Tortoise And The Hare (1&3yr) I'm A Turtle Race

My daughter was turning one and my son was turning 3 only 3 weeks from each other in August, we decided to hold a combo party for them.  But what to do for a girl and a boy toddler party?  Tortoise and the Hare!  My son was a turtle boy and my daughter was a bunny girl.  Perfect!  It was a little challenging to throw, since there is really nothing out there for this theme, but once I got started, the ideas kept flowing! 

There is no partyware for this theme, so we decided on the colors pink (for girl) and green (for boys) with polka dots.  We had polka dot plates, napkins, balloons, tablecloths, pink and green everything!  I had blow up turtle balls and blow up small bunnies floating around the yard as well.  I made the invites with a turtle and a bunny on it from my cricut machine, and the invite said Are you a tortoise or a a hare?  Hop by or mosey on over to the finish line at the Ying's house for a double shell-abration!  Cupcakes games and races oh the fun because our little Josie bunny is turning one!  And can it be?  Our little Jamison is turning three!  Who will the winner be?  Let us know if you want to compete.

At the entrance of the party at the backyard gate I had turtle foam cut outs and bunny foam feet cut outs leading to the fence.  Then I had a finish line I made draped over the fence with a sign that said "finish line" and a sign that said "are you a tortoise or a hare?"  We had children ages 4 months to age 7 at the party 10 total in all.  Josie was wearing a frilly pink dress and bunny ears.  And Jamison was wearing a green shirt with a turtle on it and a green turtle hat!  As the guests arrived they each got either a pink hat with a bunny on it (that I made with the cricut) or a green hat with a turtle on it.  We first gathered all the foam turtles and bunny feet and set them around a chair for storytime.  Each kid sat on a bunny or turtle and I read the story "the really groovy story of the tortoise and the hare" that I had checked out of the library. 

After that we had craft time.  I had purchased some scratch off green turtles that came with sticks so you could scratch a design in the shell.  I glued one of those on a white piece of paper and cut out pink bunny silohettes a pasted one next to the turtle.  The kids got to glue cottonballs onto the bunny to complete their craft.  Then we had pin the tail on the bunny and the turtle.  I cut out a big pink bunny and a big green turtle out of cardboard and then kids took turns blindfolded trying to put their tails on.  The next activity was the races!  I had adults hold crepe paper across the yard for the kids to run to. 

The first race was a turtle race.  I spray painted cardboard boxes green with light green spots.  I cut out a round notch for their necks and each kid had to crawl on all fours with the box on their back for the race.  If the box falls off the older kids had to go to the beginning or the younger kids need to put it back on.  They quickly learn that slow and steady wins the race!  Each participant got a blue winner ribbon to wear and a picture holding a trophy! 

The next race was a bunny hop across the finish line.  We also did a race holding a cottonball on a spoon.  And even the babies at the party got to have a crawling race!  Then it was time for the pinatas!  I had a turtle and a bunny pinata that we converted into pullstring since the kids were so little.  The fun part was to see which pinata opened first - the girls each pulled a ribbon on the bunny and the boys took turns on the turtle.  The turtle ended up winning! 

The last game we had was a musical turtle and bunny game.  I used those same foam turtles and bunnies and placed them around the yard one less than the number of players.  We played the song "Fast and slow" by Laurie Berkner and when the song stopped they had to find a bunny or turtle to stand on!  The kid left got to go start making their food plate to eat.  To make it fun we did a different type of running around the yard each time the music played (bunny hops slow turtle movements etc.) 

Then it was time for food!  We made a turtle pull apart cake and then bunny cupcakes so each guest got to choose which they wanted.  We also made bunny and turtle cookie pops and stuck them in a floral sponge so it doubled as a display on the table.  There was green ice cream punch and watermelon as well as bunny grahams. 

Then it was time to open presents!  As the guests left they got to take home their craft project one of the turtle blow up balls and a pink polka dot good bag that I glued a cricut of a bunny and a turtle to.  It had a bunny eraser a bunny Pez dispenser a wind up bunny a green spiral lollipop with "thank you" on the front and "Jamison and Josie's tortoise and the hare party" on the back a turtle bath toy a dress up turtle booklet and of course a board book copy of the tortoise and the hare!  All things I had collected over the year on clearance. 

It ended up being a very fun and unique party!      "