Peter Pan -3yr- Shadow Wall & Teepee

Peter Pan Birthday 3 yr old  My son was obsessed with Peter Pan last year. So for his third birthday we had a Peter Pan Theme.

I sent out invites to family and friends to "Come to NeverLand". I had found some clip art of TinkerBell, Peter Pan and a map of NeverLand and used these on the invite. The invite had a blue border and I took some glitter glue and applied "pixie dust" to the edge.   My son loves to wear a Peter Pan costume that I had made for his older brother two Halloweens ago so he asked to wear the costume to the party. He then told me I should be Wendy. So we decided to make it a costume party.

In the end my father-in-law came as Captain Hook, my mother-in-law as the crocodile, my husband as Smee, my father as Mr. Darling, my mother as Mrs. Darling, myself as Wendy and my 4 year old as Nibs (a Lost Boy). Others characters that guests arrived as were Tinker Bell, Michael, John, several Indians, Princess Tiger Lilly, a Mermaid, a few Pirates, Lost Boys, and we even had my sons great-grandmother there (who they called Nana :-) ) 

For the cake I ordered a half a sheet cake with ocean blue frosting. At home I added a small island that I created by making a form out of aluminum foil and then baking it an oven safe bowl. I frosted the island with brown frosting and then placed it in the upper corner of the cake I bought. For the party I added the McDonalds Peter Pan Happy meal Pirate Ship that they were giving away for the release of Peter Pan 2. I actually only used 3 of the 5 pieces of the ship because there was not enough room for the whole ship.

Then I added some of the figures Peter Pan and Jane on the island, Hook and Smee on the ship.  Since my husband and I have a very large immediate family, 10 small children and about 25 adults total, we decided to rent a small hall. The ages of the children ranged from 9 months up to about 8, so we tried to provide lots of different activities. I am a huge fan of using stations to provide variety so I had six areas set up:

1. Treasure Chest: I created a treasure chest out of an old box by covering it with brown butcher paper and drawing black hinges and straps on it. Then I filled it with treasure that I purchased from Oriental Trading Company, golden goblets, beaded necklaces, tattoos, plastic jeweled rings, and gold coins. The children were allowed to raid the treasure chest and take home some of the loot in a small brown bag. The birthday boy got a crown to wear from out of the treasure chest

2. Indian Encampment: My husband took some 8 foot long 2X2's and an old set of brown sheets and created a teepee. The children thought this was a wonderful play area to recreate Michael and John's visit to the Indian Camp.

3. Coloring Area: I printed off several Peter Pan related coloring pages that I found on the internet and created small coloring books for everyone. At one table we had the books and coloring pencils and crayons for the children to have some down time.

4. Creating Hooks Telescope: I collected several paper towel rolls and purchased red and clear cellophane wrap. I cut circles out of the cellophane and the children rubberbanded a piece on the end of the tubes and then decorated them with various stickers that I had.  

5. Shadow Wall: My husband brought a flood light along with a large roll of white butcher and set up in a corner and traced the childrens shadows and they could take them home. Some wanted to decorate them, so they used some of the crayons and stickers and made them their own.

6. Battling Hook: The children colored paint stirrers and used them to battle Hook (my father-in-law). This activity was a favorite of everyone, but especially the little boys. We took lots of pictures and even caught some of it on video. My boys still to this day talk about battling Captain Hook. 

At each of the above areas I had signs and labeled them with names from the NeverLand map: Indian Encampment & Lost Boys Hide-Out, Peg-Leg Point, Mermaid Lagoon, Skull Rock, Pirates Cove, and the shadow area was the Darling childrens bedroom.  

As far as food, I did not do themed food. I went with the birthday boys favorites: Hot Dogs and Macaroni & Cheese. We also enjoyed a large fruit salad and lots of fresh veggies.  

Towards the end of the party we put the original Peter Pan video on for the children to enjoy. Before we knew if the children we acting some scenes out along with the movie.   The party was enjoyed by everyone not just the kids, but the teenagers and adult also!