Graham definitely wanted a Paw Patrol party. I wasn't totally on board (especially since i didn't want to have to redecorate my house at Christmas time to accommodate all those Paw Patrols). But then it came to me, we could have a Paw Patrol North Pole Adventure and give Graham what he wanted while still keeping up my Christmas decorations. A win-win for both of us!
Here is the big boy right before his party.
Here are the invitations to the paw patrol party. I bought these wood bones online and painted them white. I used vinyl and put each kids name on their bones and asked them to bring the bone with them to the party. I used them as part of our activities during the party.
When the guest walked through the door I wanted them to feel like the had entered the north pole, so I used a lot of stuffing (to look like snow) and some cute paper trees and north pole signs. Hopefully, there was no mistaking where you were.
At the front entry table I decorated with the favor gifts. I wanted to give favors that would had things that were interesting to the kids. And again mixing the North Pole and Paw Patrols.
So, in the cute gift boxes (which I got at Target) I included
A big Candy Cane Chocolate Bar. Because what kid doesn't love a full size candy bar.
Cute sugar cookies decorated like bones and paw prints. (thanks to my talented neighbor)
and these awesome
Christmas 3D glasses. They turn christmas lights into different characters. They really are so cool. We used them to go and look at christmas lights and they made the night so much fun.
On the gift boxes I included a tag that said "Inspected by "elf #56" Santa's workshop = thank you division.
Here are some more decorations I had throughout the house. Again I used stuffing as the centerpiece to make the tables look like they had snow. A lot of pompons to make it feel like white winter wonderland. I bought clear paw print stickers and put them on the floor and shutters, so add to the dog-theme.
To start out the party, I had each kid choose a coloring page. They got to color them and put stickers on them. Then my husband turned each one into a paper plane that we used later on in the party.
For the food. I wanted to have a north pole breakfast theme, but Graham was adamant on having hot dogs and cheetos, so since he was the birthday boy I obliged. For the cupcakes I bought these
mini paw patrol characters and make a North Pole sign out of a paper straw. They were perfect. Simple and added to the theme perfectly.
For the menu, we served hot dogs, chips, carrots and ranch. Fruit salad and yogurt with sprinkles and Chocolate Milk. I learned to keep food simple. The kids don't eat it and you end up throwing most of it away. So, pick foods they eat and keep it simple!
For the party activities, we had a ton of North Pole Games to play. Here is what the kids played. (because it rained all day, I had to do these indoors, but the original plan was to do it outside).
1) Snowball Toss - I bought these
snowballs and
paw patrol buckets and the kids had to stand behind the line and throw the snowballs into one of four buckets. The first person to make it into a bucket won a prize.
2) I made
these snowball poppers (scroll down to the bottom of the page for instructions). We used mini marshmallows to pop. The kids had a ball with this. They could have done with for an hour. These really are the coolest things.
3) Snowball Cups - Used the snowballs again and put the striped cups in a pyramid and the kids got to knock them down. The first kid to know all the cups down got a prize.
4) North Pole Bingo - got the bingo game at Target
5) Reindeer Ring Toss - I got a cardboard reindeer head and put it up on the wall and the kids got to throw the rings to try and hook one on the reindeer's antlers. The kids loved this one too. In fact they loved all these games, we ran out of time! The first kid to get a ring on an antler won a prize.
6) Candy Cane Fishing - I hooked a candy cane to a wooden dowel and then the kids had to fish a candy cane out of a cup using them candy cane hook. If they were able to do it, they got to keep the candy cane.
7) Paper Plane Target Practice - those coloring pages we turned into paper planes were used for this game. Each kid got their paper plane and had to stand behind a line and try to fly their plane through a hula hoop. First one to do it, got a prize.
But the way, the prizes were wrapped up (like a christmas present) box of Scooby Do Bones. Again to go with the doggy theme :-)
After each activity, each kid got a sticker to put on their bone.
Then we sang to the birthday boy and had cupcakes and ice cream.
And then opened presents. Yippee!
Graham said it was the best party ever. He loved having his friends over to celebrate. He loved the games and he loved getting paw patrol toys. Ironically, he didn't own one paw patrol item, so needless to say, he is well stocked now. Thanks everyone. Happy birthday big boy, you are finally 4 years old. (he has been saying it for a year (because he is almost 4 feet on our wall height tracker), but now you finally are! Love you tons.
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