For Jaden's fourth birthday, he requested a Toy Story party. I tried talking him into a more general, less commercial theme, like monsters or cowboys, but he didn't go for it, so Toy Story it was. We had his party at the house, and planned to have most of it take place in the backyard, which we are fortunate to be able to do in January in New Mexico! But just as his party was about to begin, the wind started picking up and we ended up having to move a lot of the activities (and what seemed like 20 kids) inside. It was crowded, but fun nonetheless!
Isn't the cake adorable! One of my student's moms made it and I thought she did an amazing job! Sam was in Florida the week before the party and went to Downtown Disney to get this set of Toy Story figures to use on the cake. Jaden was so excited!
While looking up ideas for a Toy Story party, I came across a great idea to serve food like the Toy Story restaurant, Pizza Planet. We had a variety of pizzas for the adults, and the kids got to make their own personal pizzas.
In the backyard we set up a little jumping balloon, a sand and water table, a playhouse, playdough, and a table with Toy Story games (Kerplunk and Buckaroo). The kids had a hard time trying to play with sand and playdough in 60 MPH winds; but the jumping balloon remained a hit! And we also played several rounds of musical chairs, which proved to be a hard lesson in losing for some little ones. We knew that everyone was a winner, but they weren't buying it. And I know what you're thinking -- as a preschool teacher, I should have known better and shouldn't have taken out any chairs so that everyone really was a "winner" each round; but in my recent studies, I've read that it is best for kids to learn at an early age about being good sports and that they can't always win; so call it what you will, but I like to think that I was helping them grow and develop :o). And once they got the hang of it, they were all smiles!