Olympic Parties
Let the games begin! In tandem with the actual Winter Olympics, we had a blast competing in our own Olympic games throughout our February parties. At these celebrations we were reminded that we all have our own unique, individual talents and we are special.
We also had a HUGE, exciting event happen in February. For those of you who don’t know, late last year, Ms. Megs met a little girl named Becky, a youth in the foster care system. When Becky arrived at her birthday party, she was wearing clothing that was at least two sizes too small. Becky had been sent to a foster home the week prior, but had returned to the facility by the time of the birthday party. For both these moves, her belongings had been packed into trash bags – and most of her possessions didn’t return in the shuffle.
From this, Megs got her inspiration for our sixth program, The Beverly’s Birthdays Boutique! This is a mobile fashion truck, which will be outfitted with new/never worn clothing, jewelry, and accessories.
In February, we were able to acquire the vehicle that will help bring this program to fruition!
As exciting as this news is, we still have a long way to go to get this program up and running. We need to add our Beverly’s Birthdays style design and decorations to the truck, obtain the clothing and product to fill the vehicle and ensure the financial and in-kind sustainability of the boutique. We have secured some clothing already thanks in large part to American Eagle and Delivering Good, but we still have a ways to go. You can help us out here. Keep a look out for updates and more information about the Beverly’s Birthdays Boutique, and thank you to those who have supported this initiative so far!
One person who will have a big hand in our truck re-vamping, is our in-resident seamstress and newest employee:
Name: Melissa Heid
Title: Inventory and Operations Program Manager
Office spirit animal: Flamingo
Melissa is a Pittsburgher, through and through. Although she was adopted into the Beverly’s Birthdays family in August, she has already taken over the toy shop, made it into her own personal dollhouse (fitting, as she personally collects Barbies), and continues to be a confident, courageous woman who spreads cheer and happiness on a daily basis (She was a girl scout for 13 years!). Outside of work, Melissa likes to bake and sew. Lookout for her at your next Zumba class!
Birthday Party Activities
Opening Ceremony
To open our February parties, we paraded and danced around the room at our very own opening ceremonies! We picked what countries we wanted to represent (sometimes made up our own and designed our own flags to go with our country), and got our bodies up and moving.
Supplies:
- Olympic Torch
- Music
We used this opportunity to talk about our favorite sports and activities, show off our dance moves, and practice sharing and passing the torch.
Olympic Ring Toss
This fun activity helped us work on our colors and our hand eye coordination. We started out working individually, trying to land a marshmallow in whatever color ring our referee called out. We then moved to the team event, where together we tried to land a marshmallow in each colored circle as quickly as possible!
Supplies:
- Olympic rings (Can also be made with pipe cleaners)
- Mini marshmallows
Face the Cookie Race
Supplies:
- Oreos
- faces
For this race, we placed one Oreo on every child’s forehead. They then had to move the Oreo from their forehead to their mouth, without using their hands! This was a silly fun game with guaranteed laughs and a yummy snack once the challenge was complete.
Olympic Ring (toddler activity)
As seen in previous posts, we love sorting and matching activities for our toddlers! This provides a fun way to work on our counting and color skills as well as fine motor skills.
Supplies:
- Fruit loops (can use m&ms, skittles, colored goldfish, etc)
- Sorting sheet
Other Olympic Activities
Guess what time it is?! It’s EVENING OF BIRTHDAY CHEER time!!! You’re officially invited to Beverly’s Birthdays 6th birthday party. On Thursday April 19th, at PNC Park from 6:00pm to 9:00pm, join us to party with a purpose! All guests will enjoy with their ticket purchase unlimited ‘gourmet’ ballpark food, two drink tickets, fabulous silent and chance auctions, the ‘Build-a-Bin’ experience, and much more! Get your tickets here! Your support and attendance at An Evening of Birthday Cheer goes directly towards creating more birthday magic for children in-need. We hope to see you there!
Next month we will be discussing our emoji mania parties! Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for more news and information about Beverly’s Birthdays!! Don’t forget #smilesmatter.
Birthday cheer,
Beverly’s Birthdays staff