Candyland Party (3-5yr) Candy Themed Tables

My daughter's birthdays are 3 days apart, so we tried to find a theme they would both like so we could have one big party for both of them.  They were turning 3 and 5, and love to play Candy Land, so it became a perfect theme for their party.

INVITATIONS:  I purchased plain white 4x6 party invitations at Target, and then downloaded clipart of the Candy Land logo and a picture of the Candy path from the internet. The invitation read Run, run as fast as you can   We're having a party in Candy Land!  Follow the candy trail to a sweet birthday party for (children's names)  I then listed the location, date, and time.  I also downloaded a picture of one of the gingerbread boys and used it to make the return address labels.  I mailed the invitations in pink envelopes decorated with candy stickers.

PAPER SUPPLIES: I purchased Candy Land plates, napkins, treat boxes, cups, etc. from Birthday Express.

DECORATIONS:  The party was at a church hall, so we were able to decorate without concern for the weather.  We securely taped card stock in different colors to the floor to lead guests around the party.  As you entered we had a gingerbread boy holding balloons  he was made out of heavy cardboard then covered with felt and sprayed with glitter spray. 

Each table was decorated as a different land from the game, so the first table was the Mr. Mint.  I made Peppermint bushes to go on the floor leading to the table out of white Styrofoam discs decorated with red glitter attached to green foam shapes.  The Peppermint table had a red tablecloth and the centerpiece was a pink bucket filled with candy and gingerbread boy and girl cookies on sticks finished with a floral pick with  a small sign with Mr. Mint on it. 

The next table was for the Gumdrop Mountains and had an aqua table cloth; the centerpiece had Jolly on a floral pick.  There was a series of gumdrops made out of upside down small plastic trash bins covered with batting and then painted bright colors and sprayed with glitter on the candy path on the way to the table. 

The next table was the Lord Licorice table which had a black table cloth and a Lord Licorice floral pick in the centerpiece.  The next table was the Gramma Nutt table which had an orange table cloth and a Gramma Nutt pick in the centerpiece.  On the candy path on the way to the next table I had lollipop bushes again created out of white Styrofoam discs decorated with paint and glitter attached to green foam shapes with skewers for the lollipop sticks. 

That led to the Lolly table which had a lime green table cloth and a Lolly pick in the centerpiece. Leading to the Princess Frostine table I had ice cream cones made out of tall terra cotta flower pots filled with battling twisted like soft serve ice cream and sprayed with glitter.  We also made Neapolitan ice cream out of large coat boxes covered with pink, cream and brown felt sprayed with glitter. 

The Princess Frostine table had a silver table cloth and Princess Frostine on a floral pick in the centerpiece.  Gloppy's Chocolate Swamp table had a chocolate brown tablecloth and contained a centerpiece with Gloppy, but was set up with a chocolate fountain rather then as a place to sit.  We had strawberries, marshmallows, different cookies, and pretzels for the kids to dip into the chocolate  the kids loved this table. 

The last table was the King Kandy table and it had a purple table cloth as well as all of the treat boxes on it.  We also ordered a Candy Land banner from Birthday Express that had the message Sweet Birthday Wishes, and hung peppermint paper lanterns from Oriental Trading from the ceiling.

PARTY SNACKS:  To balance out all of the sugar, we served an antipasto salad, pizza and wings.  

CAKE:We had a cake made that looked just like the Candy Land board, right down to gingerbread playing pieces and fondant peppermint sticks.  Everyone commented on how beautiful the cake was.

GAMES:  We played a live version of Candy Land by using the cards from the game and lining the children up on the Candy trail that was taped to the floor.  We made a CD of all the songs we could think of that had candy or sweet in the title (The Candyman, I Want Candy, Candy Girl, The Goodship Lollipop, etc.) and it played the entire party.  We also had a pinata that was shaped like a cupcake with a cherry on top.

FAVORS:  As I mentioned, we ordered Candy Land goody boxes from Birthday Express, then filled them with a candy from each land of the game  gingerbread cookies, puffy peppermints, gum drops, Twizzlers, circus peanuts, lollipops, etc.

THANK YOU CARDS:  We found photo thank you cards at CVS that had red and white stripes and took a picture of our girls playing Candy Land.  We then loaded the picture to the cards, had them printed at CVS.