Kalmia Mom

Category: Theme parties

  • Throw a fun Vet Birthday Party

    A Vet-themed birthday party is a fun option for an animal lover. My middle son has wanted to be a Vet since he was three years old. He loves animals, science, nature and learning what he can about all of those topics. Depending on the age level of kids for your party, there are many options for decorations, games, activities and favors. Your imagination is the limit as to what you can do.

    The age level I was focusing on was 5-8 years old. Although, most of those kids were around 6 years old. I decided to have the kids pretend they were Vets and set up stations around the house. They pretended to be Vets, adopted a pet, crafted and played games.

    Vet Name Tags

    First, the kids had to identify themselves. They were each given a sticker name tag that had “Dr. ” written on it in permanent marker. The children participants could either write their name or have a grown-up write their name. Most of the kids were proud to wear their name tag sticker. However, some of the tags did not stay on their clothing very well. Another option is to write the name on a precut piece of card stock and slide it into the plastic sleeve of a pin name tag. Still another option, though pricey, is to personalize an appropriate-sized smock or lab coat.

    Gearing Up

    Once the kids were identified, it was time for them to gather their gear. Their ‘doctor’s bag’ was made out of a brown paper bag with handles. I cut out and taped a red plus sign to the outside of the bag. Inside their bag, each child had a clipboard and sharpened pencil. I purchased 6″x9″ hardboard clipboards. To each of the clipboards, I attached a blank check-up report.

    The next step was to select their patients. I purchased small (4-5 inch) stuffed cats and dogs from Amazon and had the kids select which one they wanted to adopt. Then, they could pick out grooming supplies. A comb and a washcloth were available for each pet. After their grooming, each “doctor” selected a blanket to keep their pet cozy.

    When their pet was chosen and “cleaned up,” the kids could decorate a crate and create a collar before the pet’s check-up. I set up a table with a fleece-lined vinyl tablecloth for crafting.

    Make a Crate

    For the crate, I purchased treat boxes, similar to these. My husband cut an oval hole in one side (short side) for the pet’s head to poke through. The party participants could decorate the “crate” if they wanted to. Some of the materials that were available to the kids included stencils, stickers, foam stickers, glitter glue, colored pencils, markers and crayons.

    Make a Collar

    For the collars, I offered chenille stems (pipe cleaners) and plastic beads. The pipe cleaners were like these. For the beads, I supplied pony beads in solid colors and translucent. I also included some letter beads, both round and in a cube. The kids could choose what beads to use. For instance, some spelled out the name they gave their patient while other kids put their own name on the collar. Some collars were very colorful, without any letter beads. **Tip- make the collar tight enough to twist the pipe cleaner around the stuffy’s neck. It should be secure and not be too loose to fall off. Don’t completely fill the pipe cleaner. The amount of beads will vary due to the beads selected. Some will be a little larger or smaller. Plastic cups were used by some of the kids to sort their beads.

    Vet Check-up

    Previously, my birthday boy had received 2 Melissa and Doug Examine and Treat Pet Vet Playsets. We used some of the tools from that for the party. Equipped with their doctors’ bags, clipboards and check-up checklist, the kids started the medical examination. The checklist included ears, eyes, heart, nose, paws and tail. First, for the ears, there were cotton swabs and wipes to clean out any dirt that might be there. There was also an Otoscope from the Vet Playset. Next on the check-up checklist were the eyes. They could use an Ophthalmoscope to look into the eyes. Also, there were pretend eye drops from a bottle to clean or medicate the eyes. Those two items for the eyes were also from the Vet Playset.

    Heart Check

    After checking the eyes, the next part for examination was the heart. For the heart, I made pretend stethoscopes for each party participant. I used a headband and attached a ribbon with hot glue. Two circles of the same size were cut from white felt. Likewise, two hearts were cut from blue felt. Then, the hearts were hot glued to each circle and the circles (wrong sides facing each other) were hot glued onto the end of the ribbon. I was not sure if the headbands would be bothersome to the ears of any children. Therefore, my husband acquired some unused foam earplugs and hot glued them to the tips of the headbands. They turned out to be bothersome to some of the children, while others actually wanted to keep theirs on. If you would like more specific instructions on how to make the stethoscopes, click here.

    For the nose and mouth I supplied some tongue depressors. The paws were cleaned with a wipe before examining. Last on the check-up checklist was the tail. Various bandages, mostly cloth or self-adhesive wraps, could be used for the tail. My kids have put stickers and bandages on some stuffies before. They do not usually come off well. Also at the end I had a bin with other vet tools (like a syringe, arm cuff and tweezers, most from the Vet Playset.

