Pretend Play : Birthday Party

After my daughter's second Mickey Mouse Clubhouse birthday party, and a month of going to her friends parties she decided she wanted to play Birthday Party - every day. She loved the balloons, the loot bags, the kids, and of course the cake. So since it was pretty much an every day occurrence I decided to try to have a few different ideas for our pretend play.

I kept all the leftover party supplies from her birthdays and bought some Minnie balloons and party blowers at the dollar store.  We'd blow up a couple balloons every few days because for some reason toddlers seem to love balloons.

I printed out some adorable (and free!) paper cupcakes from Volume Twenty Five and cut them all out. A year later we are still putting together our cupcakes and blowing out the candles.

We also fold some blank computer paper to draw birthday cards. Or you can print out some free printables from The Little LadyBird and just colour them.

And what is a party, with out party hats ? We had a couple left over which eventually seen a lot of wear, so then I found a template for a party hat on Oh Happy Day and cut them out. We coloured them and added stickers for our own custom birthday hats, and made a few out of some pretty and sparkly cardstock [scrapbook paper I found at the Dollar Store] and added embellishments like homemade tissue paper pom poms.

from Oh Happy Day

I made a cake out of empty boxes, wrapped it in solid white wrapping paper and let her colour away but it didn't hold up very long. I would probably recommend stuffing the box with foam or something to make it a little more rigid, and decorating it with coloured paper and ribbons. Or you can just buy this cute wooden one from Melissa & Doug which you can decorate yourself with candles and treats.

Or if you prefer to make and decorate cupcakes you can get his Melissa & Doug Bake and Decorate Cupcake Set instead for only $15.99. Did I mention I love Melissa and Doug? I think it's because their products are good quality and foster imaginative play.

And on those days when we felt like something extra special we baked and decorated cupcakes because you can get a pre-made cake mix and container of icing for only $1 each and well kids love cupcakes and sprinkles... And I have a huge weakness for cupcakes.