Seuss, Lalaloopsy, and Lil Quack – It’s Baby’s Birthday

Baby’s first birthday party calls for bright, lighthearted decorations to match the happy occasion – and there are so many ways to provide them! Here’s an intro to some of our fave baby b-day themes and ways to use them. Maybe one will become your perfect pick, too.

Baby Seuss. One of the features of first birthdays is that family members and friends of all ages get invited. Baby Seuss, with its immediately identifiable characters, will delight not only the birthday boy or girl but anyone who loves these books. The “One fish, two fish, red fish, new fish” play on the original rhyme will particularly tickle the preschoolers.

The primary-colored fish and variegated border designs of Baby Seuss practically invite you to include fish of every stripe at the party. Hang sea creature bubble balloons and a fish piñata from ceilings (or trees, if you’re outdoors) and place clear plastic bowls of fish-shaped crackers around the joint. Our 12” plush fish have the proportions, colors and friendly expressions to attract wee folk as companions while tropical fish water squirters will keep others busy in the yard.

Lalaloopsy. This is normally a young girl’s birthday theme but constitutes a stroke of genius when the impending first birthday belongs to a girl with one or more female siblings or cousins and not much “mixed” company. (Alternatively, you can invite male guests who are either too young to participate in gender, er, discussions, or old enough to understand girl cooties are a cruel myth.)

For this darling, cover the wall behind the cake table with lengths of cloud-patterned gossamer. Treat the table itself with a lavender or hot pink table cover and grass mats on top of the cover; suspend from the “sky” above the table a flower piñata in pink with a yellow center and bunches of Hearts, Dots & Flowers latex balloons in lime, pink and white. Can you think of a better “stage” for dolls, pets and sweet treats? Accent the scene with ribbons and buttons as desired.

Lil Quack. We can’t think of a baby who doesn’t go for the bright colors and big eyes of this quacker.

Lay these adorable party supplies against a summery background of orange and white, then accent this “dreamsicle” of a venue with interesting shapes and textures such as those brought by tissue poms and paper lanterns.

Once the waterfowl baby paradise is ready, introduce a flock of ducklings to it. There are many ways to do this: duck cardboard cutouts, inflatables, mylar balloons, duck game floaters. Party planners everywhere have been making such splashes with the 3D duck cake mold that it’s practically indispensable for this theme – set it afloat upon a table runner “stream” of blue floral sheeting.

More, more and more. We’ve recently expanded our first birthday collection to include Cars Champ, Jungle animals and Bear’s 1st, plus the latest Elmo and Sesame Street party kits. If you’re planning a first birthday celebration this summer, now’s a great time to stop by.

Zoo Birthday Parties for Kids

Whether your child has an affinity for exotic animals or actually wants to be one, a birthday party with an animal theme will elicit howls of delight.

Begin by tracking safari-related party supplies and you’ll quickly see it wouldn’t be beastly hard to decorate an entire savanna with giraffes, lions, chimps and more.

Cultivate a habitat for your “zoo” in cool greens and bright yellow. Alternatively, select background materials with tiger, leopard or zebra patterns, especially if one of these animals is the birthday child’s favorite. Animal-print gossamer is perfect for creating an entrance curtain, and a matching flat paper can cover a wall as a backdrop to a party table or play area.

In the case where an animal print is going to dominate, stick to the same one and work it with one or two solid colors. If the overall feel is green and jungle-y, use a mix of patterns for smaller decorations and accents.

Jungle Animals, shown at right, is a new design in kids’ animal birthday themes. Meant for the youngest zookeepers, this sunny theme illustrates the type of design that would coordinate very well with animal prints. Criss-cross the ceiling with solid color streamers and suspend giraffe- or zebra-themed paper lanterns between them, for example.

Complete the habitat with jungle or safari animals. Photo quality standees come separately and in sets – some of them even make noise. Place one or more of these free-standing cutouts amid tree and grass props for a photo setting everyone will be wild to join.

For a more hands-on experience, add inflatable animals to your list. They come in a variety of sizes, including new extra-huge elephants, giraffes, zebras and triceratopses (triceratopsi?). Some of them are 7 or more feet high and up to 10 feet long. These big guys are so detailed and adorable, even the grownups are looking for excuses to party with them.

Yes, we included a dinosaur here! As far as we know, zoo themes don’t have to be confined to a particular era, which is good news if you’d like to populate your jungle with prehistoric party animals from one of our hot new collections, Dino Blast (get the scoop on this one here) and Diego’s Greatest Rescue (which mixes beasts historic and pre-).

Must haves for favors are the wearable kind. Zoo animal or dino foam masks, tiger ears and tails, pteranodon wings and T-Rex heads are examples of the kinds of wearables we have and kids go for; and we have pith helmets and binoculars for any human explorers on the guest list as well.

If you haven’t been by lately, take a look at our newest birthday supply kits and collections for kids. We’ve expanded them to gather coordinating supplies, from invitations to activities, all in one place for you. Watch for many new products such as cute new decorated cookies and DIY recommendations on these improved party pages, too.

Unleash a force of nature this summer! Start planning a wild animal-themed kids’ party today.