My kiddos have loved Beanie Boos (called “Glittery Eyes” in our house) since the moment we first saw them in the store. If you aren’t familiar with them, they are little stuffed animals made by Ty that have eyes ringed in glitter. They are usually colorful and sometimes fantasy or licensed creatures but at prices as low as $6.00 they are a great item for kids to collect. For W’s birthday a few years ago, we came up with the idea of a Beanie Boo adoption birthday party. This party took some work ahead of time, but ended up being a firm favorite with everyone who attended! If you have kiddos who love Beanie Boos or just animals in general, this could be a great party idea for you.
Making a Plan and Setting Everything Up
We had lots and lots of Beanie Boos already in our collection that we used throughout the party as both decorations and examples, but we wanted to make sure that every kiddo could also take home their own “pet.” I also want to make sure we weren’t spending too much on them as I had a few other favors I wanted to be able to send home with the kiddos related to the activities for the party. So we started staking out JoAnn Fabrics stores near our house and watching for coupons we could use to buy the Beanie Boos one by one. This worked out really well and allowed us to find a variety of pets so there were no two alike. With the coupons, I was able to get many of them for about $4.00. We did end up getting a couple from other stores without coupons due to time constraints, but what I saved on most of them made up for the extra costs. I found a lot of the other favor items at the local dollar store, on sale online, or made at home. For the decorations, we wanted to go with a rainbow of colors to match the spirit of the pets so I raided the party closet and found lots of leftover decorations I mixed together to decorate the space. This is one of my biggest tips: save the leftovers from every party you have, you never know when you may be able to use them again. Even if it is just a few plates and napkins, that small amount of streamers you have left on a roll, or a banner that you used only once, it could end up being used again!
Teaching Kids About Adopting A Pet
We deeply believe in adopting pets instead of buying them and teaching our kiddos to be respectful of the realities of pet ownership so we wanted to bring those values into the activities for the party, plus I thought it would be really fun! So as the kids arrived we had them draw a stick with a number on it which would be the order they would enter the adoption center, we, of course, let the birthday boy go first. The adoption center was in a room were we built a small area where all the pets were displayed. We just used a brown blanket laid over several towels that were folded in different ways to create a natural looking habitat with a toy fence around the outside. After each kiddo picked their pet, they were given a “pet carrier” with their pet’s name on it. These were just treat boxes I found with the ends folded down so they just used the handles and a special label sticker I wrote the names on. They also received a list of all the adoption stations they would need to visit to complete their adoption. We had an adult and a stamp at each station to help them complete the task and then “check off” their list. Below is a general description of each station and a list of the items at each:
- Pet Supply Store – A station to pick up the supplies their pet would need to be happy and healthy
- Pet Food- Dollar store condiment containers filled with colorful pom poms decorated with a matching label
- Travel Water- Dollar store condiment containers painted with blue paint inside to look like there is water in the container decorated with a matching label
- Toy Ball- Bouncy balls
- Cuddle Blanket- Remnant fabric cut into small squares and surged around the edge
- Leashes- Lengths of ribbons sewn with a loop on one end and a clip sewn on the other
- Make A Collar – Where they will create a special collar with their pet’s name
- Pipe Cleaners- Colorful pipe cleaners cut to be the correct length for the pets
- Pony Beads- A selection of different colored pony beads
- Letter Beads- Letter beads that we put in bags ahead of time with each pet’s name so the kiddo’s didn’t have to look for them
- Small Bells- I found really cute little bells for them to add to their pet’s collar
- Key Rings- Added to the collar so the leashes can be clipped onto them
- Sweet Shop – We wanted to add some cute rainbow pet themed candies for everyone to enjoy during the party
- Cat-fish- Colorful Swedish Fish
- Chew Toys- Various flavors of Pull-and-Peel Licorice
- Lollies- Because I wanted to use these awesome sour lollipops…
- Birdy Wormies- Sour worms
- Grooming Salon – An area to “wash up” and groom their pets – All of these items were from the dollar store
- Wash Basin
- Two Towels of Different Types
- Two Grooming Brushes
- Two Sponges
- Washing Mitt
- Vetrinary Clinic – One of the older kids acted as a Vet who signed off on the health of each pet with a special check off sheet of their own. We used a toy vet kit at this station as well as a disposable underpad we had in our first aid kit.
Completing Their Adoptions
After each kiddo completed their adoption lists, they visited the center table where they presented their checklists and then received their certificate of adoption. They then got to grab a custom coloring book I had made full of Beanie Boo coloring sheets I had found online. There were glitter crayons they could use to color them while they waited for the others to finish their adoption process. We staggered the whole process for all the kids by having those in the “waiting room” play with the extra Beanie Boos we had and then when their turn came they then began the process. They could visit the stations in any order they wanted which also helped keep things flowing. The timing of everything worked out surprisingly well and in the end we ate lunch when the kids were all finished and then did presents and cupcakes. For more about the food offerings at this party see this post. (Link Incoming.) After the party each child went home with their pet, pet carrier, one item from each category of the pet supply store, a custom made collar for their pet, a custom coloring book, and their pet paperwork. This allowed each kiddo to continue their pretend play at home in being able to continue to care for their new pet. One of my favorite parts was that the vet set and grooming tools were actually surprise gifts we got W that he was then able to use to pretend with his animals at home so they ended up being usable after the party!
Glittery Success
This party was so much fun! The kids had a blast adopting their pets and then taking care of them and the adults enjoyed having pretend play with the kids as well as how busy they were all kept! The decorations were simple yet vivid and using the Beanie Boos we already had was great because there were extras to play with and they added some great conversation to the party without extra expenses. I think you could take this idea and mold it to the type of animal or collectable your kiddo is in to at the moment if the Beanie Boos aren’t quite what you are looking for. This could be great tailored to a specific animal and I know there are favor sets out their that you can buy with multiples of the same animal if you are looking for something more simple. I did end up having to create all of my own printables, labels, invitations, and signs but was surprised to find a few months later that there was a Beanie Boo birthday party supply set now available so make sure to check that out if you would like, it sure would have made things more simple for me to use those elements as a base and an add on to what I needed to make the party work. So will you be planning your own Beanie Boo Birthday? Let me know in the comments below!
