birthday party ideas

So, Bryn's 3rd birthday is coming up in a few weeks and I need to get going on her birthday party. We were talking about it tonight and (silly me ) I brought up the idea of themes and asked what kind of party she wanted. She said....hmmmm....I want a monkey party!

OK!

Does anyone have any ideas about games/gift bags/activities that would fit a monkey theme? I thought of pin the tail on the monkey, I found a sort of silly looking monkey pinata online (with pull strings -- no need for a bat 8O ). But I'm kind of out of ideas after that. I thought we could dress up the dog as a monkey and play feed the monkey a banana since that is a favorite treat for him. Just kidding.

Maybe bananas in a gift bag. I think I can find monkey stickers to throw in there. I've never seen monkey candy before. I could buy a bunch of Runts and pull out the bananas. Hmmmm....

I am also realizing that to do pin the tail on the monkey I will probably have to DRAW a monkey. Maybe I can find an artsy friend to draw the monkey so that the kids recognize what it is! Any suggestions for finding long sheets of paper? Like a big roll of paper? I also wanted a big sheet of paper for kids to color on. I read an idea about making a big happy birthday sign for all the kids to color on. Bryn would like to have that in her room for a while, I'll bet.

Thank goodness she still wants an M&M birthday cake. That I can do!

[PrincessFiona]

monkey party...

oooh..that sounds like it could be fun...I'll run it across my 7 year old for some ideas for you


kris

I feel for you....our son turned three in Jan and we had an "elephant" party. I have become quite the elephant artist!

Matt,
What sort of elephant things did you do? Anything that could be applied to monkeys?

and....I'd love to hear some opinions on the whole gift bag thing for birthdays. I find that they add to the already significant sugar buzz and tend to have toys that break quickly. How bad would it be not to give gift bags? It seems like so many recent birthday parties have included them. I've thought of doing bags with monkey stickers, banana chips , and M&Ms (since she wants M&Ms on her cake).

[mommax3]

I hear you about the gift bag thing, but I give them out just the same. (Peer pressure, I guess!) I *try* not to give a whole bunch of worthless crap -- stickers (theme-related if possible) little cans of Play-Doh, bubbles, fruit snacks, and non-chocolate candy (we had a bad experience with the hot Texas sun vs. a gift bag once) are my stand-bys. The gift bags can really add a significant amount to the party costs if you aren't careful!

Good luck -- maybe you could make your monkey using Publisher on your computer and choosing "banner" for the document type?????? You might be able to find some monkey coloring pages online, too -- look at the Family Fun website, or just do an internet search for children's parties.

Sally

[SueC]

I think a Monkey party sounds really cute! The ideas you have so far are great! Maybe they could make masks out of paper plates or something? I don't know--I'm not the most creative person in the world!
My three year old for awhile was saying she wanted a "blue shirt birthday"--I don't even know what the heck she meant by that!?! Luckily she changed her mind and wanted a Barbie Rapunzel party!

Well, here's the plan.
I realized I won't find monkey plates, cups, invitations, etc. and have just done cute invitations and will have bright colored plates, etc. Probably will save some $$. I did find some Curious George stuff....but Bryn wants a *monkey* party not a Curious George party! There is a difference.

We are going to have the party here at our house. We considered the park but realized this is the toilet-training set and the park bathrooms are just so-so.

We're going to do pin the tail on the monkey (I need to recruit a monkey artist), a monkey pinata with pull strings, and decorate your own monkey cookie. Can I just mention that a monkey or banana shaped cookie cutter is hard to come by? I finally found the perfect monkey one but it is back-ordered. Arggghhh! I am going to print it off and make a tracing and cut the cookies out with a knife.

Plus snacks and an M&M cake. I'm going to try to keep it to 1 1/2 hrs. We found a monkey (more of an gorilla, really) plastic figure to put on top of the cake. And gift bags with bubbles, monkey stickers (I found some!), m&m's, and maybe a few other treats.

