Kipper Picnic Birthday Party

My son's 3rd birthday party was last October. I let him pick his party theme, and he chose Kipper the dog. Kipper is a wholesome British cartoon about the many adventures of Kipper, and his friends. We just love the cartoon but there are no Kipper party supplies available in the US- that I could find. Even the UK only has a hand full of pricey Kipper party supplies. So I sought out Kipper parties on the web. I came across two blogs with Kipper parties. One was for a girl, and the other had really cute decor but nothing to do with Kipper except for one picture of Kipper. Needless to say I was on my own with this one,  and starting from scratch. If our children only knew what we do for them. Staying up until 2 a.m. making Kipper puppets, pinwheels, and trying to get the printer to work the way we want it to:) And I will gladly do it every year until he's to old for birthday parties. That will be a sad day for me. Just to see the joy and excitement on my son's face melts my heart and makes the whole party planning fiasco worth it. The funny thing is that it's only a couple months after his party and we haven't watched Kipper since. Wouldn't you know it :)

To limit the party from going in to many different directions I chose our favorite Kipper DVD ( Pools, Parks, and Picnics) and just pulled ideas from that. The added picnic theme worked to my advantage because my house is way to small to comfortably host a party for 20 people. We live in Washington so we were extremely lucky the weather held out until October. In fact it was a beautiful sunny day, perfect for a picnic.

For the party decorations I used a blue checkered picnic pattern with ants, as well as a green one. I printed the pattern on card stock and made invitations, two banners, pinwheels, and a golf flag with the number three on it. I also made two blue and green balloon columns, and Kipper hand puppets.

For the food I picked out things that I would take on a picnic while also keeping the toddlers in mind. I ordered croissant  sandwiches from Costco, I had plastic shot glasses filled with ranch dip and veggies,  a lot of strawberries, a variety of flavored chips, and party popcorn. For drinks I kept it simple ( water, Capri sun, and lemonade).

This was the first year so far that I didn't make a birthday cake. I made cupcakes with ants carrying watermelons, and apple pies instead. I thought it went better with the theme. Although I was a little disappointed with how my cupcakes turned out the kids never seem to mind. Luckily I didn't get any close up shots of those ;)

I had games/activities for the kids that were all relevant to the Kipper Pools Parks and Picnics DVD. As the kids arrived they each got to pick a folded paper party hat to decorate and wear. I provided foam stickers, feathers, jewels, string, tape and glue dots. The first game we had to catch butterflies from a tree. I found butterfly coasters on clearance that were white and silver. I colored everyone in different patterns of colors, tied string to the branches on and scotch taped the butterflies on the end of the string. The person with the most butterflies got a prize as well as the person with the purple butterfly because that was the color of the butterfly Kipper catches. I would suggest giving the younger kids a head start if you have mixed ages. I didn't and the winner was the oldest with eleven butterflies, and most of the toddlers ended up with only one. For the second game everyone got to play par 3 putt putt golf. Everyone hit the ball until they got it in the hole then got a prize. We got the putting green with the hole and ball return at the Goodwill for a few bucks, and used the putter and balls from my sons plastic golf set. Last but not least we did a treasure hunt. I made all the clues to look like treasure maps and hid them accordingly. I even lucked out with a couple of the same hiding spots as the DVD. The clues led them to a DIY cardboard treasure chest where they found their loot bags. This game was a favorite with the kids.

I hope this is inspirational to all those parents planning a party for their little Kipper fan. Have fun.

 Invitations

 

I did a post card style invitation, mostly because my printer wasn't printing the way I wanted it to. I also had my son participate in stuffing the envelopes.  We added some bug foam stickers for the kids that were purchased from the Dollar Tree. A big thanks to my friend Katherine for putting all the images together for me so all I had to do was print :)

  

Patterns and Images

 

 

 I printed these patterns out on card stock to make my banners, pin wheels, a golf flag.  

I used this image to put on my mini brown paper bags full of party popcorn.

This image of Kipper was used for one of the banners and the loot bags.

Loot Bags 

The kids really liked their names in the big sparkly letters.

Balloon Columns

These were relativity easy to make. I used my husbands concrete tampers as my base, and structure. Here is a great You Tube video to learn how.
http://youtu.be/hQL5lJegmHc

DIY Kipper Puppets

I made these Kipper hand puppets with brown paper bags and construction paper. I got the idea from a web site but a template wasn't provided so everything was done freehand. Although these are hand puppets I used them as decoration to top off my balloon columns.

