When kids are young, you can literally use ANY excuse to throw a party. Half the time, parents don’t even take note of what they’re celebrating. “You’re saying you’ll entertain my child for a few hours? Done deal!”
So when Some Boy throws out bizarre party theme requests, I tend to roll with it. Occasionally it seems like he’s just stringing words together nonsensically. “Mama,” he blinks his big blue eyes excitedly. “I want a party…with Mickey Mouse…in space!”
Game on, kid. Game. On.
He and his friends have been using my iPad to play the Mickey’s Magical Math World app, which is probably where he got the idea in the first place. I’ve been a little bit obsessed since discovering Disney Imagicademy. It’s been ALL Disney, ALL the time around here. I found the site awhile back when I was looking for educational video games to prep preschoolers for grade school. It features apps and activities to help peak children’s curiosity.
There’s even an app to inspire parents with different learning ideas. That’s where I stole the idea for this “How Many Mickeys” Yahtzee-esque game. I've used these little wooden buttons for a few projects in the past, and I loved the idea to paint them into Mickeys and Minnies and toss them a few at a time out of a cup to help enrich Some Boy’s counting skills. While we’ve been focused on math skills, Disney’s been ramping up to release a new app call Mickey's Magical Arts World on February 12 entirely dedicated to fostering creativity. We just might have to have another party then.
In the meantime, Some Boy and his buddies have been learning all sorts of math stuff in Mickey’s Magical Math World app, and it served as the perfect party feature for his wacky space-themed bash.
I’m able to mirror apps from the Apple store onto our Apple TV so the whole gang stays entertained at the same time. Sidekick in particular gets a kick out of watching the other kids bounce around making patterns in Minnie’s Robot Playground and sorting shapes in Goofy’s recycling center.
We mainly have preschooler friends but older children (up to age 8) can still get a lot out of the app, problem solving with Daisy and learning early number concepts with Donald.
Of course, a Mickey Mouse space party wouldn’t be complete without some out-of-this-world treats. We made “Mickey Moon Pies” by simply smashing some mini Oreos in between some Double Stuf Oreos. All that math works up an appetite, after all.
Easy treats – and easy party themes – for the win!
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.