    Games and Other Activities

    There are so many animal games and activities for parties. The party was inside, as it was in January and my age range was 2-8, most of the kids being 6. Activities that were simple and fun, but not too involved, was the way to go. I found a few that fit the bill, some of which we did at the party. First, there was animal charades. The party participants take turns to act out an animal and to guess what that animal is. The second activity was a porcupine quill removal. About 10 toothpicks were stuck into a ball of play dough. The kids had to use tweezers to pull them out, one by one. The third activity was to play a pin the tail on the cat game. The fifth was to decorate bird finger puppets. The kids were not interested in the porcupine game, nor charades.

    Pin the Tail on the Cat

    One game that they did enjoy playing was Pin the Tail on the Cat. On a poster board I drew a cat. The tail was also drawn in place so that the players knew where they were to place the tail. Before the party my husband so kindly cut tails out of different colored construction paper. Each child selected the tail they wanted and wrote their name on it before playing. For blindfolds we used strips of non-see-through material. Each player had their own blindfold, so as to not spread germs.

    Bird Finger Puppets

    The other activity the kids wanted to do was to decorate bird finger puppets. I folded the paper beforehand in various different colors. The kids colored them to resemble birds.

    You can check out the how-to for this easy paper folding craft here.

    Cake and Decorations

    The cake and decorations for my son’s Vet party were fairly simple. He was fine with it. He selected the cupcakes. Also, he got to contribute and decide on some of the decorations.

    For the cake, we ordered half chocolate and half vanilla cupcakes from a local grocery store. They had cute and fun faces of dogs and cats on top. Overall, cupcakes seem to be simpler to serve. Utensils (forks) for eating, a knife for cutting and a plate for serving are all not necessary with cupcakes. To keep everything simple, we did cupcakes and an ice cream cup.

    The decorations were very simple. We taped pictures of animals on the walls around the party area. Some of the decorations were pages from a puppy-themed calendar. Other pictures that were taped to the walls were also of animals, but pictures that my son drew and/or colored himself.

    My vet-aspiring son and his friends had a fun time with all of the activities. They enjoyed the food. The weather that day was unseasonably warm, for early January. After cake and ice cream the kids all decided to go outside to play in our backyard. When they were ready to leave, the kids had their treasures from the party. The crate, collar, patient (dog or cat stuffy), a stethoscope, an ice bag, the clipboard, a bird finger puppet, any prizes they won and some snacks went along with each party participant.

    This was a fun party to put together. I learned how to fold paper into birds for finger puppets. Also, I learned how to draw a cat on a large poster board. I was grateful that my son joined in to decorating and choosing items for his party.

    “Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the ocean depths. You care for people and animals alike, O LORD.” (Psalms 36:6, NLT)

  • Easy to do Pokémon birthday Party Ideas

    Pokémon interest

    My two older kiddos are currently into Pokémon. If I am being honest, I believe one of my son’s interest is because his brother is into Pokémon. Also, many of their friends like and trade cards. My kiddos battle cards against each other. One of them has read many Pokémon books. He knows lots of trivia about many of the Pokémon and trainers.

    Initial Pokémon in our home

    Pokémon in our home began when my oldest son was in second grade. One of his classmates gave all of their peers two Pokémon cards as a Valentine. That peaked a small interest in him. Then, for Cub scouts, all of the scouts in his ‘den’ were to bring in something they collected. My oldest took in his rock collection with fossils, gems, shark teeth and more. Two of his fellow scouts took in their Pokémon card collections. They were neatly filed in card guards inside 3-ring 2” binders. My son looked through his friends’ binders at the cards and asked questions. After that, the number of Pokémon cards in our home grew quickly.

    Though I don’t understand how the card battles work and how the score is kept, I have learned some things from my sons’ interests. Also, I have learned some things by playing Pokémon Go! with them a little bit. I can identify about a dozen Pokémon.

    My oldest asked for a Pokémon-themed party. His birthday is in the Summer, so we had is party outside. The only Pokémon related items were the few decorations I purchased and a pokéball piñata filled with candy. For decorations, I went with black, white and red colors. I was trying to match a regular pokéball. Table cloths were red and black. I found red, black and white pompom garland for added decorations. The cupcakes had red and black frosting. We had red, white and black tissue balls hanging from the deck roof. The rest of his party was water play. Therefore, when my middle son asked for a Pokémon-themed party, I went to Pinterest for ideas. His birthday is in the winter, so inside activities were necessary.

