Party411.com Sends Hospitalized Children's Hearts-A-Flutter with Donated Parties

Party411.com is excited about the Hearts-A-Flutter Program. There are 16 hospitals across the country participating in this event to make Valentine's Day for hospitalized children a little more normal to regular life. We gratefully acknowledge the participation of the following hospitals:

• Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital of Cleveland, Ohio
• Babies & Children's Hospital, Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, New York
• Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston
• Children's Hospital of Austin, Texas
• Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit
• Children's Hospital of Omaha, Nebraska
• Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
• Children's Hospital, Boston
• Children's Medical Center of Dallas, Texas
• Children's Memorial Hospital of Chicago, Illinois
• Children's National Medical Center in Washington D.C.
• Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore, Maryland
• Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford
• Nebraska Health Systems in Omaha, Nebraska
• A Canadian Hospital
• A U.S. west coast Hospital

And now, let you children's hearts flutter with this party plan…

Decorations:

The key in decorating is to make it look as festive as possible. Have your children arrive in a "sea of red" making their little hearts thump with anticipation for what the day will bring them. Decorate your activity room, hospital floor, rooms or nurses' unit with Valentine mylar balloons, crepe paper, doilies, Valentine clings, a Valentine heart Cascade and heart cutouts.

Tableware:

If you are serving food at your Hearts-A-Flutter party, decorate the table with the red tablecloth. You may even have the kids decorate the cloth with their own designs. Valentine plates, napkins and cups will be provided for you. Have children cut out their own mini-hearts and Valentine-related figures to sprinkle around the table as confetti. Cut foot-long pieces of curling ribbon, curl them and hang them in bunches from the corners of the tables.

Activities:

Children love when a variety of activities are available to them as their energetic minds race from one opportunity to the next. Have them sign their names to a number of cartoon Valentine cards so that they are ready to exchange them with other friends around them.

Children love to decorate their very own Valentine's Day bag so that they may collect sentiments from their friends and family. Help children decorate their white bags using crayons, curling ribbon, Valentine stickers, doilies, different colored tissue paper, crepe paper, and construction paper.

Children can play card games and parade around your party space exchanging Valentine's cards. See below for more game ideas.

Play music to uplift hearts and rejuvenate the souls of everyone.

Party Favors:

You can tie balloons to the bedsides of children who are immobile. Hand out Smile Face Heart Characters, Heart Porcupine Balls, Valentine Pencils, tattoos, wooden yo-yo's, card games and mini-springs.

Games:

Balloon Bounce: Have a contest to see who can keep the balloon in the air the longest using only their head. The person who can keep it in the air longest without using anything but their head wins. (This game can also be played in teams).

Freeze Dance: This game does not need much explanation. Put a group of kids in a room, play some music, and watch them dance. Then turn the music off during the song, and they must freeze in their current position. If they move at all, then they are "out". The people who are still in the game continue to dance/freeze as you control the music, until one person wins.

Hot Potato: This game is an old favorite. Have all kids sit in a circle, as one kid is chosen as the "leader". Begin passing a potato (or other object) around the circle, while the "leader" turns his/her head with eyes closed. Everyone must accept the potato, and may not hold it longer than a second. At any point the "leader" can yell, "Hot Potato", and whoever has the potato is out. Continue to play until there is only one person left, and he/she is the winner.

Feather Blow: Give each of the kids a feather. When you say, "GO!" the kids have to start blowing the feather in the air. Whoever can keep the feather in the air the longest (using only his/her breath) is the winner. This game can also be played in teams (the team to keep the feather in the air longest using only breath wins)

Name That Animal: This is a fun game for small children just beginning to learn their animals. Pass out animal stickers or small stuffed animals, and have the kids imitate the animal they receive.

"Sense-Sational": Test their powers of smell! Fill paper bags with a variety of items that have an aroma, such as coffee beans, salami, toothpaste, orange peels, chocolate, and so on. Be sure the smells are familiar to the age group. Then pass the bags around and let the kids smell them without looking inside! Give prizes to whoever guessed them all correctly (or whoever guessed the most correctly).

Telephone: Have the kids sit in a circle on the floor. The first player begins by whispering a phrase into the ear of the person next to him/her. One by one, each person repeats the whispered sentence as they hear it when it is whispered to them. When the last person receives the message, he/she repeats it out loud. It is usually completely different than the original statement. This game can also be played with goofy faces. The first person makes a goofy face, and then turns (with the goofy look on his/her face) to the next person. The goofy look is passed on until the last person and the first person compare goofy faces.

Good Guess: Find a variety of items that your guests can guess "How much…" For example, "How many jellybeans in a jar," "How many words on a page in a book," "How many crackers in a bag of oyster crackers," "How many pages in a magazine". Award a prize to the person who has the closest guess for each item.

For fun and exciting Valentine's Day products and supplies, click here.

Happy Valentine's Day, from the Party Girl and Party411!

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