Cupcakes

These are not the actual cupcakes I made, but where the inspiration came from. I didn't get a close up shot of mine, and they weren't as nice as these ones. I used dark chocolate covered raisins on mine because the almonds were big enough to become a choking hazard for the tots. I had problems with the watermelons falling off, coloring the frosting for the legs, and applying it. 

Games and Activities

Decorate your own party hat activity.

Catch the butterflies game.

Treasure hunt.

The loot.

 Party!

Extras

I was going to use these images to make picket signs to put at each game and activity station but I never got around to it.

 

No Cut Pumpkin Decorating for Toddlers

Mr. Pumpkin Head! Finally a use for all those Mr. Potato Head pieces that don't get played with. We added a few of our own accessories to transform Mr. Pumpkin Head into a pirate. We even put a skull and cross bones temporary tattoo on his side (not seen in the photo). This is a perfect way to get the littler ones involved in the tradition of carving punkins until they're old enough to help drawl and cut out a Jack-o-lantern of their own. I would suggest puncturing some holes ahead of time for each piece. This way the little ones can feel some sense of independence by putting it together with little help. Happy Halloween boys and Ghouls!

Tattoo Stand for Kids

Lemonade is for chumps. :)

I love this idea. It's a nice change from the traditional lemonade stand. And what kid doesn't love temporary tattoos. 

Cheap and Easy Homemade Ice Cream

What you will need:

2c half and half
1tsp vanilla extract
2tbs sugar
1/4c salt
1 bag of ice
1 sandwich bag
1 one gallon bag (optional)
1 27.08oz container with lid (we used an old Folders coffee container)
tape

Serves 2
***Don't worry if you are a little short on any of the ingredients. It will still turn out amazing***

Step 1:
Measure out the first three ingredients (half and half, vanilla, sugar) and dump them in your sandwich bag. Squeeze as much air out of the bag without spilling- then seal.

Step 2:
Fill your container half way full with ice then cover with half of your salt.

Step 3:
Place your sandwich bag full of ingredients in the center of your container then fill the rest with ice. Use the remainder of your salt to poor on top.

Step 4:
Put the lid on and tape it up to make it extra secure (I used painters tape). Do it qickly before the container gets to cold, or the tape wont stick. If your doing this inside and your afraid of the container busting open you can use a gallon bag for steps 2 and 3. Then place the steeled bag in the container. So If it does bust open your not left with a mess.

Step 5:
Set a timer for eight minutes then take your container and start rolling. My 2yr old and I sat on the floor in the living room and rolled it back and fourth. You can even go outside and roll it down a hill. Have fun with it.

Step 6:
After your eight minutes are over, open everything up, and enjoy your delicious homemade ice cream.

Originally when I found this recipe it was for "hand shaken" ice cream in a bag. We tried it that way with the kids a couple of times but it was messy, and hard work. The bag was heavy and hard to shake so the kids lost interest quickly. Besides that our poor little fingers were freezing, the bags either got a whole in them from our vigorous shaking and perspired so punch by the time we were done I had one huge puddle on my counter top. Also, after shaking ten minutes with the bag tycnech the ice cream didn't come out nearly as solid as when it was rolled. However if you don't happen to have a Folgers can or some kind of container on hand a gallon bag will do. The most important thing is that you have fun doing it. Enjoy!

Mailbox Made from a Diaper Box

My son's recent infatuation with mail has inspired me to make this mailbox for him. I used a diaper box along with some tools, and supplies I had available lying around the house (glue, brads, a raiser, paint, foam stickers). Although I made this for my son, just for fun, it has also doubled as a educational tool. I put letters on each of the envelopes, but you can incorporate colors, numbers, pictures with names of family members, or even animals. Whatever it is that your focusing on at the time. I think this would be an excellent idea for children with a deployed parent. Any time they drawl a picture or write a letter for their deployed parent they can just drop it in the box. Also makes everything easily execrable to collect and mail for real. Might even be a great bonding activity for the child and deploying parent.

St. Patrick's Day Party Under $20.00

 I had some toddlers with their mommas over yesterday for a St. Patrick's Day party / play date. We made some magical leprechaun potion, and a rainbow craft fallowed buy some shamrock cookies for a snack. I did this all for under $20.00 with some additional decorations included.

Rainbow Craft

 Here is what you need to get started...