    Inside Pokémon Party

    The winter Pokémon party had some of the same decorations. This was a little different, though. For my middle son’s party I decided on dark blue, yellow and an aqua color. Paper cups were solid aqua and solid yellow. Pokémon plates were used to serve cake. For the second party we purchased a cake with yellow, blue and aqua, with four Pokémon characters on it. Plastic disks with Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle accompanied a light-up Pikachu on top of the cake. There were five Pokémon-themed activities for the party guests to enjoy. My son requested certain games to be played at his party. These included, “Pin the tail on Squirtle,” “Bean Bag Toss” and “Tin Can Knock Over.”

    Game-Pin the tail on Squirtle

    The first game was Pin the tail on Squirtle. To make this game, I drew Squirtle on a poster board, including the tail, and colored it in. Then, using copier paper, I traced the tail. The copy paper was thin enough to see the tail underneath. I was able to put the copy paper on top of the poster board and trace the tail. My husband made copies of the tail. There were enough tails for every guest plus a few extra. One evening I cut out the blank Squirtle tails. My plan was for the kids to color or decorate their own tail. For the blindfold my husband and I cut strips of fabric. Because sickness was going around, we made a blindfold for each guest plus a few extra. Each kid had their own blindfold.

    One by one, the guests lined up to take their turn at Pin the tail on Squirtle. One grown-up secured the blindfold on the next person in line. Meanwhile, another grown-up put a piece of painter’s tape on the back of the tail. Then, one by one, each guest tried to put the tail on Squirtle. I drew the tail on the poster board to identify the correct placement for the tail.

    Bean bag toss Pokeball Game

    The second game my son asked for was a bean bag toss game. The idea of this game is simple. There is a large poster board with a few holes cut out. The player tosses a bean bag and tries to get it into one of the holes. Looking at the game, I determined what items I needed and got to work. First, I went online and printed off a few pictures of Pokémon characters onto regular printer paper. At JoAnn, I purchased a black piece of poster board. I did not have bean bags on hand, so I chose something I did have. Plastic practice baseballs with holes were cleaned and converted into pokeballs. The desired size of the hole was cut out three times on the poster board. Then, the pictures of Pokémon characters were added around the holes.

    My husband made something that resembled a fort out of a large cardboard box. In the front of the fort he attached the poster board with Pokémon on it. This held up the poster board and allowed the pokeballs to go through the holes.  At first many of the guests enjoyed this game as it was to be played. After a little while their interests turned to playing with this game as a fort. Soon the whole thing was demolished. This was a fun game and was enjoyed by many. However, I would suggest making the cardboard into a triangle shape. It would work better to be used only as a support for the game and not large enough to be used as a fort.

    Tin Can Knock Down

    The third game my son asked for was to knock the tin cans over. To prepare for this game, our family had to eat lots of soup. I did not have a stockpile of empty cans on hand. However, we did have some cans with soup and vegetables in them. After emptying the contents of the cans, taking the labels off, then running the cans through the dishwasher, the cans were ready to be decorated. I measured the height and circumference of the can. Then, cut a piece of white paper to the right size, about 1/8 inch shorter in height and 1/8 inch longer in circumference.

    I found uniform pictures of Pokémon faces, printed them and cut them out. The faces were then taped to the paper, then the paper was wrapped around each can. My husband secured the papers on the cans with two pieces of packing tape. I had ten small cans and six larger cans. Therefore, there were two stations of this game.

    The tin cans required something harder to knock them over than the plastic practice baseballs with holes. Therefore, I used something else I had on hand. They were plastic practice baseballs without holes in them. Like the balls being used in place of bean bags for the other game, these were also converted into pokeballs.

    Pokémon Activities

    In addition to the games, we had a couple of activities. These were quiet things that each guest could do on their own, as they wanted. They could also do these activities with their grown-ups or other guests.  One was a guessing game and the other activity was a coloring station.  

    Guess how many Pokeballs

    The first activity was to guess how many pokeballs were in a jar. I purchased a pack of 100 mini ping pong balls from Amazon. We had some small circle stickers on hand. Each ball had a center seam line. I put one of the circle stickers on the seam. Then, with a black permanent marker, drew around the circle sticker and around the ball on the seam. After that, I filled in one side of the seam with a red permanent marker and removed the sticker. When completed, that made a mini pokeball (or 100 of them). Because he was turning 7, I wanted to have 77 ping pong balls in the jar. However, that many would not fit. Fifty-seven pokeballs fit nicely, though! I had that activity on a windowsill.

