Frog Birthday

Party season has arrived!  With all our family members' birthdays falling in winter months it's planning time! But, I love it.  I love decorating, organizing, shopping, being creative, you know...all of it.

This year for Toby, he decided on a frog themed party.  Ever since his epic time frog catchin' at his aunt Cheryl and Uncle Joe's place this summer, and his even more epic fall into the pond water from the rocks, he's had frogs on his mind.  Once the theme of frogs was decided, it was hard to NOT think of fun things to do with frogs.

Some fun details for those of you who ever need ideas for a frog party:

Activities:
I like to keep my parties unstructured...partly because I don't love organizing a bunch of hyperactive kids.  I instead like to set up 'stations' that they can roam between.  The activities this time around were SO fun and were all things I knew Toby would enjoy.

1. Frog launcher
Where can you go wrong with this?  A bunch of little boys?  A catapult made from daddy? Stuffed and beanie frogs to launch and catch in a bucket?  Unfortunately, we didn't get a lot of action shots but let me tell you, there WAS action.  There were frogs flying everywhere- this launcher was awesome!  The kids could stomp on it or hit it with their hand.  Many times adults were hit in the head with frogs, but they were all good sports. The best part?  We now have an awesome catapult to play with in the months ahead.

2. Pond Sensory Bin
Because Toby loves sensory bins and because of his awesome frog catching time this summer, I made him a pond sensory bin.  I dyed a bunch of rice with blue colouring (and vinegar) and also mixed in some white rice.  There were rocks and sticks that we had collected on a walk this week, some pine tree branches, some gems, and a TON of frogs. A few butterflies over-top, some lily pads, and a few nets for the kids and wow, was this ever a hit.

Actually, I'm pretty sure that Toby spent MOST of the party at this station.  
3. Froggie Craft
I tried to make the craft as simple and self-directed as possible so kids could do most of it themselves.  It was glue-less and we used simple things like double stick tape and a hole puncher to make this work.  The best part?  The frog's tongue...I imagine tongue-fights happening in this household in the next few days.

4. Lily Pad Lagoon

(Named from part of the cottage that we visited this summer with Jason's extended family).  Thanks to Oma, we had a ton of origami jumping frogs (and some plastic ones) that kids could sit and try and land on the lily pads.  Fewer people played with this but it was still a fun activity (and again, more frogs for us to play with in weeks to come!).

5. Books

I always love to have some books hanging around.  We often get a bunch from the library but this time I bought some from the thrift store.  Toby already loved rifling through them and I loved watching families cuddle up with their kids, even for a few minutes, with a book.

Food:

I planned the party for 3-5 so that we could avoid major meal times, so the snacks were pretty easu.  I kept it 'simple' in that I just did nachos, some fruit, and then some fun themed food:

1. Cupcakes!

Seriously, so easy!  Just green frosting with a bit of sprinkles on it, marshmallows cut in half with chocolate chips shoved in, and a red gel smile.  The only complicated part was trying to make sure there was a cupcake for everyone.  With all the food intolerances it gets a bit tricky (there were gluten free, dairy free, regular etc)

2. Froggy eggs, fly dip, and froggy apples

(fly dip was a bean dip made for the taco chips)

The apple frogs were just quartered frogs that I had doused in lemon juice, cut up grapes for legs and feet, and marshmallows for eyes.  A little finicky but otherwise simple.

Decorations:

I thought I kept the decor pretty simple...just some streamers and balloons, coloured table cloths etc.  I borrowed a bunch of frogs to put around, got a few from thrift stores, and Toby's Oma had brought some frog bath toys I put around the room.  I also cut up a bunch of little lily pads of various sizes to put on table tops for frogs or frog candies to sit up on. 

Toby's birthday banner was made with lily pads which was fun, although if I were really particular, I should have written "hoppy birthday toby" but, you know, who would have noticed but me?!

Goody Bags:

What's a party without goodie bags?

Homemade green play-doh (I should have put glitter in, makes it that much more fun!), some frog candies, frog stickers, bouncy balls, and ta-da!

Some action shots:

Excited for his party day!

All hands in the sensory bin

Crafting

Fiona got some snuggles too!

Loved collecting the jewels too

Cake time!  

Me, re-lighting his candles for him...a friend's son came running in, at JUST the right moment and blew out Toby's candle for him so he had a 're-do.'  It was pretty hilarious but Toby didn't think so.

We had a wonderful day!  Toby got to wear his jammies all morning (which he loves) and had his special breakfast of his choice.  He got to open his presents from us and got to watch a veggie tales video (a special treat). Then it was off to the park for a beautiful time in the sunshine with the family and he got to stop to get his FAVOURITE treat - a fresh, plain bun from Cobs bread.  Then it was lunch and nap and party time! He also got to go out to a restaurant with Nana and Papa for french fries after!  He said at the end "I just want to do this day over again."  

And that's why I do this...I think everyone should have a day every year where they feel truly loved, truly special, and truly celebrated.

For other party and kid ideas see:
Lego birthday
Baking birthday
Christmas countdown 
Monkey birthday
Train birthday