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ABC Learn With MeI’m not sure about you but I know that I still enjoy learning, whether it is learning for myself, watching my children learn or simply learning new things with them. There is never an end to the amazing things that I can learn and that first year with an infant, or rather those first 18 years with a child, provide both the child and the parent with many new things to learn or rediscover. That’s why an ABC Learn with Me baby shower can be entertaining, encouraging and challenging. You don’t have to have a standard baby shower but you can bring in an expert to teach the guests just about anything - scrapbooking, stamping, other craft things, or how to change the oil on your Mom “Taxi” (word of warning here, make sure you mention on the invitation that you will be getting messy with a how-to type shower). If you want to do something out of the house, you could book a shower at a cooking school and spend the shower learning how to make some great family recipes. Not only will you learn something new, you will have the food covered for the meal part of the shower.
If you are going with a learn with me approach and bringing in someone to teach you and your guests how to do something, then your decorations are going to be different depending on what you are learning. What will stay the same, however, are a few of the staples of an ABC Learn with Me shower. These include some fun balloons, building blocks, little learning toys for baby and linking alphabet or numbers to use as both a gift and as streamers. Another great decoration and usually something your demonstrator will bring are samples of what you can create or the tools you will need while you learn your newest skill. See Also: main decorations sectionInvitations A lovely invitation with an ABC or 123 on the front can really tie in with your theme. Make sure that your invitations include specifics on what you will be learning (if that is the type of shower you are doing), and stress that this is not a sales demonstration since you do not want people to avoid the shower, something that can happen if they feel obligated to buy. Also mention things like what to wear, and if they need to bring anything specific, like photographs for a scrapbooking page. Explain that this is a learn with me theme and ask that presents reflect the theme. This is one invitation that will be packed with a little more information than others, but it will keep people from arriving in a short skirt and high heels only to find out that they are changing the oil in the car. See Also: main invitations section
Now we are getting to the good part and an ABC Learn with Me shower is one that you can buy for years to come. Don’t feel stuck buying learning toys for infants to one year because you can start investing in the child’s learning that is years ahead. Also, don’t feel the need to stick with just toys - books, computer games, sports items, music, stuffed animals and even dishes and bottles all affect a certain area of learning and development. One term that is often heard as an Early Childhood Educator is the “Whole Child” and along with those two words are “PILES”. This stands for Physical; a baseball or maybe a push toy, Intellectual; computer games, sorting toys, etc., Language, flash cards, Emotional; books, stuffed animals, and snugglies, and Social; toys that you can bring out with you to play groups. Since baby isn’t the only one who is going to be learning, you can purchase some great books for mom about child development and everything that will be happening over the next 5 years at least. For the guests, you could make craft bags that have a step by step how to article and all the supplies needed to recreate the project you did. You could also give how-to books about the skill you and your guests learned so they can advance even farther with their new found hobby. Prizes can be little items that you would find at a demonstration. For a food ABC, Learn with Me shower, you could give out spices, cooking utensils, pans, and recipe books. For a stamping ABC Learn with Me shower, you could give out single stamps, stamp pads, card stock and cutting tools. See Also: main gift section & main favors section Food As I mentioned earlier, if this is a cooking ABC Learn with Me then your menu will be pretty well covered food wise. Regardless of what you serve, one thing that I would pay extra attention to is the beverages. Nothing makes learning more enjoyable than a few good drinks. Offer some good wine and a few non-alcoholic punches for those that can’t drink, specifically the mother to be. If you prefer to have a non-alcoholic shower completely, offer some sparkling punches for everyone. Also: main recipe section
There are always baby shower games that can fit every type of shower and Pregnancy Trivia contributed by Fela is no exception. This can be a fun game and can lead into a spin off game where guests are paired up and they need to find out 3 personal things about a guest without asking the question straight out. Things like age and middle name can be great examples of answers and the guests cannot ask, “How old are you?” or any other question that is similar. You can ask things like, “How old is your child?” “How long did you have him after you were married?” “How old were you when you were married?” The guests have 2 minutes each to get the answers and the person with the most correct answers wins. Also: main games sectionDo you have an idea to add to this theme? Send it to us! |
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