Pretend City - Perfect for Everyone

Pretend City - Perfect for Sensory, ASD and everyone!

We are all aware of the importance of pretend play. We all want the best for our kids. As parents we look for things to do with our children that help them learn and play in an educational yet fun way.

Most kids can do this kind of play anywhere at any time. Other kids can not. Some kids that are on the spectrum or have sensory needs have a harder time with crowds, noise, patience, listening, behavior, routine, instant gratification and much much more.

Last Wednesday, I was blessed to be gifted a Preschool party for my sons early start preschool class, by +Pretend City Children's Museum . There really are no words that I can type to express my thanks and gratitude. Seeing these kids who have worked so hard all year (hey and their parents too), smile ear to ear, made my heart as full as one can get! Thank you Jonathan, Julianne and Bianca - You and your Pretend City team are amazing - I am beyond grateful for all the kindness and top notch customer service that is always provided.

Since I was blessed with some things that were not used at our first DisneySide preschool party, I saved them and planned on using them again for more kids. This was the perfect opportunity to use the gifts of DisneySide and share them with more families. Thanks +Maria Bailey and team for an abundance that has now gone over well with two parties for many kids!

We arrived a little late - are you surprised?! It was the first day of summer and my kids totally knew it. The PC Team helped me set up super fast and the families arrived.

We had games, crafts, coloring sheets, decor for photo booth style photos with funny faces and all. There was food, snacks, drinks and even cars gummies to eat. Mickey was there - well his face was and missing was his smile so the kids could try their best to stick it on the closest!

Veggies, Fruit, Snack and Fun for everyone!

Goodies out of our DisneySide Box of Preschool Party Fun
(Round 2)

The room was ours for an hour (even though we stayed much longer since no one was booked and that was a blessing since our kids need some quiet time here and there to reel it back in lol), and we kept the kids occupied for just about that. I mean, it is a bit harsh and hard to keep these kids in that room when they see and know what fun awaits them out the door.....

So maybe my son brought in a few cars and proceeded to run them like on a race course around the tables and chairs, and we may or may not have brought some of the toys from the plat area into the party room. BUT - guess what?! IT WAS OK - No one yelled at all the kids, no one was impatient with their behaviors, no one made us feel like our kids were out of line, no one made a big deal out of anything like that. It was refreshing! It was beyond nice to be able to know I did not have to say sorry every 5 minutes for my son running wild. Now, he was NOT breaking any rules and or causing any harm he was just being Mikey and loving it. It was awesome!
 

 Disney Cootie Catchers, Disney Cars Coloring, Frame Making and more - It's Cars everywhere! 

The team was amazing. There were headphones set up in a corner and ready if needed. There were decorations that were safe and no balloons for popping hazards. The party was perfect and by the time the kids were ready to cut loose and head into fierce Pretend Play, we were ready too!

BAM - It took two minutes or less and all the kids were running around loving it all. I was able to clean up a bit and keep it tidy so that if anyone wanted to rest up or take a break - they were able to. That was so nice.

I walked around just saying HELLO to all the parents and thanking them for coming to celebrate our kids accomplishments together. They were all so grateful for the party and wanted to know who to thank, so from all of the parents THANK YOU SO MUCH Pretend City!!

From Fishing, to painting and rocking out on stage there is so much to do that we always spend hours with our Edufun hats on.

Did you know there are baby chicks you can see and just go gaga over? Yup, I know right!

Did you know that if you want to taste a Korean soup or snack you can head up to the front by the entrance and grab one on the house.. well courtesy of Nongshim and their newest exhibit that I just can't get enough of.

Did you know that if you book a party you also get return visits for your guests. Win Win :) So CALL up your friends and get playing!

After a snack I watched the kids run around the grocery store, one was filing the basket and the other was the cashier. It is always interesting to see what my kids do and what role they play while there together since they are 4 years apart. Always find something to do together or apart meeting new friends.

Around 2pm most of our party was ready to head out - Pretend Play really does wear you out.

The kids ALL had the best time and I did not see one melt down so that is a bonus! Job well done friends - really well done.

This was so much more than special for the kids and families. It was something deeper for me. One of the family members that brought one of the kids to the party looked so familiar to me. She just had that face I knew I had seen before and knew well. I could not put my finger on it. After a little while as the party went on, we talked and her accent made me think even harder about where I knew this lady. She said her grandson rode the bus to school and her grad daughter attended another school so that is why I had not met them at the boys school yet. She said to me that I looked familiar too. She said she lived in the city I grew up in and gave the cross streets of where I lived with my parents. IT CLICKED! Her grandson is in my sons class and we grew up playing soccer with her own kids. We chatted about old times, and my mom, bless her and much more. It was such a nice run down memory lane that I wanted to tell you how special little things like that are to me! Reconnecting and having something in common now as we did then. What we have in common may not be the soccer this time but it's our boys... thanks for the reconnect Pretend City!

Pretend City Children's Museum is open from 10am until 5 every day (except on Monday they close at 1pm see more info HERE) and have monthly events - sign up for their newsletter to get info monthly and also follow along on my blog. We always post about what is going on at our favorite indoor edufun play place!

We attend often so please watch out on our social media and if you see we are there, come day HI and chat while our kids are learning while playing.

Thank you to all the parents who made the effort to come out on the first day of summer to meet, greet and enjoy our families. Thank you one more time to Pretend City for the best kids party ever.

The Best Kind of Friends -
Those Who LOVE us For US!

Really this was the best kick off to summer ever and the faces of the kids said it all!

Hope you get a chance to check out some of the exciting EduFun that Pretend City has going on always and some special events all summer long.
OnTheGoOC

Thank you to Maria and her team over at Mom Talk Radio for so much fun, we used it for two parties. Thank you to those who contributed to the kids and parent swag bags - Renaissance Club Sport Aliso Viejo , +Pirate's Booty , BarkThins , +Boudin Bakery , +Brothers-All-Natural , CrunchPak , @ChickFilA , +Spa Gregorie's Day Spa & Salon and Disney,

 
 
 

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*All opinions are my own. Special thank you to Pretend City for their courtesy and kindness*