In honor of American Girl’s Blu-ray DVD release of McKenna Shoots for the Stars, and its Television Premiere on NBC July 14th (8/7c), we’re throwing a Shoot for the Stars Party!! McKenna Brooks is the American Girl “2012 Girl of the year”. She embodies the typical young girl who must find balance between school and the activities she loves. McKenna is a superb gymnast, however, the struggle she faces with reading comprehension in her fourth grade class may stop her from participating. As her grades slip, her teacher and parents require her to seek help from a tutor. Used to being a strong young lady, she finds herself embarrassed and hiding the truth from her friends. An accident at the gym ends up teaching McKenna some important lessons about friendship, priorities and allowing those around us to help when we need it. American Girl brings home the gold with this girl empowering, wholesome movie. My daughters and I give it 6 thumbs up!
We’ve watched it multiple times already and were excited to share a screening with our party guests. My oldest daughter’s birthday coincided with the release of McKenna Shoots for the Stars, so we threw a movie screening/star themed birthday party. Our color scheme was based on McKenna’s gymnastic outfit in the movie; lavender, aqua and a hint of lime. Party planning is so much fun even when done on a small scale. I love to look for small details, like the notched star shaped cookie cutter I used to cut watermelon as garnish on the side of our smoothie juice glasses.
Miss Maddy and Miss Sydney had so much fun filling the goodie bags with gymnastics pencils and color themed treats. Each bag was hole punched and decorated with curling ribbon and shimmery cardboard stars. Along with the small purple stars, I found some larger Aqua stars, and hung both from my dining room chandelier for some extra shine. Our cake continued the theme with its purple and aqua tie dyed bow, and fondant cutouts. Stretchy gymnastic leotard- like fabric acted as my table runner. I folded it in half to give it a thicker appearance and then added some lavender ribbon to the edges. To my delight all of the girls had a great time and LOVED the movie!
Inspired by the DVD, my girls and their guests headed outside to practice tricks on their gymnastics mats! Twenty four years ago, I received Kirsten, my first American Girl Doll (then part of The Pleasant Company, with an offering of only 3 dolls!). I spent many hours daydreaming over their gorgeous catalog and imagining myself in a different era. Today, my girls are the ones being inspired. Our collection includes 7 dolls now and many books. As my girls have begun moving on from actually playing with the dolls, I love that they are still engaged through AG books and movies, like McKenna Shoots for the Stars. I highly encourage any mom with girls aged 8-12 to check out this movie and other American Girl products like the fabulous “A smart girls guide to” book collection. Both are confidence and character building tools for young gals…..and REAL MOM RECOMMENDED!
