Peter Pan

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

Book Review: I chose to read Peter Pan to my boys because I couldn't resist the adventure and story of a boy who never grows up. (I am constantly telling my kids that they're not allowed to get any bigger!)  This was a great adventure book, but may be more appropriate for children ages 7 and older.  Unlike the Disney production, the adventures contain men (pirates) killing children (lost boys), children killing pirates and both killing Indians.  It also has some more mature themes, but it's only obvious to the adult reader. I thought that it was a little gruesome for the younger ones, but it seemed to be mostly lost on my kids and they enjoyed the adventures, the flying and the pirates.


Book Party
I did a little bit more on this party than the others. I just kept getting ideas and had to do them! You can do as many or as few of these things as you want to.

Supplies from your craft kit
Butcher paper
water colors
markers
pipe cleaners
green felt
red felt
plastic or paper cup

from the party supply store
Pirate patches
pirate paper hats
pirate tattoos
little foam swords (I found them at Hobby Lobby for $3/8)
Blue balloons

Food supplies
Pixie Sticks
Pretzels
Candy cane
Sugar cookie recipe (see below)

Printouts
Mermaids
crocodile
fairies


Neverland Map
For this party I wanted to represent some of the fun places that Peter Pan and the lost boys had their best adventures. So I decided to start with a map. This looks a lot better than I thought it would. From the go-to butcher paper I did a quick (not accurate) copy of the map on the inside cover of my book. I then got out the watercolors and had the kids paint the map in browns and greens. I still have this map hanging up in their room.

Peter Pan hats

I happened to have some green and red felt left over from a christmas project so I decided to make some Pan hats. These look so DARLING, and they're amazingly easy to make! Seriously, I have very minimal sewing skills, and it took my five minutes to sew up these hats. Click here for the pattern!  If you don't have a sewing machine or the inclination to make felt hats, the kids will love newspaper hats just as well. Click here for instructions.

Pixie Hollow

Print out and have the kids color the Fairy coloring page. Cut out and hang on string from chandelier. Put an indoor plant on the table and you have a little forest for the fairies and food.

Shadow
I saw on Pinterest that somebody had put a cutout of Peter Pan on the top of their child's lamp and it made a giant, perfect shadow of Peter Pan when they turned on the lamp. I tried it, it doesn't work! This was the hardest part of the party, and it only ended up only half-way working. I used a flashlight and a cut out of peter pan. If somebody finds a better way, let me know!

 Mermaid Lagoon Game
I made up this Mermaid Lagoon game and the kids loved it. I got out our little kiddie pool and filled it with blue balloons. Then I cut out some mermaids (see printout) and taped them to some of the balloons. I also cut out the Crocodile and taped him to one of the balloons. When we said go, the kids would go on a "mermaid hunt" and see who could catch the most mermaids. If they got the crocodile, they had to sit out on the sidelines for 10 seconds and then put the crocodile back into the pool. What kid doesn't love balloons?!

The Jolly Roger 
The Jolly Roger is where the kids go to Pirate school! They get pirate hats, patches and tattoos. They also get to play the "Hook-a-pretzel game". To prepare, get a large plastic or paper cup. Put a hole in the top and insert a candy cane. Have two bowls; one with pretzels and one empty. The kids put their hand into the plastic cup and hold on to the bottom of the candy cane. They then have to see how many pretzels they can hook and put into the empty bowl within a given time period. So much fun! And it's harder than it sounds. Give it a try!  YAR!

The Home Underground
A card table, a blanket and some pillows made a perfect place for the kids to eat snacks and watch the movie.

Food
The food for this one was super easy. Of course we used Pixie Stix for the Pixie Dust. Then I made some sugar cookies. I didn't feel like rolling out cookies this time, so I found this awesome sugar cookie recipe that requires no rolling (see recipe below). Then I just piped on hooks and daggers.

This party turned out so great! My little boy asked me if he could have the very same party for his birthday. Have fun!

Buttery-But-Worth-it Sugar Cookies

4 1/2 C flour
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 C unsalted butter at room temp
1 1/2 C sugar
3 eggs
5 tsp vanilla

Frosting:
5 C powdered sugar
1/3 C butter, melted
1 Tbls vanilla
7-8 Tbls milk

Preheat oven to 350. Whisk dry ingredients together. Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. Blend in vanilla. Add dry ingredients. Chill dough for 1 hour.
To bake, roll into balls and flatten slightly. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
For frosting, mix all ingredients. Add enough milk for correct consistency.