    Guess Game Set up

    There were a few items included in this activity. First, there was the glass jar with pokeballs in it. I tried a few different sizes of jars and containers before choosing the one that best fit for our activity. I set the jar filled with the pokeballs on the windowsill.

    Beside the jar I placed a sign for the activity. The sign read, “Guess: How many Pokeballs are in the jar? Write your name and guess on a paper and drop it into the Eevee can! (0-100) *Kids Only.” The ‘0-100’ meant that their guess could not be over 100.

    The ‘Eevee can’ was a tin can with a picture of the pokemon Eevee on it, placed beside the sign. In front of the sign there were strips of paper for guesses to be written onto. On the paper I wrote ‘Name’ and ‘Guess’ to identify which guest guessed which number. There was a wide range of guesses for this activity. They guessed from in the 30’s up to 99. One child did write down the correct amount.

    Design Your Own Pokeball

    The other activity we did was fairly simple to set up and do. On Pinterest, I found blank Pokeball templates. Using cardstock I printed out enough for each child to design at least three pokeballs. This activity was placed on the table.  Many crayons were placed on the table along with the papers and a sign inviting the guests to create. The sign read, “Decorate and design your own pokeball!” Most of the kiddos put lots of time and thought into creating their own designs.

    Some of his friends brought their pokemon cards. They looked through cards, traded some and enjoyed being together. Maybe someday I will learn more about the characters and the game and battles. For now, I am grateful that my kiddos enjoy time with friends and family.  

    “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7, NLT)

  • Easy Mickey Mouse party ideas for toddlers

    Easy Mickey Mouse party ideas for toddlers

    Mickey Mouse was a favorite of one of my sons. For instance, when he was two, he enjoyed watching Mickey Mouse clubhouse, Mickey Mouse Funhouse and Mickey and the Roadster Racers. Anytime it was his turn to pick something for he and his brothers to watch, his choice was sure to be one of those. With that in mind, I gathered ideas for his third birthday party.

    Planning

    Pinterest was my go-to for finding party ideas. I started there and adapted suggestions to suit my own needs. That made it more personal to my son. Also, it allowed me to include what I thought worked for my capabilities. I wanted it to be fun for everyone, including myself. I have found that when I plan so much for birthday parties I get too stressed out. Less activities are best. Too many and not all of them will get done. Have some activities to keep them active and involved, but give plenty of time for the kids to just play, too.

    Mickey Mouse invitation

    I found a free printable template invitation at DolanPedia. All of the people that were coming to the party were family or close friends. That made it simple to take a picture of the invite and send texts to people on the guest list.

    Mickey Mouse attire

    To go along with the theme, I purchased new Mickey Mouse T-shirts for my family to wear. At first I wanted my boys to have matching shirts. However, I was unable to find all of their sizes in the same shirt. So, I decided that all different shirts was more fun, anyway. They went along with each boys’ character and personality.

    My husband and I found some Mickey Mouse shirts, too. Another option for attire, of course, is to purchase Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse headband ears. Although I thought about that idea, I decided against them. The headbands would not stay on my kiddos’ heads very long. They would just be a photo prop for us.

    Mickey Mouse-inspired Decorations

    Mickey Mouse decorations add to the fun. I don’t like to go overboard with decorations, but to have enough to support the theme. Here are just some of the decorations I used. I went with the black, red and yellow color scheme to match Mickey Mouse’s colors. I bought red and black paper fans at Hobby lobby. The paper fans were attached to tables, the siding of our house and railings on our deck. I purchased the yellow and red pom pom garland from Hobby Lobby, too.

    FOOD TABLE
    FOOD TABLE

    I bought black and red table covers from Hobby Lobby. The black I used for the gift, food and drink tables. The red covers were used for seating tables.

    We surprised the birthday boy with this fun Mickey Mouse balloon. It lasts for a while and can be re-inflated. However, this balloon does not stand up to wrestling with a 3-year old. The 3-year old wins. This balloon was purchased from Amazon, but they don’t have the same one at this time. However, this balloon is very similar.

    Mickey Mouse themed party food

    For the birthday party we were having family and friends attend. Therefore we needed to have enough food for about 30 people. After brainstorming what foods to feed that many people paired with ideas to go with the Mickey Mouse theme, I came up with a variety of foods. I found this food label template on Pinterest.