-paper plates

-different colored streamers

-cotton balls

-glue

You can purchase the streamers in just about any color at the Dollar Tree. They come in packs of two, so you will have plenty leftover to decorate or use for future parties, crafts, etc. I was very surprise that I found 100% cotton balls at the Dollar Tree too. That's a great buy. I think they're at least a few bucks in retail stores. You can Probably get paper plates at the dollar store as well, but I purchased these at Wal-mart for $2 and some change. There is more in a pack so I will have plenty left over for everyday use. I happen to have some glue on hand, but you can find glue at most places for a buck. I'm going to round up and say the craft all together cost about $10.00. And you'll have plenty of everything left over for future use. 

I provided all my guest with a paper plate full of all their pre cut and counted craft supplies. You'll need to cut 12 red, 10 yellow, 5 green, and 8 blue. The red are cut into large squares, yellow and green are rectangles, and the blue are small squares. And don't forget 4 cotton balls:) I cut the rainbows streamer tail after the kids were done and had the moms put them on. 

 This is the example I made for the kids.We started with the moms folding the paper plate in half and placed the stapler, and the kids stapled. Moms also applied the glue, one arch for each color, and the kids placed the different colors. This craft is perfect for practicing colors and counting. I punched some holes at the top of mine, and tied some string so I could hang it in the window. 

Magical Leprechaun Potion

Ingredients:
-baking soda
-vinegar
-glitter
-dish soap
-yellow food coloring
This is extremely easy, and I just used the ingredients available in my kitchen. I sprinkled some green glitter in a small bottle then filled it with vinegar. In the other bottle I added a small amount of liquid dish soap, and a few drops of yellow food coloring.

I had the kids add the ingredients in the bowel, one by one. First we poured in the vinegar, fallowed by the dish soap, and lastly we added one heaping scoop of baking soda. The potion foams up resembling a pot of gold with some green sparkles. I heard a couple of WOWS from the kids ;)

Shamrock Snack Bags

I purchased these snack bags along with the stickers and some window cling decorations at Micheal's for less than $3. Inside the bags are shamrock cookies made with the Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix (around $2) and a cookie press.  And there you have it, a festive St. Patrick's Day party under $20.

It was definitely worth it's weight in gold just to see this smile.

Popsicle Drip Guard

My son loves when he can get his little hands on this sticky frozen treat. When they're two they just can't lick as fast as its melting. Usually I end up fallowing him around with my hand cupped, ready to catching his drippings and chunks that fall. Cleanup usually consists of a trip to the sink, and cleaning drip marks off the carpet. So to prevent all of "that" from happening I came up with this simple solution. I jammed the Popsicle stick straight through the middle of a cupcake paper. It cuts back on the cleanup tremendously. I'm sure one of those reusable silicone cupcake cups would work even better, if you happen to have one. Ahh...It's the little things in life that make me happy :)

Glow Stick Fun

Here are a couple of crafty ideas to step the night time entertainment level up a notch by using glow sticks. You can find glow sticks at most mainstream retail stores for fairly cheap. I purchased my pack of 15 bracelets from Micheal's for $1.00. I've also seen a large variety, but smaller package size, at the Dollar Tree.

Have you ever wondered what was inside these mesmerizing glowing sticks? Me too. Well I still don't know exactly what is inside them (nothing a quick google search couldn't solve). It's just more fun cutting them open and pouring the contents in a mason jar, then shaking it all up. I would suggest the bracelet ones for easier cutting, and a smaller mess. Warning: the contents inside the glow stick are toxic, and contain shards of glass once activated. Parents, please prepare the jar on your own, and supervise your children while playing with the glow lantern.

Glowing Lanterns

 

 Instructions:

All I did was carefully cut open three different colored bracelets, poured the contents in a mason jar, sealed tightly, shook it up, and turned off the lights. Viola! A glowing lantern

You can also throw a handful of glow bracelets in the tub (NOT CUT OPEN) for some bath time fun.

Homemade Bath Paints

These paints are so simple, and the tots love them. All you'll need is some shaving cream and food coloring. Yep, that''s it. We used a muffin tin to mix each color in. Put a few drops of each color in each cup then put  foaming shaving cream on top. I suggest putting the color in first so it's more of a surprise for the little ones when the white shaving cream magically turns colored ;) My son had a blast helping make it and creating a masterpiece on the shower wall. It rinsed off really easy too, no colored stains left behind.