Theme: Mela
Mention a village ‘mela’ or fair and see the glint in children’s eyes! After all, there is so much excitement about visiting different stalls, taking a ride on camels and horses and, of course, eating mouthwatering food.
So why not create a mela ambience for the next children’s party, provided you have access to a reasonably wide open space.
Mela [Illustration by Shinod AP]
Ask the children to come dressed in attire typical to diferent parts of rural India – different kinds of dhoti or pajama kurtas for boys, and ghagra-choli, lehnga or salwar suits for girls.
Decoration
For the party you can have various stalls selling bangles, toys, small boxes and gift items among others.
Food stalls will add to the ambience of a fair. Have a ‘chaat papri’ and ‘golgappa’ stall along with other traditional Indian foods. You can serve kulfi instead of the regular ice cream.
A person can be called to put henna or ‘mehndi’. There could be a ‘gubbarewala’ or a man selling balloons and a bioscope. A puppet show or magic show are other options.
Think about the village ambience you want to provide. Maybe a cart in the corner, some matkas or earthen pots. You could even arrange the manually operated wooden ‘giant’ wheel or merry go round. Or, make a swing out of a rope by dangling it from a tree branch.
Have folk tunes playing in the background.
