All that sparkles!!! For that gemstone, jewel, or geode fan out there, we have a party for you! Our little one went through a bit of a rock-collection phase and when party time rolled around, we of course had to have a rock-themed party! Read on to check out our ideas for decorations, party food, crafts, games, and more!
We did create some labels and signs for the party. Feel free to use them for your own personal use if you’ think they’ll help: Gemstones, Jewels, & Geodes Party Labels & Signs!
DECOR
We kept our decor fairly simple with pinks & purples all around as well as some craft and acrylic jewels scattered around for extra shine. We placed some of our young reader geology books around the party area as well. This pack of Geode Accents was a pretty easy way to add some extra decoration around the tables and signs.
ARRIVAL
For our welcome area, we set up a table where guests could create their own crystals. We’ve used this technique from generationgenius before (Growing Mineral Crystals Activity for Kids), so we knew it would work! Although the directions say to leave the mixture overnight, you can see results in about an hour. So this worked well for a starting activity – you can either send the guests home with the crystals or package the solution and let them leave it overnight.. Guests could pick out their pipe cleaners and by the end of the party, they’d have their own crystals! 🙂
We also had a tablet at the entryway with a Gemstone Personality Quiz for guests to take online. It was a cute and fun way to see which gemstone you matched. We had some gemstone pens along with some extra Geode Accents for the kids to write down which gemstone they got if they wanted to.
FOOD & DRINKS
Make Your Own:
- Jewelry Necklace (string & fruit loops / cheerios)
Appetizers / Sides:
- Watermelon geodes
- Guacamole geodes
- Sedimentary rock salad
Main Course:
- Lasagna (metamorphic rock)
Dessert:
- Gold Mine Bubble Gum Nuggets
- Pop Rocks
- Gold & Silver Hershey Kisses
- Ice Cream with Hot Fudge
CRAFTS/GAMES
For our activities, we had a few “stations” that we did as a group. Most were in the “Jewels and Jewelry Workshop” but we had some outdoor activities in the “Gemstone Mining Site” as well.
Jewels & Jewelry Workshop
- Jewelry Bead Making Table. We purchased a set of Natural Chip Stone Beads and let the kids create some jewelry bracelets. We had them focus on bracelets so each kid could have enough for at least one fully loaded bracelet.
- Shrink Fun Geode Jewelry. We used a kit where the kids could make fake agate slice jewelry. Some of the pre-cut shapes were more ‘agate slice’ in appearance but they didn’t seem to mind at all
- Birthstone Necklaces: We used a printable from allfreejewelrymaking.com so that the kids could find their birthstone and learn a bit about what it symbolized: Monthly Birthstone Printable Guide
- Watercolor Geodes: We set up a Watercolor Geode Table. It’s a quick and relatively low-mess activity that we tried for one of our camps. There’s a video tutorial here from Kidspace Children’s Museum. We had our sample finished geodes for an example. Each kid was able to use a small canvas but we had index cards available if they wanted to make more!
- Paint a jewelry box. If you can head out to a craft store, you might be able to get a small wooden box for just above a dollar. We had paint as well as paint pens for the kids to decorate.
Gemstone Mining Site
- Gemstone Dig. We were fortunate to find some of these at the Dollar Tree. Each kid had their own to chisel away. The gemstone (singular) is encased in something chalk-like, so those that finished quickly ended up drawing on the driveway and sidewalk 🙂 Double the entertainment!
- Breaking Geodes. We picked the National Geographic Kit with 15 Geodes as we had a small group and gave them 1 geode each with one to spare in case they didn’t get a geode. We have actually purchased bags of geodes as well but found the kit to have a higher probability of getting more geodes….
GOODIE BAGS
For our goodie bags, we added in some sparkly pencils and pens, pop rocks, fake gems, and an actual amethyst or crystal. (Truly, that was a bit on the expensive side – $5 – but again, we had a pretty small group). They also kept all the water colors, geodes, and other things they made or worked on throughout the party 🙂
THANK YOU!!!
Thank you so much for checking out our party planning article. Hopefully it gave you some great ideas for your next celebration!
If you did enjoy this, please let us know below or follow us on Pinterest. Also, If you haven’t already and are still looking for that perfect party theme, feel free to check out some of our other party ideas: Party Guides!
Happy Party Planning 🙂
