, frogs, mushrooms, puddle floor stickers with eyes and on the ceiling hang clouds with paper droplets, upside-down umbrellas and balloon clouds. You can also create a rocky wall with brown paper and show a waterfall on it with blue gelatin.

Games:

Time to organize some good thematic games and activities.

Outdoor games:

• Obstacle races like hopping through the tyres, walking the planks, net crawling, and water balloon war.
• Throw in a trampoline and organize a monsoon treasure hunt if there is a big space.

Indoor games: 

• VIBGYOR Hopscotch
• Twister
• Life-size snakes and ladder
• One min Shower: Just keep a dismantled shower on a stand and the participant has to stand underneath the shower and portray any talent, for eg. sing a song, say a joke, play an instrument, dance, anything.
• Paper boat races: All you need for this game is a big inflated pool with water and paper to make boats. Have the kids make their own boats, write their names on them and blow them from one end to the other with a pipe. The winners are rewarded.
• Monsoon: Create tickets with monsoon elements like frogs, mushrooms, rainbow, clouds, puddles, etc. Sing a rhyme or ask a riddle with which they can guess the element and tick it on their ticket.
• Bingo

Thematic Activities:

DIY can do wonders at a party! Try thematic tattoos, face painting, bookmarks, clay modelling, rainbow chimes, nameplate making, freestyle Canvas painting, etc can be added around.

Treat Table:

Adding a treat table livens up a party and the kids love it. Have a chocolate fountain with tropical fruits to dip into. Add candy and cupcakes of rainbow colour, and double up the fun by adding sour elements for the mothers too like tamarind pieces, star fruits, Indian jujubes (ber).

Food:

Whether a banquet hall party or a home-hosted one, I suggest A simple concept of having chai served either from a cycle cart or in an earthen glass will add flavour to the concept. pick easy food and crowd-pleasers like dosa, pasta, and Chinese which kids are familiar with and will not find difficult to eat. Also remember to add chai, pakodas, and roasted corn to stick with the theme. Hot food will win smiles.

Return Gifts:

Umbrellas as returns are the most common thing we can think of in the monsoons. Let’s think out of the box. How about a “DIY Sundae Kit’! A box with ice cream cones, sprinkles, toppings, an ice cream scooper, and some containers with an instruction card. Add a sweet thank you card to this, “Thank you for ‘showering’ xxx with love.