6517

Tigger Party -3yr- Welkum Tiggers

June 2003

Shell in Sydney, NSW, Australia

Special Mention

TIGGER PARTY - 3 YEAR OLD We recently gave a party for my son's 3rd birthday.

INVITATIONS: I hand made from various colours of cardboard.  On the front was a printed out picture of Tigger's face (colour) with Tigger wavy writing around it saying "Hoo hoo hew hew!"  On the inside of the card on the left was a printed out picture of a tree trunk from the 100 Acre Wood with signposts that became the headings for the basic information of the party written next to them.  On the right hand side I had a cut out picture of tigger with a party hat and present in his arms bouncing on his tail.  I attached this to the card with a piece of cardboard folded in consatina so that when you opened the card he bounced off the card.  Around this I wrote the child's name (with tiger stripes) and again in wavy writing "I'm so exciteded, we're having a party and you're inviteded!" 

On the back was another picture of Tigger - bouncing on all fours.  Underneath in wavy writing was T-T-F-N (ta ta for now) and "Don't forget to practice your Whoop-de-dooper-loop-de-looper-ali-ooper bounce!"  I also had printed out colouring pages from various websites included in the envelope.  If any family had older children who were at school, I included an apology letter with a Pooh gang picture saying that we hoped to see them again real soon. A number of children who for various reasons couldn't come to the party were pestering their mums to come, because the invitations were so exciting apparantly!  For those who could not come, I sent another card of a sad Tigger saying "Boo hoo hoo hoo" - but then on the inside a happy pooh gang picture and a note saying hope to see them another time soon and some more colouring pages for them to colour in.

DECORATIONS: I started working on these fairly early which was just as well.  We live in a complex, so I made signs to help people find the house.  These had arrows and free hand drawn Tigger faces (not so hard when you have a go).  On the day I accompanied these with orange balloons and streamers - which worked really well as there was a slight breeze.  We did lose a few balloons, so it was good I had slightly more than I really needed.  On the tree outside our house, I attached lots of balloons and streamers, 2 cardboard hand made tyres and planted all my son's winnie the pooh bath toys in the branches, as though they were sitting in Tigger's tree. 

On the front door I hung a handmade sign saying "Welkum Tiggers!" and above this was a Tigger mask.  It looked very effective. As people walked to the door and in the entranceway, they followed a trail of hand made Tigger paw prints (made from card board with stripes on the toes and pads covered with contact).  The kids loved playing with these also.  The rooms in the house were festooned with black and orange streamers, Tiger striped helium orange balloons (with long orange ribbon hanging down so they could grab and play with them inside), printed out Tigger pictures, a Tigger balloon, a tigger wall mount and a long Happy Birthday banner with Pooh gang faces.  We had a yellow tablecloth that I coloured black stripes on to for the main table.  Along with Pooh gang party plates and serviettes and cups.

ACTIVITIES: Most of the children were three or under, so unstructured play is the most successful for this age group.  We had tables set up inside and outside in our courtyard.  Colouring in pages (from the internet)(Tigger and friends) Playdough (Tigger colours and other friends colours) various cars and bikes, a slide, a small house for young toddlers to cruise.  The only structured game we had was "Bouncin' for bubbles!" - which was a real hit, even with the four and a half year old boy who was the eldest guest we had.

FARE: It was a morning tea, so we had a devonshire tea (scones with jam and cream, tea and coffee)For the kids we had pooh gang biscuits and fruit and some party fare (pringles, chips, cheezles).  Tigger cordial (orange) and even Tigger sandwiches on hand in case people stayed on for lunch (vegemite sandwiches).

CAKE: I made 2 buttercakes and cut them to make a "3".  Then frosted with an orange flavoured and coloured butter cream frosting.  I then had a largish colour picture of Tigger (from the internet) dancing on his tail, which we taped to a spring (bought from the hardware shop) (not too large) and had him bouncing off the cake.  Also three small candles.  Everyone thought I had had it made professionally!  So that was pretty good praise!

LOOT BAGS: I had a very crafty friend help me make these.  Thankyou Karen! We had stickers, alphabet smarties and a chup a chup wrapped up in Cellophane (cut with pinking shears to have jagged edges) tied up with orange and black pipe cleaners which were twisted together in a tie with a bouncy Tigger tail bit at the end sticking out.  A little Tigger puffy sticker stuck on the side - looked sensational and so different - like we had made a real effort.  We also gave them a Tigger balloon each.  The kids were really taken with the presents.  Some children did not want to leave (high praise indeed!) and so I gave them a small party pot of playdough as a bribe to be good for Mummy!  Worked a treat!  

THANKYOUS: Again, hand made with nice gold lined Tigger stickers on each corner.  Wavy writing saying "Hope you had bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy fun fun fun fun fun, we sure did, but only because YOU were able to come!"

SUCCESS TIPS: We were fortunate to have just the right number of children for our small courtyard - 8 children, 10 adults, and 3 young toddlers / infants.  Just right for this age party.  All enjoyed themselves and even the mums got some time away from their kids knowing they were in safe hands with other mums.   Everyone was really surprised by the effort we went to - the them just really set up the atmosphere for a fun time.  The kids played together when they wanted to and then could go off on their own when they wanted to. 

We were also lucky enough to have a first day of sun after a number of days of rain, so that was also why the kids were ready to be out and about too! Who knows - the kids all got along and their was plenty of stimulation - that they were all allowed to touch and play with! This party did not cost a lot of money, it is a fun theme, yes it is true, it is hard to find Tigger stuff in the shops but that is why I had so much fun coming up with ideas and making my own things - it was so much fun and gave me finally an opportunity I had been looking for to get creative! Thank you to all the people who have entered ideas on this site - it really helped me to gather the courage to have the first proper birthday party for our son.  It was a Tiggerific Time!  I hope whoever reads this has a go too! Good luck!

• Kids Party Home
• Kids by Category
• Kids by A to Z
• Teen Party Ideas
• Adult Party Ideas
• Holiday Party Ideas
• Nutcracker Ballet