Veggie Tales Party 4yr

Our son has recently become crazy about Larry Boy from Veggie Tales, so he wanted a Larry Boy party for his fourth birthday.  We tried to be as economical as possible, so I had the party at my house. I started with Larry Boy invitations - I printed a picture of Larry Boy on one quarter of white cardstock and wrote "Have you heard? (My son's name)Boy is turning four! Bounce over to help us celebrate."  Followed by the party information.  I mounted the white paper to purple card stock.  To prepare for the party I made Larry Boy capes for each of the children that would be attending.  I used purple cotton for the cape and hemmed the edges.  I cut out yellow felt in the shape of the LB logo on Larry Boy's belt buckle and sewed it to the middle of the cape.  Then I attached yellow ribbon around the neck to tie the cape on to each child.  I ordered Larry Boy helmets and child-sized wrist bands from the Big Idea store to complete the Larry Boy outfit.  On the day of the party I hung a sign on our door that read, "Welcome to Bumblyburg! Come on in"  To decorate the house, we hung purple and yellow streamers throughout the living room and took down the art that is usually on the walls and replaced it with old Veggie Tales movies posters that the local bookstore let me have once they no longer needed them.  I also proped up my son's Veggie Tale books, movies, and toys around the rooms that the party would be in.  We had Veggie Tales music playing the background to help create the atmosphere.  Once the party guest got here he got his cape, helmet, and wrist band on and posed for a picture.  I had tacked some black fabric on the wall for the children to stand in front of so that the picture looked more professional.  I had one adult whose job it was to get all the childrens' pictures.  After everyone arrived, we played a few games.  These were originally conceived to be played outside in the backyard, but it rained the day of my son's party, so we moved the games indoors.  The first game was a relay race using a cucumber as a baton.  The kids divided into two teams and had to walk backwards as fast as they could down and back across the room and then pass the baton to the next child. (I had wanted the kids to bounce like Larry Boy does, but thought it may get too wild for indoors.)  The next game we played was a ring toss.  The kids had to throw a hula hoop over a plunger (like Larry Boy's ears).  Each child got as many tries as he needed to ring the plunger, the fun was in the attempts.  We also played the Veggie Tale "Backyard Party" CD and the kids participated in "If You're Happy and You Know It", "Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes", and "Hokey Pokey".   While the games were going on, an adult was printing out the pictures that we had taken at the beginning of the party.  From the games, we sat all the children around the table where I had spread out foam frames.  Each child chose one to decorate and we came around and taped their Larry Boy picture in place.  They then decorated them with foam stickers - banners that I had written "God made me special" on and crosses.  After they were done with their decorating, we attached a magnet to the back so they could hang it on their refridgerator when they got home.  We cleaned up the frame-making supplies and gave each child a cup.  The children were encouraged to decorate their cups with Veggie Tale stickers while their parents got them a slice of pizza.    After dinner, we cut the cake.  I actually made two cakes for the party - Larry Boy and a Larry Boy car.  I made a 9x13 cake and cut it in half lengthwise.  This became the base of both cakes.  I used another cake mix to make four cupcakes, one mini-loaf cake, and six mini-cupcakes.  (There was actually quite a bit of batter left over from the second cake mix.)  For the Larry Boy cake, I rounded the corners to create a cucumber look.  I used cupcakes for his plunger ears and the top of mini-cupcakes for his eyes and nose.  For the Larry Boy car cake, again I rounded the corners to better represent the car.  I put a cake baked in a mini-loaf pan on top of the bottom layer to create the car window.  I attached cupcakes to the base with toothpicks for the two back wheels and mini-cupcakes for the two front wheels and thruster in the back.   We ended the party by opening presents.  Each child went home with a cape, paper helmet, wrist band, and their picture in a foam frame.  It cost me about $4 per child for party favors and they can use them to play at their own home.    I got a lot of compliments on the party and I think everyone had a great time.  Good luck with your Larry Boy party!