Mailee's shopping party was a blast! This is a great alternative to having the party at home while still avoiding the chuck-e-cheese route!! My best advice is to keep this type of party to a smaller number of kids. Here are a few of the fun details!
Spending Money "Goody Bag"- as opposed to filling a goody bag with "stuff", I gave each girl an empty goody bag and some spending money for the mall. I gave my daughter the choice, 8 kids with $7.50 each, 6 kids with $10 each or 4 kids with $15 each. This particular daughter is a quality over quantity kind of girl so she went with inviting her 3 favorite people and having a little more spending money. For what it's worth, I think the party would be equally as enjoyable for the kids even if they had a smaller amount of money.
Scavenger Hunt- I made two lists, one was labeled "take a photo of these..." the other was labeled "complete these tasks...". Each item listed had a box next to it and they all enjoyed checking off the boxes as they completed the tasks. This kept the party moving around the mall as the girls were shopping with their spending money. The even bigger bonus to the scavenger hunt? GREAT PICTURES!!! The kids were happy to strike a pose as long as there was a little box to check off!
completing a task- "play hopscotch".Clearly this takes a bit of planning. I went to the mall a few days prior to the party armed with my camera and a pen and paper. I scoured the mall for fun little free activities. interesting items to look for, and counted up the number of bank machines and exits. Don't go too far in advance, the mall is constantly rotating stock.
completing a task-find a card at the Hallmark store and "give" it to Mailee.The girls loved this activity. They took their time and picked out great cards! I don't know about you but with 3 kids in school and at least one friend party a weekend, I do not allow my kids the extravagance of purchasing cards from the store. It's all about the make-at-home cards! They all enjoyed pretending to pick a "real card"!
This is the card my older daughter picked out for her sister! I thought it was a perfect choice coming from a first born!
Stick with the theme- make the gifts match!!!
After 3 hours at the mall, we moved the festivities to the house for cake and gifts. I invite the whole family, aunties and grandparents for this hour of the party. I enjoy doing all celebrating on one day!
Lazy Lanterns- Sometimes hanging lanterns is just a lot of work! I tied beautiful bows on the top of each lantern and plopped them on top of varying sized vases and candle holders. They looked fantastic and they were quick and easy!
Purse Cake- A shopping party must have a purse cake, yes?
This is my version.
Here are my favorite photos from the scavenger hunt...
"take a photo in front of a blue tiled wall"
"take a photo at the front desk of (fill in name of store in your mall with swanky front desk) and strike a pose!"
"Put on a ring, a hat and some glasses and get them all in the photo"
The family photo!
Thanks for looking, I hope you feel inspired to go out and plan a shopping party of your own! I did this theme with my own friends when I was a teenager and again as a bachlorette party in college. It's a winner every time and with any age!
