Robot Party Ideas

Over the years we had several parties with Robot activities, though only one was completely robot themed. 

MAKE A ROBOT

For my oldest's 7th Birthday, I spray-painted a bunch of boxes, lids and other things, silver and gold, and also collected metal parts like springs and bottle caps and then set the kids at them with tape, glue and and Velcro strips to make their own robots.  Styrofoam works well too:  just leave it white--don't spray paint it, because some paints can cause it to corrode and omit fumes.  You can also do a smaller take home version with nuts, bolts, springs and other junk (be careful for sharp edges).

For my middle son's 8th birthday we did something similar for a Transformers Theme...only in stead of odds and ends we used legos.  The original plan was to have each child make a car or plane, and then re-use the same pieces to "transform" it into a Robot.  Because of time we just let them make a robot or a car or plane.

Robot Favors

CRAYONS

We also made robot shaped crayons for party favors at my son's Transformers Party.  They were a big hit.

Making crayons is pretty fun.   First, you need a mold.  Any plastic candy mold or silicon mold will do--but for safety reasons you should not make candy in a mold you've used to melt crayons.   You can find an assortment of Robot molds here.   

There's several ways to melt the crayons, but the way I've found works the best is to melt similar colored crayons in each section of a disposable muffin tin in the oven between 200 to 300 degrees.  Start low and raise the temp if they don't seem to be melting fast enough.  They should melt in about 15 minutes.  Then I use a plastic spoon to spoon the different colors where I want.  Make sure to cover the area well with paper to catch drips, because melted crayon is a bear to clean.  You may have to stick the tin back in the oven again if it starts to harden.

I did not use a disposable muffin tin when I did this.  I thought the

muffin cups would protect it.  Alas, it doesn't protect from drips.

If you have a silicon mold, you can just put the crayon chunks straight in the mold and stick them in the oven.  Unfortunately that would not work with the clear plastic mold I used for the Robot Crayons above, because it would melt right with the crayons.

Here in Waco, during a hot summer day, you can also just put broken pieces of crayon into the mold and leave these outside to melt.  100+ degree heat is good for something!

CANDY ROBOT
Several years ago my son came home with this hand-made Robot valentine.  It would also make a fun party favor.  The paper is folded in a triangle (sorry...I don't have a side view with the candy items glues on--Rolos for eyes and hersheys for feet.  They glued a bar-code for the mouth (which would be collected or printed) and made arms out of tin foil (also glued on).

Anyways, there's some ideas to get you started.  Of course there's lots more on pinterest (definitely check out the free Robot Printables There).

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Shared on Throwback Thursday

Waco Area Vacation Bible School Directory - 2014

Photo from Dayspring Baptist Church VBS 2013

Churches all over Waco are hosting Vacation Bible School, fun Christian half-day-camps which are usually free for kids to attend!   Below a some I found in Waco and surrounding area (listed by start date).  This list may be added to as the summer progresses.  

JUNE

Dayspring Baptist Church 
Theme: Wilderness Escape
Ages: Whole Families Welcome
Dates: June 16-20
Time: 6:00 - 8:00 pm  (With celebration the last night running later)
Location:  Waco  (see map)
Contact Tiffani at tiffani@ourdayspring.org for more info.
More Info Here 


First Baptist Church of Waco  
Theme: Wilderness Escape
Dates: June 16 - 20
Time: ?
Location: Waco, TX,
More Info Here



First Baptist Church Woodway
Theme:  SHINE
Ages:  Age 4 - 6th Grade
Dates:  June 16 - 20
Time: 9:00 am - noon
Location: Woodway
More Info Here 

Highland Baptist Church
Theme: Spy Academy 
Ages:  ?
Dates:  June 16 - 20
Time: 9:30 am - 12:15 pm
Location: Waco
More Info Here 


Community Fellowship Church of the Nazarene
Theme:  Weird Animals
Ages: Age 3 - 6th grade
Dates: June 16 - 20
Time: 6:30 pm 
Location:  Waco
More Info Here 


