8.29.2013

Indian Pow-Wow Party!

Indian pow-wow party Life on Circle Avenue

My oldest daughter turned 8 years old on Sunday. She requested an Indian birthday party for her 2nd grade class. She has been reading these Mandie books and has loved them. So, we invited the class (and hoped that not every single last child could come) and wanted to share our pics from the day! If you are planning an Indian party in the near future, hopefully these ideas can give you some inspiration!

I did a super easy feather garland for the table. I also made some arrows with paint, dowels and feathers hot-glued on. I wrapped the tips with tape and pencil top erasers. I think these were my favorite thing- they turned out so colorful and fun!

Indian pow-wow party Life on Circle Avenue

DIY arrows Life on Circle Avenue

I have to admit that one of the hesitations I have with big parties are all the gifts that come with it! Don't get me wrong, I am not ungrateful, but I am finding our playroom and house overflowing with toys and things that we don't need. I love the generous hearts of the parents and kids who want to bring gifts but sometimes it is just too much, you know? So, I talked about this with Kailyn and she suggested that we get a gift for our sponsored child instead. I was all on board and so sent out a polite email asking for monetary donations towards our sponsored child's 16th birthday coming up (in lieu of gifts). I have to say that I was a little nervous as to how the parents would react but they were all very supportive and loved the idea. I think we all agree that presents can be superfluous! By the way, we raised $140 for our sponsored child's birthday gift! We will probably use it to buy something substantial for him (like a cow for the family- per Kailyn's suggestion!).

Table decor Indian pow-wow

I found these Native American play people/set at Michael's and bought them with a coupon.
 

Steve was in charge of the games and I was in charge of the crafts and food. Steve really wanted them to be able to do archery, so he hung up an old white sheet over our swing-set and I painted a bison for the Indians/kids to shoot arrows at.

painted bison Life on Circle Avenue

Steve made a bow out of some small pvc pipe and twine. It worked! He also made arrows from dowels and feathers.

shooting bison Indian party Life on Circle Avenue

For our tepee, we bought 7 8foot long strips of cheap pine wood, and one large 9x12 painting canvas. We didn't do any sewing or cutting- just tied the tops to the strips of wood with twine. It has been up for days now and held up great.

 DIY tepee Life on Circle Avenue

Indian pow-wow tepee

We also bought a small fire pit for roasting marshmallows after our hotdogs were eaten.

Indian pow-wow roasting marshmallows

We had the kids paint the tepee with arylic craft paint. I had printed out some Indian markings for inspiration and showed it to the kids and then they took it from there. They really did a great job and I love that we can see their artwork displayed whenever we use the tepee!

Life on Circle Avenue painting tepee

painting tepee #2 Life on Circle Avenue

Steve had them quite entertained with his headdress and games.

Indian games pow-wow

Another thing we did was have the kids pick out their "Indian name." We wrote a list of adjectives down (dancing, running, laughing, etc.) and nouns - mainly animals (like horse, rock, deer, etc.). After they decided on a name, I wrote it on a nametag and they kept it on so we could call them by that name throughout the party. It was a great idea... from my husband!

I also made these tepee cones which the kids ate right up- found the inspiration on Pinterest. Other foods were corn on the cob, blue corn chips and hotdogs.

cone tepees pow-wow

indian pow-wow Life on Circle Avenue

That's about it. It was fun but exhausting- and that's why we only throw these kinds of parties every other year!

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