A Disney Princess Birthday Reading Celebration

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It’s hard to believe but Jill’s daughter Addie will soon be turning four.  Addie is all about princesses these days so when we discovered the Disney Princess-themed American Greetings party supplies at Walmart last week, we knew that we had to purchase them!  Of course, as we began brainstorming fun party ideas, we had to throw in some educational activities.  Addie will be having a group of neighborhood friends over who range from 4 to 7-years-old so we wanted to make sure the educational activities we created would be a good fit for her friends.  We are hoping that the ideas we have pulled together will make Addie’s day THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!  She is already getting excited, wait until she sees what we have planned.

 

 

 

We began by creating the educational activities.  You can download what we created here:  Princess Birthday.  We thought a focus on literacy would be perfect for the age group.  As a bonus, all of the activities we created will also be great for a classroom.  Sometimes choosing the right thing is all that is needed to motivate that struggling reader!  We know this theme won’t grab all of your reluctant readers, but if it helps one or two, it is worth it!

Our favorite activity is the Princess Hunt.  This is a simple game but will get the children up and moving PLUS, it encourages them to do a little reading (but still includes picture clues for the younger children.)  Once you have printed off three or four copies of the princess pages (one page has a light skinned princess, one a dark skinned princess), cut out the princess cards.  Print a copy of the “Princess Hunt” page for each child.

Next, you will hide the cards around the room.  Hide different amounts of each item.  For example, you might put three princesses in one spot and two crowns in another.  Children will go on a hunt for the objects. When they are found, they will record the number of each item.  (To simplify the game for younger children, hide only one of each.  When found, children will put an x in the box.)  We even found these cute little Disney Princess wands we will hand to the girls when they go on their hunt.  We are sure they will love waving their wands at each item that is found.

Another activity we have included that will encourage the party goers to get up and moving is a Princess Write the Room.  You will cut apart the Disney Princess cards and place them around the room. Children will find the Disney Princess and write her name on the recording page.  It’s like a game of hide and seek that encourages children to read and write!

When you are in between activities at the party, we like the idea of having children complete their own princess book.  Is is a simple book with room for children to draw their own pictures.  We suggest laying these out and having children return to them as you are preparing for the next activity.  When the party is over, it will make for a cute take home!

We have also included a Princess Fry Word Oh No! Game for children ready to read.  We think this will make a cute favor and can be placed in a Disney Princess cup to take home.  To play this game, print the cards and cut apart the words.  The first 100 Fry words are included in the download.  You will also print and cut apart the cards that say Oh No! and Hurray!  If you would like the cards to last a little longer, you might want to laminate before cutting apart.  To play, children will pull one card from the cup.  If the child can read the word, she keeps it.  If she cannot read it, the card goes back in the cup.  When a child pulls out an Oh No! card, she puts all of her cards back in the cup. When she pulls out a Hurray! card, she gets to draw another card.  You will want to set a time limit for the game, maybe five minutes.  When time is up, the child with the most cards is the winner.

We are so excited for Addie to see all that we have planned!  We are sure she will love every minute of her party, and her friends will too!  Do you have additional items for a Disney Princess-themed party?  We would love to hear them.

Thanks to Jessica Sawyer Designs for the cute princess clip art!