Princess Party (1-4yr) Cinderella's Shoe Hunt

Princess Party 1-4 year olds (Not Disney Princess)  My youngest daughter just turned one, so we tried to think of something fun for her as well as my older daughter, who is four.  We decided upon a princess themed party.  We did not want it to necessarily be "Disney Princess" related.  We sent out invitations about a month early. 

The invitation read:  Hear Ye, Hear Ye! Come one, come all To Princess ________'s Royal Birthday Ball.  We are so excited  ______is turning one. We don't want you to miss  The birthday fun!  The royal gala will be held at one o'clock in the afternoon on the 1st of May at ________'s Castle, (address).  Please RSVP to the Queen Mom whether or not you will be coming.  The castle must prepare for your arrival.  (phone number and email address were given) \*\*No horse drawn carriages, please!  Big Princess (Older daughter's name) has requested that the older girls dress in their most royal attire!   We found some really cute paper and printed the invitations ourselves.  We did not hand deliver them, but that would be a very nice touch if everyone lived close enough.  You could roll them up and tie a ribbon around them. 

Decorations were kept to somewhat of a minimum.  We, of course, hung a Happy Birthday Banner.  I decorated our dining room table with a couple of feather boas as the runner.  Then I added crowns, dress up shoes, jewelry (anything that looked princess-like) and pictures of our child from birth to most recent.  (We got a ton of compliments on the table...well worth the time to do it!  It also looked great in the photos!) 

As the children arrived, we escorted the older ones (3s and 4s) into an area we had set up with coloring pages and markers and crayons.  The little ones just played with toys we had for them.  We had a picture of a princess and a frog that we had the children color.  This was a great activity to do while everyone was coming in...it gave them something to immediately.  The pictures turned out really cute and it was a memento from the party. 

The second activity that we did was to make magic wands.  I had baked star shaped sugar cookies and had inserted a lollipop stick into it to make a magic wand.  The children iced the cookies and decorated them with LOTS of sprinkles.  Even the little ones had a great time doing this activity. 

As the children were doing this, I ran to the other room and hid shoes.  I had many pairs of dress-up shoes, and they were all different.  I took all of the left shoes and hid them in the room.  (I had originally wanted to do this outside, but it was POURING down rain it worked great inside!)  I then took all of the right shoes and lined them up. 

As soon as the children finished making their wands, I asked them what had happened to Cinderella as she was running down the stairs upon leaving the ball.  The children of course said, she lost a shoe!  I told them that Cinderella had lost her shoes in the den and she needed their help.  I told the kids that they could each find ONE SHOE and then find its match.  (If you do not have enough shoes for each child borrow once they get there, or play two times, until everyone has a turn.)  The children LOVED this game and my one year old even got to find a shoe and its match she thought she was as big as the others! 

After we did the three activities, we put the one year old in her high chair, that I had turned into a throne.  I covered the back of her high chair in pink and silver and she truly looked regal sitting in the chair.  The pictures turned out awesome the color added a lot!  We all sang Happy Birthday and had cake!  (I made my own, but I saw at HEB that they have a really adorable princess cake with a scepter and crown, that would have worked great with the party theme!)  

The party was so much fun and it was great for the mixed ages.  I knew that I needed activities for the older ones, but did not want to leave out the little ones it was a great compromise!  My four year old said it was THE BEST party, and my little one did not want to settle down for a nap after everyone left, even though she was tried I think she had a BLAST, and the smile never left her face! 

Her favorite thing was the wand that we found for her that makes noise when you wave it she greeted everyone with it, and carried it with her the whole time!  We also found a little dress up skirt for her that she wore over a pink outfit.  She was truly a princess! 

Hope these ideas help make your little princesses birthday a royal success!