Sunday, November 24, 2013

Party On!

Last year, while pregnant with Margo, I craved all things avocado.

I was addicted to that delicious green fruit mashed with a little salt, pepper, onion powder, & garlic powder that I was seriously worried she would be born with a green hue. It was during the end of my pregnancy when I won a House Party sponsored by Avocados from Mexico. We had a fabulous play date, children running around as the grown ups gorged themselves on various guacamole, sandwiches, and other avocado filled foods.

I didn't think things could get any better!

When nearly a year to the date, I was rewarded yet again with another House Party selection. This time Maeve & Moira are the benefactors as House Party chose us to host a Lego Duplo Party.



I began by finding inspiration and creating a Duplo Lego Party board on  Pinterest. This site combined with our own love of Disney's Planes & Jake and the Neverland Pirates, helped to set the tone for our Lego Duplo Playdate.

Numerous friends, both young and old, joined us on Thursday, November 14 for a lunchtime play date.

 Planes Posters & Goody Bags 

So Many Ways to Play Napkins made an adorable banner

Mo's depiction of Planes & Jake and the Neverland Pirates

The children bedecked in party crowns, began the event by coloring pages of their favorites from Planes & Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

After finishing  lunch, it was time to open the boxes. Dilligently, one group worked to create the airport hangar & flight decks associated with the Planes set, while another group of children were swept away to Neverland as they made the Jolly Roger and searched for gold with Cubby, Izzy, Jake, and Captain Hook.

Surprisingly, there was little friction, as more then 10 children played together with the various Lego Duplo sets for close to an hour.



The Last Two Standing
As the time wore on, popcorn was popped as the children found comfortable spots in the living room for a viewing of the Jake & the Neverland Pirates.

The ending of the movie made for a natural ending for our fun filled play date.


As for the details, House Party & Lego Duplo provided us with six kits:

Three from the Planes collection and three from the Jake & the Neverland Pirates Collections


Each box contained very visually appealing photos, provided easy to understand directions, and were simple for a parent and a child to create together. While fans of the series would enjoy finding their favorite characters in Lego Duplo form, it is not a prerequisite for play. These sets did not discriminate, as both boys and girls enjoyed creating and playing. Furthermore, the set provided equal entertainment value to our younger guests under age two, as well as those older ones closer to six years old.

As I understand is the norm with legos, having multiple sets out at the same time lead to a great deal of confusion and frustration among the children and parents alike as we attempted to take apart and put back together the sets. Pieces were mistaken and taken from set to set. The side of each box does illustrate and gives numbers for each amount, however in the midst of play this is becomes difficult to maintain.

Overall, these sets were a hit for our guests, and some ten days later, are still in heavy play rotation in our household.

Are you interested in hosting a House Party? Check out the site here.

While these products were received complimentary through House Party, my review was not compensated or sponsored by Lego Duplo or Disney.