Trinity Lutheran Church at Badger Ranch
Theme:  Weird Animals
Ages:  3 yrs - Grade 5
Dates: June 22 - 27
Times:  (Light supper served before VBS each night at 5:45 pm)
VBS Times: 6:30 - 8:30 pm
Location: Woodway
More Info Here 


Woodway 1st United Methodist Church
Theme:  Kingdom Rock 
Ages: Age 4  - entering 6th Grade
Dates: June 22 - 26
Time:  6:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Location:  Woodway
More Info Here


St. Jerome Catholic Church
Theme: Wilderness Escape
Dates:  June 23 -28
Location:  Waco
More Info Here


JULY


Western Heights Baptist Church
Theme: Agency D3
Ages:  Age 4 - 6th
Dates:  July 7 - 11
Times:  9 am - Noon
Location:  Waco
More Info Here


Peace Lutheran Church
Theme:  Gangway to Galilee
Location:  Hewitt
They have a Carnival Kick-Off With Inflatables, carnival games, face painting, and prizes the first day, and Dinner before each VBS session.
Ages: Pre-K — 6th grade 
Dates: July 13 - 17
Times:     6 -  8:15 pm each night
                High Tide Water Party Kick-Off: 3:00 pm, July 13th only
More Info Here 


Evergreen Baptist Church
Theme: Spy Academy
Dates:  July 13 - 17
Location:  Waco
More Info Here


First United Methodist Church of Waco
Dates:  July 13 - 17
Location:  Waco
More Info Here


Brazos Meadows Baptist Church
Theme: Agency D3
Ages:   KG - 6th Grade
Dates:  July 20 -24
Location:  Hewitt
More Info Here 



Columbus Avenue Baptist Church
Theme: Agency D3
Dates:  July 21 -25
Location:  Waco
More Info Here 



First Baptist Church McGregor
Theme: Scavenger Hunt
Ages: ?
Dates:  July 27 - 31
Time:  Evening - Times to Be Announced
Location:  McGregor
More Info Here


Second Baptist Church - Woodway 
Theme: Major Stako
Ages: Age 5 - grade 5
Dates:  July 28 - 31
Time: 9:00 am - Noon 
Family Night July 31
Location: Woodway 
More Info Here 


Central Presbyterian Church
Theme: Feed My Sheep
Ages:  Entering KG - 6th Grade
Dates:  July 28 - 31
Time: 9:00 am - Noon 
Location:  Waco
More Info Here



If you would like your Church VBS info added to this list, please leave me a message with the details in the comments below.

REVIEW: Custom Kids Shirts by Shugie

I received a product discount in exchange for this review.

Every year I get a  t-shirt for my kiddos with their age on it.  It started with my middle son  as a way to help him learn his age and celebrate turning a year older...and has turned into a yearly tradition.

This year I bought my kiddos shirts from Shugie, an etsy shop run by Jess Galvan .  While there's a lot of shops out there that do initial and age shirts, it can be hard to find fabric that's mature enough for my 9 year old.  Shugie had TONS of great designs that I knew even my older kids would love.  It was hard to decide...

Should I go with this cool Batman design?

 Or maybe Star Wars?

After much consideration I decided on....

TRANSFORMERS!

This is my youngest in his 6 shirt.  He LOVED it.  He was nearly as excited

 over this as the actual transformer toy he got for his birthday!   I got his older 

brother the same design in a 9. 

The quality of the shirts are excellent...they just look very solidly done.   The buying experience was great too.  One reason I love shopping on Etsy, especially for custom items like this, is that I get to order from a real person.  It's not just about "supporting handmade"--it's about the customer service you get.   Though Jess doesn't usually keep larger sizes in stock, she was happy to custom order one for my 9 year old (who also got a transformers shirt).  And she even asked me what my kids favorite transformers were, so she could be sure that the right one showed up in the design.  

I really recommend this shop.  It has a lot of great designs for boys I haven't seen anywhere else, and some great ones for girls too.  If I had a girl, I would totally want to get this one for her....

And, Shugie doesn't just have shirts...check out these cuts jackets!

If you like what you see you can

Shop Shugie Here