My daughter, Lila, LOVES to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, so it seemed only natural that the show would be the theme of her third birthday party. Finding Mickey and Minnie party items at Wal-Mart and Dollar Tree was NO problem at all! I purchased some of the licensed party items (cups, plates and plastic tablecloths) and complemented them with plain red, blue and pink items (plain cups, plain plates, polka dotted napkins, solid cutlery) so as to cut down the price. The food table was decorated with Mickey items and the gift table was decorated with Minnie items. At this point our little party corner was looking pretty cute!
I thought that a few more decorations were necessary, however. In addition to the basic Mickey Mouse Clubhouse balloons that we purchased and had filled at our local Hannaford, I made a banner out of basic black paper plates stapled into the shape of Mickey heads. Two small black plates were the ears and a larger black paper plate was the head. On each Mickey head was a letter or other character. The banner read "Lila is 3!"
For more Mickey themed items, Lila had picked out a Mickey and Pluto cake from a local bakery and we also decorated a few plain cupcakes with Oreo Mickey heads (regular size Oreos for the face and mini Oreos for the ears). I then wrapped each juice box with colorful paper and, using two different size circle punches, put a Mickey head on each juice box, just for a bit more pizazz. The kids loved drinking out of their Mickey juice, especially with the Mickey and Minnie straws I found at Wal-Mart!
Perhaps, though, the piece de resistance was the game featuring Toodles! I created a Toodles by tracing a Mickey head onto a piece of poster paper using a large pot for the face and two smaller pot covers for the ears. I then decorated Toodles in a similar manner to how he is on the cartoon. Then came the tricky part. What tools would Toodles have and what would be the situations that would lead the party goers to need the tools? After watching an episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and searching some ideas online, I came up with my ideas.
After Lila opened what she thought was all of her presents, I led her over to another table where there were supposed to be two more presents but there was only one. So we had a mystery on our hands!
Toodles appeared with a lullaby, a fan and a mystery "Mouseketool" to be discovered later. My brother acted as a mean guard blocking the stairs where there was the first ribbon clue. The kids quickly thought to use the lullaby to get the guard to go to sleep so that they could sneak by him. He was soon "sleeping" soundly and 8 giggling children tiptoed by him up the stairs. Before they could go to the next clue, they had a Lego obstacle. They had to use the Legos to create a tower tall enough to reach the door lock before the door could be opened. Teamwork! Once the door was opened, they realized that the hallway was covered with ballpit balls but they could see the final ribbon clue on the other side of the hallway! So, they decided to call on Toodles again and use the fan to get rid of the balls. Once the balls were "blown" away, the children ran to where the final ribbon clue was. Anxious to run into the room where the clue was leading them, they tried in vain to turn the knob. It was locked. Time for the mystery Mouseketool! A bobby pin! Perfect to pop the lock open! Low and behold, inside the room was a brand new bicycle for Lila, all decorated with the same ribbon that had been leading everyone through the house. Success! So fun!
I had a couple of tired children on my hands at the end of this party, that is for sure! All the other parents reported sleeping children practically before they had left the driveway! That is what I call a successful party!
Check out the pictures and details below the calendar!
