#Disneyside birthday preschool playdate

Last year we threw Miss L a pretty epic “Rainbow Dash” 4th birthday party. This year, we were a bit indecisive on plans, which meant that all of the local venues were booked up by January, so we decided to downsize any big plans and went for a simpler plan instead. Miss L had been requesting that “all of her friends come over to the house for a big playdate” so we figured what better occasion than her birthday!

And even though it wasn’t technically a party, we still did a little bit of theming. Miss L was crazy about all of the fun stuff we received in our #DisneySide @ Home Celebration Kit and decided that we should use it for her birthday! So we decided to expand upon the Princess theme a bit and add in her other current Disney obsession, Star Wars, to the mix as well.

Thus, we passed out invitations to friends and neighbors with two weeks notice and planned a large birthday “playdate” to celebrate!

Other than doing a really great house scrubbing (and then hiring someone to come again and do an even better job!), this day was all about being low-key and everyone having fun! But birthday celebrations still need cupcakes and candles and snacks, so of course we prepared those!

Miss L purchased this “Disney Princess: Cupcakes and More” cookbook last year at her school’s book fair. She probably takes it out once a month to peruse and request different cupcakes. I asked her to pick out one of the recipes for her party, and she picked the adorable “Jaq & Gus Mini Mice Cupcakes” from Cinderella to show her #DisneySide. We made decadent chocolate cupcakes, then Miss L used Smarties, mini M&M’s and nerds to decorate all 24 mice herself!

Miss L decided to dress the part with a “Minnie Mouse” ensemble from H&M. (Seriously though… how cute are those tights?!?)

Keeping with the #DisneySide tradition, I cooked up lots of Mickey Mouse chicken nuggets for snacks as well!

The rest of the snacks were all requested by Miss L (you can tell what her normal snacking routine is!):  carrots, chips & guacamole, fruit, hummus, and “crazy drinks!”

So kids came to our house bringing birthday cards and lots of energy! We had play areas set up in our front entry, the living room, upstairs in our loft and in Miss L’s room. And the kids spent the next 2 hours playing with every toy in the house and just having a crazy ‘ol time!

We played just one party game: Pin the Smile on Mickey Mouse!  Everyone got a kick out of it, and then went back to playing with everything & anyone!

We had Frozen and Cars projecting on large walls throughout the house and Big Hero 6 playing downstairs on the large TV.

Kids stopped by the snack table when they got hungry, and we scheduled a “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” sing-a-long and cupcake devouring contest at the midway point. Oh, and we kept the parents who chose to stay for the duration of the event entertained with cheese and wine.

All of the kids went home with #DisneySide favor boxes filled with Princess and Star Wars goodies: coloring books, crayons, stickers, princess wands, glow necklaces, cootie catchers, HP Photo paper, etc.!

It was fun hosting a simple party at our house and not having all of the crazy pressure that modern birthday fete’s come with! And I think it was a pretty big success, because Miss L has been bombarded with requests from friends to come over to our house for another playdate. It was also fun to share our #DisneySide with friends and have them over for a great celebration and afternoon of play!