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How to Plan a Baby-Sitters Club-Themed Party

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Jaime Herndon

Contributor

Jaime Herndon finished her MFA in nonfiction writing at Columbia, after leaving a life of psychosocial oncology and maternal-child health work. She is a writer, editor, and book reviewer who drinks way too much coffee. She is a new-ish mom, so the coffee comes in extra handy. Twitter: @IvyTarHeelJaime

As a kid, The Baby-Sitters Club was one of the first series that I wholeheartedly fell in love with. My grandparents would take me to the bookstore after school, and I can remember finding that yellow-bordered book, Kristy’s Great Idea, and falling in love with the books. Some of my friends also started reading them, and we’d share books with each other and talk about the stories. We’d take turns buying the Super Specials and pool our books.

Knowing that the BSC has lasted and come back to reach a whole new generation of readers makes me happy. What better way to share the BSC love than to throw a BSC-themed party? Whether it’s a birthday, random sleepover, or just a fun get-together, a party celebrating the Baby-Sitters Club might be easier than you think.

Invitations

Little Miss Stoneybrook and Dawn cover

In this day and age, you don’t necessarily need snail mail invitations, but if you do so, an inexpensive way to have a BSC-themed invite is to print color copies of various BSC covers, and then glue a pre-printed invite with the party info on the back. (I’m partial to the original covers, but whichever ones are your favorite works!). You can also check out this BSC-themed template from Etsy.

Snacks and Food

Snacks are a must — and given Claudia’s love of candy, having lots of candy is a must. But like Stacey, there may be guests who can’t have candy or who simply don’t want it, so having other yummy snacks like cut-up fruits and veggies, pretzels, trail mix, or chips and dip is a good idea.

Kristy was eating pizza when the idea for the BSC hit her, so pizza is a great idea for a party food, and generally a popular choice. Depending on your guests, if any of them are vegetarian like Dawn, you might want to have something else like salad, veggie burgers, or veggie stir-fry.

Activities

Kristy and the Walking Disaster cover

Stacey and Claudia always love fashion and makeup, so why not channel them with doing makeovers? Experiment with some new hairstyles or new makeup trend you’ve been eyeing, or paint your nails a color you normally wouldn’t.

Jessi is a dancer, so break out the Wii or Playstation, or turn on YouTube and play a dance game or take a dance class. It doesn’t have to be ballet like Jessi, just something fun and new that everyone can try for some entertainment! If it’s nice weather, channel your inner Kristy and play some softball.

Claudia is also an artist, so break out those canvases and paints and have a painting activity! If you’re of age, why not do a sip-and-paint activity with adult beverages? You can also add Dawn’s laid-back California vibe to the fun and tie-dye some shirts in the backyard, if the weather’s nice.

And, of course, you can always just grab some snacks and drinks and watch some BSC on Netflix, or if you have Amazon Prime video, the 1990 BSC series or 1995 BSC movie.

Party Favors

The party isn’t over just yet — if you’re looking for some goodies to give to your guests, think of Dawn’s passion for the environment and hand out seed packets for people to plant. Depending on how many people you invite, sending them off with a BSC book they don’t have yet, or a graphic novel version of a BSC book is also a fun idea.

cover of We Are the Baby-Sitters Club

If this is a party to celebrate your favorite series from childhood, if you can swing it, the book We Are the Baby-Sitters Club: Essays and Artwork From Grown-Up Readers would be a great party favor. It’s a smart, thought-provoking look at the series.

To pay it forward, you can also keep in mind Stacey’s diagnosis of type 1 diabetes and make a donation in honor of your guests to a pediatric diabetes foundation, like the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

The most important thing, as the Baby-Sitters Club knew, is friends and friendship. No matter what you decide to do at your BSC-themed party, being with those whose company you enjoy will make it a fun time.


Don’t forget to check out this post about planning a bookish party or if comics are more your thing, this post about Wonder Woman party supplies is great, too.