Frog Party -3yr- Leap Pad Hop

Frog Birthday Party - 3 year old  When my son turned three his favorite thing to do was to catch frogs so of course he had to have a frog birthday party. 

Here's what we did: 

GAMES/CRAFTS: \* ANTENNAE - Using headbands, pipe cleaners, google eyes and those soft little craft balls we made froggy eye antennae.

\* LEAP PAD HOP - Cut out frog feet from green craft foam, cut a circle where the child's foot goes (the foam will tear if you just cut an X shape) and staple on a strap of elastic so it stays on over shoes.  Color leap pads on the flat side of bubble wrap in a hop scotch pattern.  The kids had fun popping the bubbles with their frog feet.  They quickly gave up on the leap pads and jumped wherever there were bubbles - they loved being able to make so much noise in the house (it was too hot to be outside).

\* FROG FEEDING - Using bug designed material, cut 2 squares for each bean bag (we made one side a solid color and wrote each child's name on one as well as my son's name and his birthdate, so they could each take one home with them).  Sew almost all the way around, leaving room to turn inside out.  Fill with beans and sew closed.  We made a giant frog, with a big smiley mouth, out of cardboard from an old moving box.  We spray painted it green and used a big black marker to draw in his eyes & outline his legs. 

We leaned it against the back of a chair (you could take garden stakes to it if you wanted to play outside) and the kids took turns "feeding" the frog.  They especially liked seeing who could make it from the furthest away.   (If you don't like to sew it would work just as well to draw fly wings & faces on white ping pong balls.) 

CAKE - I made a frog head cake complete with a fruit roll-up tongue.  Just bake the cake in a big Pampered Chef mixing bowl, turn it over and frost it green.  We used white frosting eyes but I've seen Jr. Mint eyes that look cute too.  Cut a "V" at the end of the fruit roll-up and stick it into the frog's mouth for the finishing touch.  We all blew our "tongues" (those colored things you get at parties that sometimes make noise, but usually just get blown in your face by kids) after singing happy birthday. 

DECORATIONS - We were on a tight budget so we cheated and used my son's froggy shower curtain for a tablecloth (washed it first).  The cake was the centerpiece and there were plastic bugs strewn around the table, in case the frog got hungry.  Green napkins and balloons (one for each child to take one) completed the look. 

PARTY FAVORS - In addition to taking home their frog feet, antennae and bean bags, we gave each person a toad (after checking with their parents - no one lives near water so we didn't do frogs.)  We got them at the pet store that morning & put them into jelly jars with toole over the top instead of the metal lids.  The kids were hoping for a toad race, but time ran out so we didn't have the pleasure (good thing because we hadn't planned for that & had no idea how to "host" one - you might want to look into that).