We were so happy to celebrate Adley's 4th birthday this spring with a small group of playgroup friends. We decided on a stuffed animal theme, and it made for such a fun party!
All four of Adley's grandparents came over to help the party run smoothly.
When Adley's friends arrived, we had them sign this cute birthday book we purchased for Adley.
As the kids trickled in, Cody and Jaden led an informal game in the living room. The boys took turns hiding a stuffed animal under a blanket, and then had the kids blindly feel each animal and try to guess what it was.
When everyone had arrived, we started the party by explaining to the kids that they would be "adopting" a new stuffed animal pet to play with at the party and then to take home.
We had a matching group of Beanie Boo huskies--complete with their own personal pet carrier (gable box)-- all ready to be adopted! The kids seemed excited to receive a new animal.
The kids' first order of business was to name their stuffed pet. Then, they created dog collars using both colored beads and alphabet beads.
We also had Pet Adoption Certificates for the kids to fill out with their new pet's name.
We knew the name collars would be important for identifying whose dog was whose for the rest of the party!
Next, we said the pets needed to get checked out at the vet's office. We had various play tables set up for the kids-- a station for "washing" their pets...
and a couple tables with doctor tools and even a health checklist so the kids could give their pets a check-up.
After giving the kids sufficient time to play doctor on their pets, it was time to decorate the pet carriers. Adley has some very artsy friends, so they all stayed at the table for quite some time! The gable boxes were soon filled with stickers, pom poms, gems, and doodles.
Next, it was playtime for the animals! We played a few rounds of hide and seek with half the kids hiding their animals at a time.
Then, Jason led a fun obstacle course outside. The kids had their pets jump through a couple hoops, play fetch with a ball, and run around the fire hydrant in our yard.
We also played "Doggie, Doggie, Where's Your Bone?" enough times for each kid to have a turn finding the hidden bones.
Finally, it was time to eat! Instead of birthday cake, we served animal cupcakes. These were so fun to make! I was originally planning on making just 3 or 4 varieties of animals, but Pinterest had too many cute ideas. I settled on my favorite six-- pigs, sheep (my personal favorite!), bears, monkeys, cats, and dogs.
We also served a variety of snacks-- popcorn, pretzels and fruit.
When the kids started getting a little restless at the table, I read Adley's new storybook to them. It's a cute tale about a little boy who loves his stuffed bear so much that it starts breaking apart. In the end, even though the bear is missing one eye and most of his limbs, the boy decides that he doesn't need his bear to be fixed-- he loves his bear just as he is. So sweet!
We sure love this group of kiddos and were so excited that they could all share in Adley's birthday celebration. It was a fun morning to honor our new 4 year old!
