Following on from my Operation Sneaky Stealth Mode post…

Before embarking on the four dragon master challenges, we asked our little ninjas to ’empty their cups’ – an old proverb well known in the martial arts circles. Masters of wushu will often ask their students to leave all ego and worries at the door, allowing their minds and bodies to soak up the teachings within.

Our beautiful little ninjas-in-training did an amazing job of doing just that. In return they had wildly, wonderful fun and learnt what it is like to be part of a dragon ninja team.

We therefore thought it fitting that they should leave with full cups of happy memory tokens of their journey. Once again the local bamboo came in handy: We hand-sawed 35 little cups out of bamboo (each about 10cm high), left them to dry for a few days in the sun and then filled them with small handfuls of ninja-esque goodies.

Sawing bamboo pots is a fairly dedicated task (I know of other party-makers using noodle-boxes or paper bags for a japanese feel), but I think it was worth it. Many of the children have kept their pots for keeping pencils in at home, one mama-ninja has transformed hers into a vase, and we have a little line up of extra pots housing violets in the back garden. The remaining off-cuts of bamboo have been set aside for a wind chime project.

Total Cost: $0 for pots, approx 50c for three treats for each child. 

Total Production Time: 2 hours