Schools, nurseries and libraries can benefit from the launch of a completely free downloadable Roald Dahl DAY party pack, thanks to a collaboration between YPO, the UK’s largest public sector buying organisation, and the Roald Dahl Literary Estate responsible for publishing the world’s number one storyteller.
Roald Dahl Day is celebrated internationally on and around 13 September - the date of Roald’s birth. Following the huge success of the "Roald Dahl 100" celebrations throughout 2016, Roald Dahl Day 2017 is set to be the biggest annual celebration to date. This year’s theme for Roald Dahl Day is Heroes and will be a celebration of Roald Dahl’s iconic child heroes, including George, James, Matilda, Sophie and Billy. Schools and families are encouraged to host their own marvellous and magical events to celebrate Roald Dahl’s beloved characters and stories
The gloriumptious party packs, which can now be downloaded by teachers and parents, feature a host of fun activities, challenges and quizzes to keep Roald Dahl fans entertained and inspired way beyond the day itself and to assist as a teaching tool.
The Roald Dahl Literary Estate’s marketing director Bernie Hall said: “Working in partnership with organisations such as YPO helps us to showcase Roald Dahl’s works to new generations of children. Last year’s celebratory event for Roald Dahl’s 100th birthday was incredibly successful and saw over 57,000 party packs downloaded, so we hope to build on this success and know that some schools are already planning events ahead of the summer holidays!”
YPO’s commercial director Jo Marshall said: “We’re thrilled to support these gloriumptious party packs with our products, and ultimately helping teachers to deliver literacy and PSHE objectives. Last year YPO was delighted to be part of the part of the “Roald Dahl 100” celebrations and it’s a partnership we are incredibly proud of; we’re just as excited to continue our support into 2017.”
Party-ready
Each pack comes with special Roald Dahl party invitations which hosts can use to round-up as many party goers as they can.
Upon arrival, guests can make and wear their very own Roald Dahl Day party hats which can be accompanied by a custom-designed Mr Twit beard, complete with weird and wonderful things they think might be found in his famous facial hair.
Inventive and inspiring activities
The party packs are bursting with activities and experiments for children to get hands-on with. From concocting their very own George-style volcanic eruptions and marvellous medicines to inventing scrumdiddlyumptious sweets that Mr Wonka would be proud of.
For the wordsmiths at the party, the packs contain all sorts of word games including a fantastic creatures and Dirty Beasts crossword, a wondercrump wordspotter and a gobblefunk word quiz. Taking ‘gobblefunk’ a step further, aspiring writers can play with letters and words to discover their unique Roald Dahl name and use it to write their very own Dahl-inspired story, aiding literacy skills.
Fans can also put their knowledge of the writer’s works to the test by taking part in a book quiz to see how much they really know about their Roald Dahl stories and characters as well as uncover which Roald Dahl hero they are most like.
And a party wouldn’t be a party without the chance to dress up: children will have the chance to support Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity, which provides specialist children’s nurses and family support, by donating £1 for dressing up as their favourite Roald Dahl character wearing the BFG’s famous big ears, the Grand High Witch’s wig or Willy Wonka’s cane.
Creative learning partnership
The Roald Dahl Day party packs are a continuation of YPO’s partnership with the Roald Dahl Literary Estate of which the company is an exclusive sponsor of Roald Dahl’s own teaching resources for schools.
YPO has been working in collaboration with the Roald Dahl Literary Estate as its creative teaching sponsor since 2016. As well as the party packs for Roald Dahl Day, YPO has produced a series of lesson plans inspired by the writer’s most celebrated titles such as Matilda, James and the Giant Peach and The Witches.