A Birthday Party for a Bookworm
Lacking birthday party inspiration? Look no further than your child’s favorite book, book series or author. Even better, you can repurpose the books and toys for cute décor and displays!
Bewitch with Harry Potter:
Aspiring witches and wizards will love a magical birthday party.
If you really want to lean into the theme, send party invitations with an owl! Find instructions at mommademoments.com.
Decorate using the colors of the Hogwarts houses – red, yellow, blue and green.
Sip on butterbeer; find instructions at favfamilyrecipes.com.
Design your own wand. Drizzle hot glue over wooden chopsticks or dowels (if your party is for younger kids, do this step beforehand). You can also create different designs by decorating with buttons or beads. Paint with acrylic paint.
Find out which house you belong to with adorable Harry Potter Sorting Hat Cupcakes from Housewife Eclectic. You’ll use a cookie cutter to cut out a circle in the top of each cupcake and fill with red, green, blue or yellow M&Ms to depict the Hogwarts houses. Find full instructions at housewifeeclectic.com.
Play a game of Quidditch! Find rules at usquidditch.org.
Play a game of Pictionary to draw and guess the mystical and mythical creatures from the series.
Silliness Abounds with Dr. Seuss:
Stories from this famed author make for a whimsical party.
Serve green eggs and ham. You can dye these breakfast components using green food coloring, and serve as is or as a sandwich.
Set your copy of “One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish” next to a jar of colored Goldfish crackers.
Design your own pretty pair of socks for the “Fox in Socks.” You can also download printable activities and coloring pages from pbskids.org.
Serve pink cake pops to resemble the tiny Whoville in “Horton Hears a Who!”
Find Dr. Seuss décor at partycity.com.
Layer strawberries, bananas and marshmallows on a kabob for “The Cat in Hat.” Find instructions at modernmomlife.com.
Did you know Oobleck started with Dr. Seuss’ book “Bartholomew and the Oobleck?” This sensory project is easy to make with cornstarch, water and food coloring. Find instructions at pbs.org.
Get Goofy with Mo Willems:
Willems’ book characters include Pigeon, Knuffle Bunny, elephant Gerald, pig Piggie and more.
You can download activities (and even event kits!) at pigeonpresents.com.
Serve a pink drink perfect for Piggie! Make a delicious Cherry 7UP Float with instructions at 7up.com.
Pigeon shouldn’t drive the bus, but can you? See how well kids can follow traffic instructions with a game of Red Light, Green Light.
In “Elephants Cannot Dance!,” Gerald learns to love his own moves. Explore the creativity of dance with a game of Dance Freeze.
Follow along to a LUNCH DOODLES with Mo Willems video, created to entertain kids. Find videos at kennedy-center.org.
The duckling gets a cookie, but so do all your party guests! Serve cookies for dessert.
Grab a copy of “I Am Invited to a Party!” that guests can use to sign birthday wishes and favors to your child.
Mythical Magic with Rick Riordan:
Rick Riordan has published book series featuring gods and goddesses from Greek, Egypt and Norse mythology. His publishing branch, Rick Riordan Presents, publishes stories from underrepresented cultures and backgrounds.
Ask guests to come dressed as their favorite mythical god, goddess or figure.
Find event guides and printable resources at rickriordan.com.
Play a game of Capture the Flag, a tradition of Camp Half-Blood.
In “Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky,” hero Tristan must work with the trickster god Anansi the Weaver. Set up a spider web obstacle course your party guests must try to conquer.
Magnus Chase is the son of Frey, the Norse god of peace, fertility, wealth, rain, summer and sunshine. Embrace the upcoming warmer weather with a water gun fight.
Percy Jackson’s mom, Sally Jackson, always bakes him a blue cake on his birthday and buys him blue candy. Serve up blue desserts in honor of Percy.
Make up your own myth by creating a “Mad Libs” style template and game.
Monkey Around with Curious George:
Curious George first appeared in 1941, and he lives with his best friend, the Man in the Yellow Hat. Make sure to decorate your space with tons of bright yellow!
Make your own Curious George with his own hat with instructions from inthebagkidscrafts.com.
Print out activities and games from Curiosity Day at houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/cgsite/.
Serve Chocolate-Dipped Frozen Bananas. Make banana pops with popsicle sticks, dip in melted chocolate, and decorate with granola, nuts, sprinkles, coconut or cookie crumbles. Find instructions at foodnetwork.com.
Play Monkey in the Middle.
Stick to yellow refreshments by serving lemonade or yellow punch.
The book series follows Curious George as he does different activities. Set up areas for kids to try these activities: fly a kite, make a medal, create a hot air balloon, play baseball or play with toy trains.
Serve banana bread.
Decorate cookies to resemble balloons and bananas.
