1,000 Books Before Kindergarten Celebration

Last night we had a celebratory party for all the families who have completed the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program and it was so much fun!  I wanted to make sure that it was very different from our typical story time and that the kids knew we were celebrating them!  Currently, we only have about 20 kids who have completed the program with over 300 actually registered for it.  Of those 20, we had about 16 kids and their families show up to the party and what was great was seeing both mom and dad or grandma or grandpa or the nanny, everyone was in such a great mood!
We started out the program with a fast-paced song of “If You’re Happy and You Know It,” then I read Chickens to the Rescue by John Himmelman – I love this book, super interactive and so silly!  Then we did a quick “Freeze Dance” and were ready for our activities!  I created a cloud dough (similar to play dough) out of cornstarch and hair conditioner.  I added a packet of Kool-Aid for color and scent as well.  I found that a box of cornstarch and a bottle of hair conditioner is just about the right measurement.  I should have thought about the hair conditioner I chose because it had an ocean breeze scent to it which then got mixed up with the tropical punch Kool-Aid which made for a very interesting scent.  But, the kids loved playing with it – it’s similar to moon sand, but really smooth from the cornstarch.  As we were experimenting with the cloud dough, we also created our very own mess-less finger painting masterpieces.  I added a 1/2 of a sheet of cardstock to a quart size Ziploc bag and then we squirted in a few colors of paints for the kids to use.  I am a huge proponent of making a mess, but because we were also eating a snack, I didn’t want us all to get too messy.  Baby wipes cleaned up any little hands of cloud dough and any paint drips.
After our activities the kids were all given cupcakes to frost and decorate!  This was a HUGE hit!  We gave the kids popsicle sticks to frost their cupcakes with and then let them go to town with sprinkles, and boy, did they!  The parents did a great job of letting their kids take the lead with all the activities and I think they all enjoyed seeing how much the kids had.
Finally, the kids were able to choose a picture book that would be added to our collection.  We created 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten dedication book plate to add to the book and the children were allowed to be the first ones to check out these brand new books!  The kids and parents were so proud of their accomplishments and we had such a great time!  How do you celebrate your 1,000 Books finishers?