Oli's Birthday Party + Outside-The-Box Friendships

A couple of weeks ago we hosted Oli's birthday party and it was so much fun! We don't always have big birthday parties for our kids and there have been many years where we just did a smaller affair or even simply a family celebration, but this year being Oli's first year at a new school we wanted to meet as many of his friends as possible. Mad Science offered to come and provide the entertainment which was a dream come true for our STEM-loving boy!

Oli is now attending a school for children who are gifted in maths and science, but he's always been drawn to equations, potions, building, and electricity since he was very young. Living in a small urban condo makes hosting big parties really tricky, especially when the weather is too cold to have the party at the nearby park (which is what we have always done for our August and September born girls). When Mad Science reached out and offered to host his birthday party I was so thrilled! Not only are their parties the exact thing Oli and his friends are hugely interested in, but it provided educational entertainment for all of the kids for an hour and a half! The rest of the time was spent opening presents and eating (of course!) 

Oli invited 9 guests to his birthday party (two adult friends who he looks up to, two friends from church, a friend from his old school, and five friends from his new school). This year's birthday party was a big deal for Oli being the new kid, so we wanted him to be able to invite several kids from his class. But we also wanted him to feel free to invite anyone he loved and respected and not worry if they were from his new school specifically. When he suggested friends from his old school and our church we weren't surprised, but when he mentioned two adult friends (also friends of ours who we know from our church) we thought it was so neat! We have many friends who don't have kids of their own but who play a spiritual parental role in the lives of our kids and I think that's such a beautiful thing. We've also always encouraged our kids to think outside the box with friendship - you don't only have to be friends with kids who are the same gender or age, you can have faraway friends who you write letters to and friends at other schools, the important thing is that you love and respect your friends and choose friends who love and respect you. 

Having Mad Science come in freed Brad and I up to spend time getting to know the kids from Oli's new school whereas otherwise we would have been preoccupied with organizing the party, running games and activities and tidying up. Eric, our Mad Scientist, was incredible with the kids and learned all of their names throughout the course of the party. He held their attention for the entire time with fascinating experiments and activities and each child took home their self-made bouncy ball made from the chemical reaction of polymers.

In booking the party parents can select different scientific themes with the option to include an add-on activity such as dry ice or cotton candy. The kids (and frankly the adults too!) were mesmerized by the glasses we wore that cut the colour from any light and the dry ice was such a hit! You can see all of the experiments in the videos I took during the persentation by visiting the archived stories on my Instagram. Mad Science is available throughout North America and caters to science-loving kids ages 5-12. Thank you so much Mad Science for the unforgettable birthday party!

The post was written in collaboration 

with The Mad Science Group

All opinions are 100% my own.

To book a collab, contact me!