    I downloaded the template to my computer and downloaded the above font from youreverydayfamily.com. The menu I decided on is as follows:

    Mickey’s Hot Diggity Dog Bar

    At the end of the show, Mickey and his friends do the hot dog dance

    Hot dogs; buns; chili; ketchup; mustard; baked beans; relish; shredded cheddar cheese; anything to put on a hot dog

    Pluto’s Tasty Treats

    Pluto gets special snacks

    Ice cream and cake or cupcakes; anything sweet

    Donald’s Not-so Gooey Fish and other snacks

    Donald likes to fish for gooey fish

    Goldfish; pretzels; chips; anything snacky

    Daisy’s Garden Fruit Salad

    Minnie and Daisy spend time in the garden

    berry salad (strawberries cut up; blueberries; raspberries) or Melons cut up (watermelon, honeydew, cantaloupe) or buy pre-cut fresh fruit

    Goofy’s Refreshing Drinks

    Goofy is fun and fresh

    lemonade; water; juice boxes; gatorade

    Minnie’s Bow Tie Pasta Salad

    Minnie loves her bows

    Italian pasta salad with Bow tie pasta instead of rotini

    Other ideas for food include vegetables along with the fruit for Daisy’s garden. Any other appropriate drinks are options. And anything else you can come up with.

    Mickey Mouse activities

    On the show Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, each episode is focused on a problem that Mickey and his friends to solve. Toodles (a Mickey-head-shaped tool box) is there to help them solve each problem. Toodles has three tools and the mystery mousekatool, a surprise tool that will help them solve the problem. I wanted to incorporate this into the party. So, I came up with a problem, how they could solve it and what tools they would need to solve it.

    The Problem and how it was solved

    Toodles’ tools for the party were:

    • A parachute
    • A stroller
    • A pair of scissors
    • The mystery mousekatool

    I found the Toodles template on Pinterest and photos of the tools on clip art or something similar.

    First problem and tool

    “Mickey and his pals are missing from the party. Daisy and Minnie wanted to go to work in the garden. The rest of the pals wanted to help, too.” (we walked to the garden to see if we could find Mickey and his pals.)

    (Prior to the party I had put the 6 Pals into a container with small holes in it. Then I strung yarn through the holes to ‘trap’ the Pals inside)

    “Oh no! They are caught in a spider’s web. How can we help to get them out? Is there a tool that we can use?”

    “Oh, Toodles” (We got Toodles out and looked at the tools that might help this problem).

    “Is there a tool that we can use to get the friends out of the spider’s web?”

    (We decided on the scissors to cut the web and release the friends.)

    The birthday boy successfully cut Mickey Mouse and his friends free, with a little help from his big brothers, of course.

    Second problem and tool

    “Very good-now they are free. Minnie notices some dirt on her shoe and on Goofy’s hat. She tries to wipe it off, but sees it is on all of the pals. What can you use to bounce the dirt off them, so they can look their best for the party?”

    “Oh, Toodles” (We got Toodles out and looked at the tools that might help this problem).

    (We decided that the parachute would help get dirt off the pals.)

    They had a lot of fun throwing the stuffies into the air with the parachute. However, instead of cleaning any dirt off of the pals, the might have added some dirt when the pals fell off the parachute.

    third problem and tool

    “Now, we have 2 tools left and have to find a way to get all of the friends to the party. “

    “Oh, Toodles” (We got Toodles out and looked at the tools that might help this problem). “Do we have a tool that can help get all of the friends from the garden to the party? We have a stroller and they mystery mousekatool.”

    (We decided to use the stroller. Therefore, we put the pals into the stroller and the birthday boy pushed it from the garden to the deck, where tables were set up.)

    fourth problem and tool

    “All of the friends are at the party, but there is still the mystery mousekatool. This is a special tool that Mickey is bringing to help at the party. Can the birthday boy see what the mystery mousekatool is?”

    “Oh, Toodles!”

    The birthday boy opened the mystery mousekatool box to find a number 3 candle. This was a nice segway from the activity to cake time. (Of course, when he found it there was not a bite taken out of the wax, that was after it was in his cupcake). We said “cheers” because we had used all of our mousekatools.

    At the end of the party, someone played ‘the hot dog dance’ song on their phone. The kids danced the hot dog dance in their own way.

    “Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.” (Proverbs 21:5, NLT)