Brown Bear, Brown Bear Book 3rd Birthday Party

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Apply These Party Ideas To Any Book
More super fun themed birthday parties:
Plus, don't miss out on 19 Children's Storybook Party Ideas

Do you remember the magic of your favorite children’s book? There’s nothing quite like it. Did you know you can bring that same magic of a favorite storybook to a child’s birthday party? A child’s most beloved book makes for an incredible birthday party theme. It can take a little creativity, and perhaps some DIYs if the theme isn’t widespread enough to exist as a box store party theme already (like this Harry Potter Party). But, the magic is worth all the effort, Jenn of the Koehler Family Blog discovered this truth after throwing her son, Noah, a third birthday party based on his favorite book, Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. and Robert Carle.

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Throwing a book-themed birthday party takes the fantastical elements of a book and brings them to life while also promoting a little kid’s love of reading, Who knew coordinating party decorations, a birthday cake, and themed party activities and favors could help foster a lifelong passion for reading?! Jenn knows, and now you will too, Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? has been Noah’s favorite book for some time now, so it made the perfect theme for this birthday party.

Jenn loved the challenge of coordinating this theme that hadn’t yet made its rounds in the party circuit. She started with the idea of creating an accordion-style invitation with words and images that mimicked the style of the book itself. You could also do this with vintage comic books.

Designer MonkeyMooMoo agreed to help her. It wasn’t long before guests received darling invitations that posed the question, “Brown Bear, Brown Bear what do you see?” The response? “I see Noah turning 3.” Then, “Noah, Noah, what do you see?” This was followed by the reply, “I see my friends celebrating with me.” Party details are then followed on the next page. What a clever way to invite friends and kick off the party theme. You could also do this with a Dr. Seuss-themed party,

The familiar characters and wording from the book were creatively woven by Jenn into all of the party decorations, activities, and even the birthday cupcakes and cake. Jenn found a talented vendor to create three-dimensional fondant cupcake toppers to represent each animal from the book. The detailed work was impressive!

Because the cupcakes were so detailed in their decoration, Jenn chose to balance things out with a simpler cake. She commissioned a local cake designer to create a cake featuring the colors from the book. You’ll notice brown, red, and purple stripes for the brown bear, red bird, and purple horse, as well as other colored stripes, to represent additional animals from the book.

The “3” on top was made out of chocolate and was a sweet personalized touch combined with the “Noah” name bunting strung between two striped paper straws. “Children, children, what do you see?” As little guests scanned the snack table, they could definitely see other creative party snacks. This included color-coordinating treat cups with edible snacks to coordinate—brown bears (chocolate bear crackers), goldfish, and green frogs (green gummy frogs). Clusters of colorful balloons and a copy of Noah’s favorite book were also on display!

Children could also see some amazing party favors styled on the table. Jenn purchased berry baskets in lieu of the traditional favor bags. She used hot glue to attach brown ribbon along the tops and filled each basket with a squeaky green frog bath toy, a yellow duck, and a cello bag filled with little brown bears (Teddy Grahams).

You’ve got to see the thank you tag sentiment! “Noah, Noah, what do you say? Thank you, thank you for celebrating my day!” What a darling way to thank guests for coming to your birthday party, To keep little guests busy, Jenn recruited Noah’s older brother to help. He read Noah’s favorite book to all of the party guests to help refresh their memory. Once story time was over, Jenn prepared a great craft activity. She had printed cardstock copies of each animal from the book for the kids to decorate.

A variety of materials were available to coordinate with each animal, such as red feathers (red bird) and black pom pom balls (black sheep). Guests had the opportunity to decorate each of the 9 animals to create their very own handmade version of the book. The pages were tied together with a ribbon at the end of the party for guests to take home. Reader, Reader, what do you say? Wasn’t this an amazing way to celebrate a birthday?

Apply These Party Ideas To Any Book

We love the creativity and simplicity here. Jenn did a wonderful job of bringing her son’s favorite book to life. You could take these ideas and apply them to any children’s book to create a great party. Any book-themed party could host a reading of the book like Jenn did with her older son. Printing off coloring pages and supplying some craft items for the characters is another great idea!

Then, just get creative with the ways in which you can label your snacks and party favors! (We have a great cupcake recipe here.) Wasn’t this an amazing way to celebrate a birthday? We are sure Noah loved to see his favorite book come to life! What is your kid’s favorite book? Hopefully, this has filled you with ideas for bringing that book to life!

More super fun themed birthday parties:

Plus, don’t miss out on 19 Children’s Storybook Party Ideas

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