Crafty Whizz Studio's 'Make a Stuffie' workshop is a fun and novel idea for a kid birthday party. Your child and guests will also feel accomplished after picking up new sewing skills!
We seldom hold birthday parties for our kids - it's a lot of work planning and preparing, and holding parties outside don't come cheap. So, our girls' birthdays have mostly been small family celebrations at home. But this year with Big E turning 12, we decided to have a party as we thought it'd be nice for her to have a gathering with friends before they graduate from primary school.
Now that covid restrictions in Singapore have eased, there are actually many party venue options to choose from. For our party, I had a few considerations:
1) It'd have to be a small party of about 6 kids as Big E only wanted to invite a few close friends, so venues that only have packages for say 10 kids are out.
2) I wanted a place where the kids could hang around and work on a fun activity together - as oppose to a huge venue where the kids could be all over the place - just so that no one gets accidentally left out and parents do not have to feel obliged to join in to keep an eye on their kids.
3) I didn't want to spent too much so I decided on a maximum budget of S$60 per kid (the budget does not include cake/food/party favours). Yup, so nothing too fancy.
After considering activities like baking, soap-making and art jamming workshops, we finally decided on a 'Make a Stuffie' sewing workshop at Crafty Whizz Studio at 81 Joo Chiat Road. I first came across them in an Instagram ad and had heard good reviews from some parents whose kids had attended their sewing workshops.
I also thought sewing is a good skill to learn and the kids would probably find the experience novel and accomplishing when they make their own stuffed animal! At $59.90 per participant, it was within my budget too. The studio charges by the number of participants making the stuffed toy so there are no other extra charges like venue hiring etc.
The party session is 3.5 hours (3 hours actually but they gave us an extra half hour as they noted that sometimes the kids might work a bit slower as they would chit chat while sewing). So basically it's 2-2.5 hours of sewing and the remaining time is used for cake-cutting and games, which the venue can organise for you if you'd like (we skipped the games as we just wanted the kids to mingle and have some finger food).
Ok, here's what went on at the party!
First off, the kids got to choose what animal they'd like to make and the fabric they'd like to use for them. They can choose from puppy, bird, dolphin, cat, teddy bear, elephant, owl and dinosaur. The kids in our party opted for puppy, bird and dolphin (their end products are in the cover pic). There is really a good variety of fabric to choose from!
An instructor then taught the kids how to operate a sewing machine and a few different types of stitches before they started on the real thing.
If you're wondering if it's a difficult activity for kids, I'd say it was very manageable for our party of 9-12 year-olds. There were two instructors guiding and helping them such that the children didn't need any guidance from parents. In fact, most of the Crafty Whizz Studio's workshops are meant for kids from 6 years old and up!
The sewing machines (more high tech than the ones people my age used during home economics!) - were also quite easy for the kids to use. Little E, who is 9 years old, got a little confused with the back stitching initially but she soon got the hang of it.
The instructors were friendly and patient, and were on hand to help the kids if they got stuck on certain step, which doesn't happen too often because the sewing is really quite straightforward with markings on where they are to sew and not to sew.
After the kids stuffed their stuffies, the instructors taught them how to stitch up their plush animals with a hidden stitch. I was amazed the kids could do this quite easily on their own! So the kids do learn a new skill at the party. After this, don't be surprised if you child asks for a sewing machine to pursue their new hobby - Little E, who likes sewing, has already asked me to get one!
We took about 2.5 hour for everyone to complete their stuffies, so I'm quite grateful to have that extra 30 minutes which allowed us to have an hour of cake cutting and light refreshments.
I also really love that Crafty Whizz Studio put up a happy birthday banner and balloons which they let the kids take home!
But do note that the venue is essentially a place to hold sewing workshops. So they do not have a pantry or separate room for cake cutting - they joined two tables for us in the centre of the room for that - which is not a problem at all as our party is small and there were ample space in the room.
Also, they do not have a fridge to store your cake, which I only realised on the day when we arrived. That said, the air-conditioning in the room was really cold so our cake lasted till the end of the party. But if you have a cake that you don't think will last without refrigeration for 3 hours, I'd suggest you pick up and drop your cake at the party closer to cake-cutting time!
I think Crafty Whizz Studio is great for small parties. It can hold parties for up to 12 kids (I saw from their Facebook page), but if parents are joining, it might be a bit of a squeeze with that many kids. We only had 3 adults in our party, so it was just 9 people in our party, hence there was a lot of space.
There was a bigger party in the room next door and I had preferred their layout where the workstations were side by side. The layout in our room had two solo workstations and initially I had thought the kids using those might feel a bit left out from the ones working side by side. But it didn't turn out to be a big issue as Little E didn't mind using the solo workstation as the other kids were her sister's friends while a guest who came later and used the solo workstation didn't seem to mind as she was kept busy with the sewing. The kids still got lots of opportunity to mingle thereafter!
If you're thinking of holding a birthday party at Crafty Whizz Studio, here are a few other things to note:
i) A water dispenser, which the instructors told us we were free to use, is available.
ii) The air-con at the venue is really strong. So do bring a jacket or cardigan!
iii) You'll need to leave your shoes outside. So if you don't like to go barefoot, you might want to wear/bring socks.
iv) It can be difficult to get parking along Joo Chiat Road during weekends, so you might want to go earlier to try to get a parking space, or park at the nearby Joo Chiat Complex instead.
v) Your party can also make other items other than stuffies. You can make tote bags ($59.90/pax), monogram pillows ($59.90/pax), name pillows ($79.90 per pax), unicorn stuffie ($99.90/pax) and bucket hat ($59.90/pax) if you want to.
vi) The studio holds workshops at the same rates. So even if you're not looking to hold a party, you and/or your kid can always sign up individually for their workshops to learn how to make a plushie or the items above.
vi) Crafty Whizz Studio is located at 81 Joo Chiat Road, #02-05, next to Breadwerks and Apiary Ice-cream. Contact them at +65 9101 8203 for enquiries.
And here are the stuffies my girls made. They are well treasured by the girls, especially after all the effort they had put in to make them!
Do you know any cool birthday party venues or or great birthday party ideas for children? If so, do let us know in the comment box below!
Disclaimer: We paid for our party, and my opinions and reviews here are strictly my and my family’s own.
©Vivian Teo. All content and photos are copyrighted to Vivian Teo unless otherwise specified.
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