The following post is part 5 of a 5 part series by guest blogger Aimee Mae Riley. Aimee held a princess camp for her church. Aimee used the Princess Parable Series in her camp curriculum and shares the details of the camp below for our benefit. Enjoy!
Friday- Princess Joy’s Birthday Blessing
Our last day of camp was almost like a first day, since we had to switch rooms to accommodate another unanticipated event. We stayed after camp for an extra hour and a half on Thursday, transferring all of our decorations and setting up our princess party room. Here is a picture of the new room, which we ended up loving even more than our first room. One thing that made it better was having a water fountain- or bubbler as we say here in WI- and bathroom right outside the door instead of down the hall.
Don’t you love the display shelf for our Parable Princesses books?
All week long, the girls had been anticipating our special dress up party day. All the girls were invited to wear their prettiest dresses, and we planned to paint their nails and faces and eat cupcakes and ice cream.
As they entered, we took pictures of each girl in front of the castle decoration. Once everyone had arrived, we played Pin the Gem on the Crown. We simplified our approach by drawing a crown on a big piece of paper and having the girls design and cut out their own gems. Then, we blindfolded each girl and had the other girls safely direct her to the crown, where she stuck her jewel on with double-sided tape.
After our game, all the girls sat in the middle of the room for our story time. Today’s story was about Princess Joy; it is actually the first Princess Parables book, but we saved it for last because of our party plans. Joy is a lovely princess, and she is so looking forward to the party her sisters are planning for her, only none of the guests can come! At first discouraged, Joy instead decides to invite all of the children from the kingdom, be they poor or rich. She finds that it is indeed better to give than to receive.
As a group, we discussed how we can give without expecting anything in return, and the girls offered up answers about helping around the house, giving money to those less fortunate, sharing their toys, and the like. In that moment, I realized how much I would miss these special girls and their sweet hearts. It was a busy week, full of fun and activity, but on this last day, I determined to slow down and just take time to enjoy the girls, and that is what I did.
We directed the girls back to the tables and distributed our party food. The girls chatted happily as they ate their cupcakes and ice cream, fruit salad, and apple juice. This Wilton Princess Cupcake Stand Kit (which includes the cupcake liners and crown decorations) was perfect for our party, and it is affordable and reusable.
After we got the girls all cleaned up, it was time for the beauty treatment! Kira, Caitlin, and I divided up: Kira and I painted toenails, and Caitlin became the master face painter (I found a Princess Face Painting kit at Michaels on clearance from $24.99 to $9.99-hurray!) Here are a few pictures of our pretty princesses:
The face painting took longer than our camp was scheduled, but the few remaining girls and parents were happy to stay a little longer. As the girls left, we gave them each a gift bag (I just used clear cellophane bags with pink and purple tissue paper) filled with foam stickers, play rings, Ring-Pops (I got them for 30 cents on clearance at Walgreens!) , balloons, and these Princess Stationery Sets. Those that remembered also took their fancy drinking glasses which I found for 50 cents each at Goodwill; it was so cute to see them acting so dainty with these as they drank their water and juice throughout the week.
Final Thoughts
So much of our week involved doing and organizing projects with the girls that it wasn’t until Friday that I finally knew everyone’s name without hesitation and got to really relax. The one-on-one time I got to spend with each of them as I painted their toenails was a special blessing.
My highlight of the week came when we talked about Jesus being our best friend, and a few of the girls called out, “Jesus is my best friend!” My prayer is that He will continue to be just that as these precious girls grow into godly young women who love and serve Him.
I hope you enjoyed this series and that it sparked some inspiration for your own princess party or camp plans. I highly recommend the Princess Parables books. Be sure to get one, or the whole set, for your special princess. They are a wonderful way to introduce them to being a daughter of the true King.
For more ideas that I didn’t get a chance to use (but wish I had), check out my Pinterest Princess Camp board.
Aimee Mae Riley is a mother of 5 children from Wisconsin. You can read her blog at Whispers of Worth.
