Robot Birthday Party

I'm going to make a real effort to plan this party so it rocks. Celebrations always sneak up on me and I end up half-assing it all the time. Well not this time! We're talking about TWO birthdays in one, so it's got to be done right.

Just so everyone knows, this is Obsidian and Ember's party. It's Saturday, August 8th at noon. You and all your friends are invited.

I got really excited about their party early on when Whitney picked up a copy of this hipster magazine Cookie. It's all you'd expect from a hipster magazine, with really absurdly priced fashion forward kids clothes, models that aren't real human beings but robots pretending to be mothers and their cute children, but also with some admittedly cool ideas.

The one I am running with is their Robot Party.

I am doing these suggestions of theirs:

"Nuts and bolts"—dried vegetable snacks, almonds, and cashews—make great party fare. (Double-check with parents about nut allergies.) Fill aluminum pans from the supermarket, then arrange them in a rectangular pattern for a graphic motherboard look.

Make a Robot

Use an aluminum takeout container with a paper lid for the body of this robot craft. Gather metal items, such as large screws, paper clips, and washers, that kids can use to make faces. Arms and legs can be crafted from silver pipe cleaners or aluminum foil.

Takeout containers, from 36 cents each, KitchenDance.com.

3:00 P.M.
Recharge Your Circuits

Even robots need their batteries juiced. Create a healthy "circuit board" from sticky rice and kid-approved vegetables like carrots, peas, cucumbers, and red peppers.

Walk the Walk

On the floor around the room, tape down as many pictures of robots as you have guests. Then play music and encourage the kids to dance. When the music stops, each steps on an image to earn a prize. For more detailed instructions, click here.

Wind-up robots (a good prize idea), $2 each, Schylling.com for stores.

TIP: Find free, printable robot images at akidsheart.com/color/robots.

Cut the Cake

This cake was baked in a basic 9-by-13-inch pan, then cut up, frosted, and painted with edible silver dust. Colorful licorice "wires," candy "buttons," and cookie limbs completed the look. For instructions on how to bake this cake, click here.

Edible Luster Dust, $6, N.Y. Cake, (212) 675-2253.