Sue, I like the idea of monkey masks -- I'll have to think about that! I don't have much in the way of arts/crafts skills, but it might not be too hard.....

Sue -- AWESOME idea! I just did a quick internet search and found a template for a monkey mask. I'll take it to Kinko's to put on thick paper, cut the mask and eyes out, and let kids decorate! All we need is a popsicle stick to glue on or elastic string! Yeah! 1/2 the kids can do cookies while the others do the mask....I was a little worried about a traffic jams with icing and decorations. Problem solved!

(Note to self: when searching for "monkey mask" include the word "kid" in that search . There is some weird stuff on the internet.)

Here is the website for the mask: http://www.freekidcrafts.com/ They had a bunch of cool sounding projects.

[SueC]

Yikes, I can't even imagine what you pulled up under monkey mask! One time my husband was looking for clothes for the girls online and he typed in "little girls clothes". He almost immediately had naked women popping up all over the screen. I'm sure he was utterly disgusted!!!
Sounds like your party is coming together! You'll have to let us know how everything goes!

[PrincessFiona]

monkey party

This sounds great, Nellie. My little girl also immediately said pin the tail on the monkey!!!!


Your ideas are awesome! I hope the party goes smoothly for you!

As to the gift bags....I'm cheap Sally is right that the gift bags can really do you in if you let them. I buy neutral ones from the dollar store and have the kids put their names on them (or write them on them for them) and then let them take them to the pinata. This way, after the pinata comes down, they can fill their candy and loot in there. Then I usually have a few additional things to put in there.....The dollar store and Wal-mart have some non-candy gift items like notebooks, stickers, etc...and that is what they all get. 8)

kris

Nellie, I don't know if I am to late, but we played pin the trunk on the elephant! We couldn't find strictly elephant plates/napkins/cups...so I had Drew come with me to the paper warehouse and pick out some good jungle themed dinner ware! They did have monkey's on them! We also had the party at our house(since it was January!) so I had Drew help me decorate the place(that was wild, a 3yr old with crepe paper rolls!). I think that meant more to him than most the other stuff.....Ok, maybe that meant more to me! We also didn't have many other three year olds though, just a couple and lots of family, as my b-day and my mother's b-day are that same week as his.

I am sure that it will be the best party that she has ever had and her gears will be spinning for a bigger, better one next year!

[Meenah]

I miss those days!!!!! I say take the money you would spend on the party and put it in a mutual fund for college. JUST JOKING - see my post above about college tuition. Have a great party.I honestly cannot think of a thing for a monkey party, maybe decorate with banannas.
Luanne

Matt -- thanks for the idea on the jungle plates and crepe paper. I think Bryn will love decorating. (I totally forgot about crepe paper...duh...)

Kris -- great idea about using the pinata treats for the gift bag. We just got the pinata delivered this am and I need to look for treats to fill it with.

The party is this weekend. I'll let you know how it goes!

We survived!
Bryn and her buddies had a great time. We had 9 sugar-buzzed wild and crazy 3 year olds (and their parents and sibs) comfortably squished into our little house. Luckily, it wasn't too hot out. Bryn was so sad when all the kids went home -- she was ready for the party to last all day. We, on the other hand, were happy to see 12:30 roll around! The house seemed a mess but only took 1 hr to clean up. Our dog was especially helpful cleaning up after the cookie decorating and pizza and cake.

Eric's years in high school senate paid off in the decorating department and bryn had lots of fun with the crepe paper and monkey stuff.

Sue -- the monkey masks were probably the most enjoyed activity. Thanks for the great idea! The kids were so cute dancing around making monkey sounds. I just copied the masks onto thick paper at Kinkos and the cut out the mask and eyes and taped a popsicle stick on the bottom for a holder.

Anyone need a monkey pinata? Since we did the pull-strings it is completely intact. Maybe the next kid will want a monkey party??

[SueC]

Sounds like a success--I'm glad you guys had such a good time!