Last year I worked with the British Heart Foundation on a wonderful project called The Small Creature. It's a book about child bereavement, which is not the jolliest of subjects, but a worthy one and is currently being made into a short animation. I am very excited about this and will blog about it soon. However, this year I was asked to work with hat-trick on a subject at the other end of a child's emotional spectrum ~ the party!

Top; Animal alphabet, Speedy safari, Funny faces, Dinosaur egg and spoon & I went to the jungle and met.
Middle; Pop goes the weasel, Animal introductions, Animal agents, Squirrel hunt & Koala bear hug.
Bottom; Follow the sheep, Pizza Picasso, Paper bag puppets, Krazy kangeroos & Musical meercats.

I was asked to illustrate 15 cleverly re-invented party games that used the whole product's animal theme. I started with their titles to create an image for each card. For example, "Pop goes the weasel" has weasels playing a balloon game on it. My client also wanted them to have a party feel, so I used wrapping paper and other party ephemera in the images.

The whole pack is stuffed with wonderful ideas for a traditional childrens' party. It makes healthy food exciting to fussy eaters and details games that get everyone physically active, engaged and hopefully worn out!

The British Heart Foundation are selling their Party Packs for 4-8 year olds through their gift shop here.

hat-trick's work can be seen here. Many thanks to Alex Swatridge doing all the clever bits.

Creative Review Blog

British Heart Foundation kids party packs

Posted by Gavin Lucas, 3 June 2011, 10:55 Permalink Comments (9)

Facing statistics that over 80 percent of five year olds in England don't get their five a day in terms of fruit and veg, and also that a third of children get less than the recommended amount of physical activity each week, the British Heart Foundationcommissioned design studio hat-trick to design a kids party pack aimed at 4-8 year olds that would promote healthy fun for kids whilst communicating health messages to parents.

The BHF enlisted the services of recipe writer Lizzie Harris to create no less than 17 party food ideas with an animal theme – hence recipes for carrot cakes that look like rabbits, sandwiches styled as chickens and a Lion made out of tortilla chips. WriterNick Asbury created playful names such as Bunny Buns, the Cluck Cluck Club sandwich, and Safari Snacks. Photographer John Ross then shot the food on paper plates complete with the odd crumb or food splat, helping to make everything look homemade and, ultimately, achievable.

The animal theme extends to a selection of 15 party activities including a good ol' Dinosaur Egg and Spoon race and a balloon stomping game called Pop Goes The Weasel. All the games are illustrated by Rebecca Sutherland using cut paper, with the game instructions carefully worded for maximum fun by Asbury.

Hat-trick also designed items in the party pack such as stickers (32 sheets per pack)...

...which look rather splendid on pieces of fruit or on balloons:

Each pack contains 20 placemats:

And even 20 party invitations:

"We did some research into existing [kids party] packs on the market and were surprised to find there were hardly any," says hat-trick's Alex Swatridge. "At the momet, partents have to buy almost every element separately, which costs a lot in time and money. Bringing all the party items together made sense. But using separate recipe and games cards also means parents and children can mix and match their favourite elements."