10436

Strawberry Shortcake -3yr- Decorate Flower Pot

February 2005

Heather in Lake Villa, IL USA

Special Mention

Strawberry Shortcake:  My daughter wanted a pink birthday party for her 3rd birthday.  I struggled with coming up with a theme around pink until I decided to turn it into a Strawberry Shortcake birthday party.  Since her birthday is in May and there is always a high chance of rain, we decided to have the birthday party at a pre-school across the street from our house.    My daughter and her Bitty Baby were both dressed in pink dresses with strawberries and my son was dressed as Huckleberry Pie with a vest and backwards baseball hat. 

The room was decorated with pink and Strawberry Shortcake balloons.  As each guest arrived at the party, he or she received a nametag with a Strawberry Shortcake sticker.  The guests were then escorted outside where all the children were playing on the pre-school's playground (it turned out to be a beautiful day).  The children played on the playground until everyone arrived.   I then called all the children over to me to sit down in a circle where I had the book Meet Strawberry Shortcake.  I had planned all of the activities for the party around the characters and locations in the book.  I began by reading them the pages from the book about Strawberry Shortcake and asking them questions such as Who is this? and Where does she live? 

I then gave each child a spoon and a big strawberry.  I had them running all over the playground trying to keep the strawberry on the spoon.  This worked well for the three year olds as well as the older children who I encouraged to run as fast as they could run with the strawberry still on their spoon.    I had them sit down again and I read them the pages from the book about Angel Cake and Cakewalk.  I asked them what they thought they would do next.  They were all yelling Eat cake. 

I took them inside to where I had small tables set-up with the Strawberry Shortcake tablecloths, plates, napkins etc.  Each child got a Strawberry Shortcake paper hat and blower.  While they played with their blowers, we passed out cake, strawberry ice cream, strawberries, and pink juice.  I had made a three layer round pink cake with pink icing.  Each layer was decorated like Strawberry Shortcake's hat and had a big Strawberry Shortcake candle on the top.   

As the children finished their food, they were able to go over to the inside play area and play on the see saws, trampolines, play houses and jungle gyms that were inside the pre-school.  This worked really well as the kids always had something to do if they finished an activity early.  I brought the children together again and read them the pages in the book about Ginger Snap and Cookie Corners.  When I asked them what they thought they would do next, they all yelled, Make cookies. 

One mom even said, I can't wait to see what activity will come next from the book.  The kids were brought over to another section of the room where I had a set of small tables set up with bowls full of different colored icing and sprinkles. The pre-school was great because they had an unlimited supply of small tables and chairs.  I gave each child a plain cupcake and three mini cookies baked on lollipop sticks.  The cookies were in the shape of daisies and tulips.  The children iced their cupcakes and sprinkled green sprinkles on as grass.  They then iced their flowers different colors and sprinkled with sprinkles. They stuck the lollipop sticks into the cupcakes.  I gave each child a pink bag with his or her name on it and they put the treat in the bag to take home. 

Since they had just eaten cake and ice cream I didn't have anyone eating their treat while they were making it.  I brought the kids back to the floor and read the pages from the book about Orange Blossom and Orange Blossom Acres.  I then took them over to another set of small tables and chairs where I had laid out small flowerpots and foam stickers.  I told each child to decorate their flowerpot with the foam stickers.  They had flowers, cats, and dogs to choose from.  I told them the cats and dogs were Custard and Pup Cake.  

After they each decorated their flowerpot, they came over to a sand table where I had emptied a bag of potting soil and had individual orange Marigolds for them to plant.  I had bought several cheap sand shovels for them to use with the dirt as well.  The kids loved digging in the dirt and planting their flowers.  Then they moved to a water table that was filled with water and little watering cans that I had bought.  They filled up the watering cans and watered their plants.  The kids loved this part also, although some of the flowers got more than enough water. 

The last part of the party I had the kids come back to the circle where I showed them Honey Pie Pony and all of the lollipop trees.  I told them that it was time to go home but that Honey Pie Pony had a giant lollipop for them.  I had taken a giant Styrofoam cone and painted it green. 

I ordered direct from a candy manufacturer through the internet (it was cheaper) giant multi-colored lollipops and stuck them into the green cone.  It looked exactly like a lollipop tree.  The children each got to pick a lollipop from the tree and then my daughter handed them their goody bags, which were filled with Strawberry shortcake sunglasses, Strawberry Shortcake lollipops, pink bouncy balls, Strawberry Shortcake stickers, and pink bubbles.  The kids then left with their cupcake treat, their planted flower, their lollipop, and their goody bag.  Everyone had a great time and my daughter was ecstatic about her pink party!

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