Storybook Party

INVITATIONS
  • Photocopy the cover of a favorite book and white-out the title. Replace the title with the name of your party theme, and then add the party details around the edge.
  • Make your own small storybook from construction paper, and use it as an invitation.

COSTUMES
  • Ask the kids to come dressed as characters from their favorite books.

DECORATIONS
  • Check out a bunch of books from the library and set them all over the part room.
  • Choose a favorite book. Use construction paper to reproduce items and scenes found in the book. For exam you might draw large trees for a jungle, fish for under the sea, and so on.
  • Ask the library for reading posters featuring books or famous people.

GAMES
  • Read the first lines from a variety of favorite stories, and have the kids guess the book.
  • Ask trivia questions about popular books, and have a two-team contest to guess the answers.
  • Hand out picture books, juvenile books, or young adult books, one to each guest. Have the kids sit in a circle and read the first line or each book, one at a time, to form a funny new story.

ACTIVITIES
  • Let the kids create their own storybooks. Supply the paper and writing materials, and give the kids some ideas if they get stuck.
  • Have a storyteller come to the party to tell some classic tales.
  • Award prizes for costumes. Make sure everyone gets a prize by creating lots of winning categories, such as cutest, scariest, funniest, and most creative.

FOOD
  • Choose foods from favorite stories, such as a jam sandwich from The Giant Jam Sandwich, or muffins and honey from a Winnie-the-Pooh story.

STORYBOOK CAKE
  • . Bake two rectangular cakes; cool.
  • Set the cakes side by side to look like an open book.
  • Frost both cakes with white frosting.
  • Write your party title and other inscriptions on the cakes with frosting tubes, to look like words on a page.
  • Place a piece of licorice between the two cakes to form a bookmark.

FAVORS
  • Give each kid a Golden Book or a children's paperback book to take home and enjoy.
  • Laminate special homemade bookmarks, or buy some from a bookstore.

VARIATIONS
  • Arrange a special story hour with your local children's librarian and take the kids to the library for an adventure with books.
  • Help the kids get their own library cards if they haven't got one already.

HELPFUL HINTS
  • Teach the kids how to handle books carefully - especially library books - so they learn to appreciate them.

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