Coloring at a birthday party is calm, cheap and easy to set up. The one thing it usually lacks is a finish. Everyone colors, the pages go on the fridge, and that’s it. Our party screen gives it one. Each guest colors a printed page, one phone takes a photo of it, and a few seconds later that drawing walks into a world on your TV, in the colors it was given, with its name above it. Everyone stops what they’re doing to watch it arrive.
Here is how we would run it at home, from the morning of the party to the cake.
What you need
- One big screen. A TV with a laptop plugged in, or a computer near the sofa. The party screen is a web page, so there is nothing to install.
- Printed coloring pages, one or two for each guest and a few spares. Every drawing on the site has a page to print, on A4 or Letter.
- Crayons, markers or colored pencils. Whatever you have. Strong colors that fill each shape come out best.
- One phone. It takes the photos. Any phone with a camera and a browser will do, and nobody needs an account.
The morning of the party
Pick a world first, because the pages come from it. The jungle, Sunny Farm, the Glasshouse and Dragonrest are free, so there is nothing to buy. If the birthday has a theme, follow it: lions and zebras for a jungle party, cows and pigs for the farm.
Print the pages. A mix works better than twelve copies of the same lion: guests like to see different animals arrive together, and they like to swap. Each card on the site says how much there is to color (bold shapes, detailed or very detailed), which helps when the guests are of different ages.
Then open the party screen on the computer that is connected to the TV, choose your world and press start. You can do it right here:
Make the page full screen. The world appears, already moving, with a code and a QR code in the corner. Leave it running. It is a nice thing to have on the wall while guests arrive.
A 40 minute plan
5 minutes: show the screen. Gather everyone in front of the TV and explain the one rule: color your page, and it will come alive up there. Let each guest choose a page from the pile.
20 minutes: color. Tables, the floor, a picnic blanket, anything works. Put the crayons in the middle. Shapes don’t have to be perfect, but a shape with color in it comes alive in that color, so encourage everyone to fill as much as they can.
10 minutes: photos and watching. Scan the code on the TV with your phone and tap Photograph paper drawings. Lay each finished page flat in good light and take one photo from above, with all four corner squares in it. The phone reads the colors, the drawing lifts off the paper and flies onto the big screen, and the TV announces it by name. This is the best part of the party, so take your time. One drawing at a time keeps every guest’s moment their own.
5 minutes: find your drawing. By now the world is full. Ask everyone to find their own: it is harder than it sounds when there are three lions. When you end the party, the screen shows a code that anyone can scan to keep their drawing in their own book, where it keeps living after everyone goes home.
Tips for guests of different ages
- Give the youngest guests bold shapes. Fewer, bigger shapes fill quickly and look great when they move. Save the very detailed pages for guests who want a challenge.
- Make a photographer. An older guest who likes being in charge can take every photo. It keeps the phone in one place and gives them a job they will take seriously.
- Let guests who would rather color on a screen join too. Anyone who scans the code can color a drawing on a phone or tablet instead of paper, and it arrives in the same world.
- Pause when you need to. The party controls let you pause new arrivals, take any drawing off the screen or end the party. Names are picked by the guests, and you can choose names from our lists only if you prefer.
- Keep a spare page or two. Someone always finishes early and wants a second animal.
Why it works
A coloring page on its own is a quiet activity. The screen turns it into something the whole room shares. Guests cheer for each other’s drawings, they notice the purple elephant and the striped giraffe, and the birthday guest gets a moment when theirs arrives. It also gives the party a natural end that isn’t the cake.
It is easy on the host as well. There is no app to set up and nothing to sign up for. The photos stay on the phone: we only read the colors of the shapes, and only the drawing goes to the screen. And since the drawings are kept in each guest’s own book, the party goes home with them.
Planning a birthday gift too? The birthday page has ideas for that. And if the party is at school instead of at home, a class party in 40 minutes has a plan for a projector and a whole class.
