Frog Mania - Frog Toss, Frog Jump, Frog Grab

Frog Mania:   A Toadily Awesome Hoppy Birthday! 

Invitations:   Check scrapbook stores for frog themed papers to print your own invitations on. If you can't find frogs, try green polka dots or other fun patterns. You can also use a small toy frog attatched a to a lily pad shaped paper invitation or even use a sharpie pen to write on the invitation information wording onto a plastic frog.   Invitation wording-  "Leap on over to Mark's Lily Pad  to celebrate his toadily awesome hoppy birthday!  123 Kermit Lane  Phoenix, Arizona   P.S. Wear lots of green!  For our Frog Jumping Contest, we handed out flyers to announce the event accompanied by tickets for admittance. As guests arrived we took their tickets, gave them a program and a frog hand stamp. The programs listed the party schedule, frog facts, a cute frog poem and the names of the party guests. 

Decorations and Props:  Convert your yard into a frog pond with big cattails, tall grasses and lily pads. You could use an inflatable pool for the pond and fill it with plastic toy frogs.  Tie clusters of light and dark green helium balloons to stuffed frogs.  Sign on front door or gate that says "Hop on in!  A motion sensitive frog that croaks as you walk by is a must. Look for them in garden centers.  

Games: 
Frog hunt - Hide plastic frogs and let the kids all look until they each find one to keep.  

Lily Pad Hop - cut lily pads from green construction paper and have the kids hop from one to the next. To keep them from ripping have them remove their shoes. You could even cover them with clear contact paper to make them more durable. A blue plastic table cover could be used for the water.  

Frog Bowling -  Put frog pictures onto several 2 liter bottles. Add some water to the bottom so they will stand up (about 1 inch). Use a ball or green water balloons to knock them over. Boys will have more fun using water balloons. Make sure to keep the balloon pieces picked up.  

Balloon Drop - This is a large clear plastic bag that is filled with balloons. The bag gets tacked up to the ceiling and has a rip chord that when pulled, releases the balloons over the party area.   Use a balloon drop kit (available at party supply stores), fill the kit with a few shades of green balloons. It might be fun to do this after the presents have been opened.   High Jumping Frogs on the trampoline. See who can go the highest.  Tadpole, tadpole, frog (like duck, duck, goose) 

Leap Frog - the traditional version  

Croaking contest- who's croak was the most realistic, funniest, silliest, loudest? You can give them each a certificate.  

Frog Jump -(have a measuring tape ready. Measure and record how far each child jumped. You can also tie a string to their plastic frog. They jerk the string to make their frog jump. Make sure to measure the distance and record it on a "official" certificate. Act serious and the kids will get a kick out of it.   Fly Eating Contest- use raisons to see who can eat their flies the fastest.  

Frog Toss - Toss the frog onto the lily pad. Lay out a blue plastic table cloth with lily pads cut out from green construction paper. Each child tosses their frog onto the lily pads. Try not to land in the water! For this game you can re-use the lily pads from the lily pad hop game.  

How many candies? -  Fill a jar with two shades of green jellybeans and a few yellow. Who ever guesses closest gets to take the jar home. 

Frog Grab - Put mud in a bucket and frogs (you could also use green slime) . Each person has one minute to grab as many frogs possible. If you use two buckets, the kids can play against each other. There were about 30 things in the bucket. Replenish as more children deplete the supply. Have a helper standing by to clean up each child after their turn.   Misc.  Sing "Hoppy Birthday" instead of "happy birthday". Tell the children about the change right before singing.  

Music -  "It's not easy being green" Kermit the Frog   Sounds of nature tapes   A recording of a frog would be great!   Food Ideas  Jelly Jigglers - Using green jello and frog cookie cutter.  

Frog cake - check local bakeries  Swamp water for beverage - anything green or blue will work.  Green popsicles  Cupcakes with gummy frogs on top. Can use the blue gel for cakes to make it look like an individual size frog pond.  Perfect scoops of green ice cream with green sprinkles 

Fly Ice Cream - (mint chocolate chip)  Frog on a lily pad - Sugar cookies frosted with green icing with a gummy frog on top. 

Party Favors  Gummy frogs of course!   Frog stickers  Bath shops have the frog shaped bath oils and plastic tub toy frogs and frog bath fizzies.   Beanie baby frogs, Green lollipops or jellybeans, inexpensive jumping frogs, frog bubbles and 26 inch inflatable frogs available at www.frogshop.com, inflatable frog beach balls, plush spotted frogs, frog squirters from Oriental Trading Company. 

Thank you notes  Wording -   You have made my birthday un-frog-ettable!   Sign "Toadily Yours,"________________  Froggy Facts  Frogs are amphibians. Amphibians have smooth, thin, moist skin. Their skin is so thin it lets water in and out. Frogs don't have to drink because they take in water through their skin. Nearly all amphibians spend the first part of their lives underwater. They are cold blooded animals and are unable to generate their own heat, so their body temperature varies with the weather.

They begin their lives in the form of an egg, when the egg hatches a tadpole emerges. Tadpoles breathe with gills like fish. They eat algae and store food in their tails. As the back legs begin to form the tail starts to be absorbed as food. The tail grows shorter and the front legs grow. The gills disappear and the frog now breathes with the lungs and is able to live on land.

The frog eats mostly insects. The tongue of a frog is attached to the front part of its mouth and is sticky. The frog can shoot out its tongue and capture its food. They are able to absorb air through their thin skin which allows them to bury themselves in the mud or stay in the water for long periods of time.  

This party plan was created by:  Teri Sutton of: Once Upon a Time… www.princessparty.com