E is for an Elmo Themed Birthday Party

Are you trying to figure out a theme for a young child's birthday party? Has your child seen the Sesame Street show? My daughter thought Elmo was an adorable creature. I knew from the beginning that Elmo (Sesame Street) would be the theme for Alyssa's first birthday. Please check out the photos of my daughter's birthday party. You may want to try the same theme or a few ideas! Happy browsing!

Sesame Street Pillowcase Dress Outfit
I love picking out a gift outfit or birthday attire every year. When Alyssa was little I could get away with it, but I believe she'll have an opinion of her own for her sixth birthday party. I usually have luck finding these outfits on Ebay. The hardest thing is taking measurements and hoping she doesn't grow much before the party. Her hair doesn't stand up like that all the time. The wind was blowing her hair in every direction. All of her special birthday outfits will go in her hope chest so that she can have them when she is older and married.

Elmo Party Bags
The party favor bags were extremely easy to create. I used a large orange pom pom, red bags, large google eyes, and black felt. I stuffed them with all kinds of Sesame Street gifts. I can't remember now because it was years ago. My daughter is five now.

 

Party Bags Ready for Each Little Guest
We placed alphabet letters on the table.
We removed the magnetic pieces on the back just in case.

Practice Cupcakes

I always make a practice cake and cupcakes before the prep begins for the party. I don't want disaster to hit the night before the party. I try out several ideas so that we can choose what works and looks best. We never waste the cake and cupcakes. We always find a way for it to be eaten. One year we drove from business to business visiting employees we loved and offered them a slice of cake while they worked. In the photo below, I didn't like that the eyes and frosting were so runny therefore I changed a few things before the party.

Decor

Loft Happy Birthday Banner

Sesame Street Balloons

These oversized balloons served as great photo opportunities. Parents were snapping pictures of their children in front of them. Here is a photo of Alyssa the day after her birthday sharing her treats with me. She played with these balloons for several days after the party (with supervision of course).

 

Aunt Jeanette Posing With Elmo Balloon

Elmo Guest Cake

My husband and I worked together to create the Elmo cake. Can you believe Elmo started out as 3D Bear made from pound cake? She smiled really big when she saw her cake!

Elmo Smash Cake

I wanted Alyssa to have her very own smash cake. It served as a great decoration piece until it was time to smash him. Of course what I didn't expect was Alyssa to be extremely gentle with Elmo's face. She picked small pieces off and barely ate any cake. My husband had to stick her hands in it and boyeeee was she mad at him.

 

Elmo Smash Cake Seasonal Mat and Bib

I let her father have the honor of smash cake privileges. The Elmo trick or treat containers were bought on sale after Halloween. I believe I used the containers as table centerpieces and filled them with Skittle goody bags for adults. They were also used to hold down the mat, because it was a very windy day. Yes, I did change her outfit because I didn't want to ruin the custom made outfit. She was still wearing Elmo attire. I wanted her to wear the outfit again (stain free). She ended up wanting nothing to do with the smash cake. Nope, no interest what-so-ever! Here I was thinking . . . I was going to get some AWESOME messy shots. She still to this day does not like to get her hands dirty. Some things never change.  

Here daddy! You can have it!

The "Real" Birthday Cupcakes

I made and decorated the cupcakes the night before the party. They turned out better using thick black frosting rather than some edible black pen junk. I also changed the frosting recipe and chose to make a thicker butter cream frosting. 

Games
The children were really young so the games were limited and simple. We used numerous toys to keep them occupied. Choosing game was a hard decision for this age group. We did have several older guests so we needed something for them as well.

Bubbles 
We had bubble containers for the adults to use with their children.

Pinata
Elmo was the main character at the party if you couldn't already tell. Our pinatas always serve as decorations until it is time to use them. We try to make it one of the first events so that the candy doesn't melt.

Birthday Girl Goes First
(Mommy Assisted)

Oscar the Grouch Trash Can Toss
I never did get a good shot of this game. Our friend drew and painted a picture of Oscar the Grouch on wood. We purchased a brand new garbage can, because I didn't want children around an old, dirty, germ-infested trash can. I set out mini bean bags for them to throw inside the trash can. The colors and characters grabbed their attention.

Sesame Street Character Photo Prop
Parents had the option of photographing their children in front of the character scene. We couldn't find a good location to place it. It always ended up being in the shade. Oh well!

One of My Favorite Party Photos

Ball Pit
I found an inflatable pool on sale after summer ended. I filled it with colorful, plastic balls. The children had loads of fun gathering in and around the pool playing with the balls. Here is a photo of my beautiful niece visiting this play area. Throwing was a popular activity! Once one child threw a ball and laughed . . .  the contagious fun began. All of the children in the area started throwing balls at each other. It looked like a mini dodge ball game! No children were harmed for the duration of this party - I promise.

Slides and Other Outdoor Toys
We had several outdoor slides and gross motor activities for the children to utilize.

Elmo Movie
Our back up plan was to turn on an Elmo movie for the children to watch if they were restless or bored. However, the movie wasn't needed. They had fun running, crawling, climbing, jumping, sliding, giggling, throwing balls, and attempting to hit the pinata.

Note: Basically there were babies crawling around everywhere and a few older children participated in some events. Adults visited with each other and the children played "next to" each other. It was fun to watch the children interact with one another and with the toys. I believe I also had board books and other Sesame Street toys out that day.

Food and Beverages
We wanted the food to be easy. I made two different types of soup since it was always windy and cool outside in November. I made my chicken tortilla soup and chili. We served pinwheel rolls, sandwiches, veggies, fruits, nachos, and more. The parents had the choice of serving their children water or organic Elmo juice boxes (low sugar). We stocked the fridge with milk. Most children drank from containers with beverages brought by their parents.

Opening Gifts
I helped her open her gifts as she sat in her special birthday chair. It giggled when you pressed one of its hands.

I think she really wanted to open the next gift.
Check out that smile! She looks mischievous in this photo.  

She was teething horribly that week. Her last two baby teeth were cutting. I constantly found her sucking on Elmo's nose or giving him kisses. She LOVED Elmo! Check out the evidence below. These shots were taken the day after her party.

So what do you think? Did you find anything you could do at your child's first birthday party? 

I hope so! I love planning birthday parties for my daughter. It is the highlight of our year and the only party we throw. I would love to hear from you, so please leave a comment below.

I am linking up this post at Blogging Through the Alphabet on Marcy's Ben and Me blog. We are writing about a Letter "E" topic. Sunday is the last day to join because we start Letter "F" on Monday. I will also link this post to Tip Junkie (Home Birthday Parties for Kids Linky Party). There are some cool birthday party ideas linked. Be careful you might get lost browsing for hours. Do you have a birthday party you could share with us all? Come join the fun!

Thank you for visiting!

God bless, 

Tracey