November Minion Parties!
We had a lot to be thankful for in November. We were able to celebrate 84 birthdays at our 16 minion themed parties alone last month! Also, at our first annual Great Birthday Bake, we welcomed kid bakers from all across Pittsburgh to compete in a cookie competition at The DoubleTree by Hilton Cranberry. 36 contestants competed across 5 different categories all in hopes of claiming the glory of being the overall best cookie champion. A big congratulations to all of our contestants, and a special shout out to Kate Boyle who clinched the Overall Best Cookie title with her Santa’s Snickers Surprise!
The Born This Way Foundation chose us as their Pittsburgh charity for The Channel Kindness Tour. As a result, we had the opportunity to collect toys at the pre-party leading up to the Lady Gaga concert. Even Lady Gaga’s mom Cynthia and Grandma Gaga brought us presents! A big thanks to Alex and the Born This Way Foundation team for all of their support.
Both of our co-directors had huge accomplishments in November. Ms. Megs attended the Stevie Awards in New York City where she received national acknowledgment for the great work she is doing, and Mr. Josh set up an all-time record of holiday toy drives for Beverly’s Birthdays, setting us up to continue to provide the most awesome birthday presents for our kids in 2018. Thanks to our fearless leaders for their continued passion, encouragement, and dedication to spreading cheer and letting every child in Pittsburgh know they matter.
Birthday Party Activities
Play Dough Minions
This month our kids enhanced their fine motor skills while using their imaginations to create their very own minions out of play dough! The results were truly one in a minion.
Supplies:
- Assorted colors of play dough (lots of yellow)
- googly eyes
- pipe cleaners
- Make some minion mats (optional)
Every child received a plate with an assortment of play dough, googly eyes, small pieces of pipe cleaners, and were let loose to create the minion of their dreams. Some modeled their minions after characters from the movie while others made 9 eyed, 3 eared masterpieces.
Minion Bingo
There are few things our kids enjoy more than screaming BIIIINNNGGOOOO at the top of their lungs and picking out a prize from the prize bag. This particular bingo game was especially challenging because all of the minions looked very similar to the other. We had a great time trying to act out the minions being called.
Supplies:
- Minion Bingo
- Crayons/ Bingo Markers
This a great game that not only is fun but encourages collaboration and healthy competition. We love seeing our older kids help the younger ones find and mark the correct pictures during this game.
Additional Activities
- Pin the hat on the Minion
- Minion cup stack
- Minion Coloring Sheets
- Hot banana (like hot potato with a banana)
- Minion Footprint craft
Other News
- Shout out to all of our supporters contributing to the 27 toy drives currently
being completed in honor of Beverly’s Birthdays! - Thank you to the Pirates Charities for making our program manager Melissa’s dream of meeting Bell and Cervelli come true!
- We are still hoping to make our dream of the Beverly’s Birthdays’ Boutique a reality. Please check out https://www.gofundme.com/fashion-truck-for-homeless-children to learn more and consider making a donation.
- All of our January volunteer opportunities are posted. Join us in 2018 by signing up HERE.
WE ARE EXPANDING! In the new year we are adding 10 additional agencies. This not only means many more volunteer opportunities including cupcake bakers, treat bag makers, and more, but most importantly more deserving kids receiving love on their birthday!
Finally, we want give our sincerest thanks to everyone who has been a part of the Beverly’s Birthdays magic that happened in 2017. You are truly the heart of our organization and we could not do what we do without you. Thank you, happy holidays, and we can’t wait to see what the new year has in store! #smilesmatter
Birthday cheer,
Beverly’s Birthdays staff