Creative Ways to Celebrate Your Wish Child and Her/His Wish!
Wish Presentations!
Creative ways to celebrate your wish child and her/his wish!
- The volunteers plan the details of the wish presentation – find out when the family is available and volunteers decide everything else.
- Wish participants are invited to the wish presentation.
- Wish Presentations can happen at the child’s home, a restaurant, a store, a park, tea shop, roller rink, laser tag facility, fun center, WA State ferry, firehouse, police station, gym – anywhere!
- Check out these great Wish Presentation Training YouTube Videos
What would a WISH be without an outlet of celebrating that it is coming true? In conjunction with the magical experience of having a WISH come true, a child also gets to enjoy a special celebration that we call a “wish presentation.”
The wish presentation is a great opportunity to utilize all the information that you have learned about the child. Refer to the Child Wish Form filled out by the child at the beginning of the wish for ideas of what favorite food, music and colors the child likes.
In many cases, children will have forgotten that they gave you this information so it will be a big surprise when you include all their favorites at the wish presentation. Before planning your wish presentation, discuss ideas with your wish partner and Wish Coordinator. Creative ideas will start to flow when everyone puts their heads together!
While “typical” parties may infer a large gathering of friends and family, the purpose of this get-together is simply to celebrate the excitement and/or success of the wish between the volunteers and the wish participants. It’s an opportunity to share the details of a wish itinerary for a travel wish as well as the hard work and community involvement in “to be” or “to have” wishes.
To ensure longevity of our donors any wish presentation that takes place in a donated/discounted venue such as a restaurant cannot exceed 10 participants, even if others wish to pay for themselves. If an extra person comes to the restaurant, intending to pay their own way, and sits with the family it puts the restaurant in an awkward position where they feel they should donate or discount their meal too. Remember, just because there is a budgeted amount, doesn’t mean it has to be spent. Wish presentations are one of the easiest places to save Make-A-Wish resources and receive donations for most if not all of the party.
It’s a nice touch to provide travel gifts for the wish child and siblings to occupy the children during the long flight. If you are requesting reimbursement for travel gifts, be sure to discuss a budget with your coordinator before you go shop – remember we have a large selection of toys and games in our offices.
I wish to have and I wish to be Wish Presentation budget: $150 is maximum cash budget (including gratuity!)
While we do have a cash budget for a wish presentation, our hope is that you can make a variety of “asks” to the community and restaurant managers and find those who are most excited to participate in the wish through an in-kind donation! There is no limit to the amount of in-kind expense incurred (as long as it is not in the range of a second wish), so be creative and ask for in-kind donations whenever possible.
I wish to go and I wish to meet budget: $100 is maximum cash budget (including gratuity!)
A wish presentation occurs in conjunction with a travel wish and usually takes place 3-10 days before a family’s departure. Because the primary focus of the wish is the child’s destination, the budget is a little smaller and the purpose of this gathering is to share the details of the wish by providing the family with their wish packet (wish itinerary, MAW buttons, airfare itinerary and per diem check). This celebration is appropriate for the Wish travelers and the volunteers only. Our hope is that you can get a local restaurant excited about participating in the child’s wish through an in-kind donation, or flex your creative muscle by planning an out-of-the-box way to celebrate the wish coming true!
Ideas for Wish Presentations
- Bedroom redo wish
Surprise reveal with all the folks that worked on the room (still wish participants) - Cover wish kiddo’s eyes, put a Make-A-Wish banner at the door that the wish kiddo can cut with big scissors before entering, play favorite music in background for atmosphere, videotape the wish kid seeing the room for the first time, have a celebration cake.
- Computer
Deliver each computer piece of the package one at a time ending with the computer have a professional computer geek come to wish child’s home and set everything up for them give them a tutorial on how to use their new toy get a professional to teach wish child how to use complicated software.
- Disneyland princess
Have a princess tea party at the wish child’s home, park or tea house. Have the whole family wear pink or purple!
- Ninja wish presentation
Dress like Ninjas, sneak around presentation location, do some karate moves, and uncover a “hidden” box that contains the wish kit. (Volunteers could work with parents to hide box in advance of party if it is being held at home.)
- Detective wish presentation
Same as above, except dress as detectives and help wish child uncover clues that lead to the wish kit.
- Baker wish presentation
Meet in a kitchen, and give wish child a recipe for her wish. E.g. 1 cup glitter, 1 flip flop, 3 tablespoons sunscreen, 1 toy airplane, ¾ cup sand, 2 flowers from a lei, etc. Have the wish child put all the ingredients in a big bowl and stir, and then pop into the oven. Come back in 15 minutes, and pull the wish kit out of the oven!
- Puzzle
One of my volunteers somehow made a puzzle for the wish child to put together that created a picture that said the child’s wish was coming true. It was very cool. I can’t remember who it was, so I can’t find the picture, but it was a very cool idea!
- Shopping Spree- If time allows, enjoy a leisurely lunch before or after the spree. Or if the wish child wants to spend their max time shopping, they can get his/her favorite “food to go” in the limo ride home!
- Travel wish (ex: To go to France): create a scavenger hunt where clues lead to a French café or bakery and request an intimate table with MAW décor (balloons/banners) where you share the exciting details of the wish itinerary with all the wish participants.
- Animal wish: request assistance from your local pet store to provide a small goodie basket of toys and trinkets for the wish child’s new furry friend. Perhaps the local shop would even host a small gathering of the wish child’s family here for dessert and a demo on how to best groom the dog; wish child could look for the “wish bone” in the store which has a gift card included from the shop.
- Celebrity wish: find out the wish kids’ “hope” for a new outfit to wear when they meet the celebrity and see if a store will help set up a personal shopper for the child to pick out a new shirt or hat or haircut (within our budget or donated!!). Once a new outfit or haircut is enjoyed/picked out, volunteers go through wish itinerary with all traveling wish participants at nearby ice cream shop or bakery.
Have an Ice Cream party at a local ice cream shop.
Have their favorite character arrive to deliver their packet.
Have a scavenger hunt where the child/family discover things for their wish trip along the way.
Have the wish item or travel packet delivered in a cool vehicle – a police car, a semi-truck, a collector car, etc.
Bring dinner to the family home – pizza, sandwiches, to-go from a favorite restaurant, etc.
Plan an activity to celebrate – we have access to many of our local attractions (the zoo, aquarium, Science Center, Ride the Ducks, NW Trek, etc.) for free or discounted rates.
Firehouses and Police Departments are almost always to host a wish presentation. We had one fire department even make the wish family dinner!
For a kiddo who loves boats the WA State Ferry let a wish kid and her family and volunteers travel back and forth on the Bainbridge run for her entire wish presentation and they were super happy to help.
Be creative and cater the Presentation to the child.