Strawberry Shortcake Birthday Party Ideas

Strawberry Shortcake birthday party theme will work well with younger kids. For a yummy special occasion, use the following fun party ideas.

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Invitations

Make your Strawberry Shortcake birthday party invitations in strawberry shapes. Cut the shapes out of construction paper. Decorate one side with crayons and markers, and write all the party details on the other side. Fill clear cellophane bags with green paper shreds and strawberry-wrapped candies, then put the invitations inside the bags.

Tie each bag with pink and polka-dot ribbon, and then attach a name tag to the ribbon. Write each guest's name and attach a Strawberry Shortcake sticker to each tag.

Your Strawberry Shortcake birthday party invitations can say: "You're invited to a Berry Special Shortcake Birthday Party! (Your child's name) is turning (age). Come join us for fun party extravaganza and delicious treats!" Then include all the Strawberry Shortcake birthday party information.

As a variation, you can print a picture of Strawberry Shortcake on the front of your invitations cards. If you have computer software for editing images, then "paste" a picture of your child near the Strawberry Shortcake's image for extra-special look!

Decorations

Decorate your Strawberry Shortcake birthday party area in red, pink, and lime green colors. Have lots of balloons and paper streamers throughout the area. (You can put dots on red balloons with black markers and attach green streamers for stems and felt for leaves to make the balloons look like strawberries.) Play "Strawberry Jams" CD in the background.

Guest Arrival and Introductory Activities

*Guess How Many: Fill a jar with pink jellybeans and have the kids guess how many are in the jar. Give the jellybeans to a child who can guess closest to the amount, and give the leftovers to other players.

*Coloring Pages: Invite the kids to color pages of Strawberry Shortcake activity books while they are waiting for other party guests to arrive.

*Bead Activity: You can get Strawberry Shortcake Bead Activity kit from a party store. Have the kids create their own fashion jewelry as one of the introductory activities.

Favors

For your Strawberry Shortcake party favors, prepare two goody bag versions: one for the girls, and the other one - for the boys. For girls, you can include such items as plastic mirrors, lip gloss necklaces and brushes. For boys, give out sticker sheets, strawberry cups with straws, and toy tractor sets.

Strawberry Shortcake Birthday Party Games

*Stick the Hat on Strawberry: For this Strawberry Shortcake birthday party activity, you'll need an image of Strawberry that you can enlarge and glue to white poster board. (You can also purchase character poster from the party store.) Then draw and cut out hat shapes from pink or red construction paper. (You should have enough shapes for each party guest.)

Write guests' names and put double-sided tape on each hat shape. Mount the poster on the wall. At game time, blindfold the kids one by one, spin them around, and get them to stick their hat shapes on Strawberry where they belong.

*Pass the Orange: Here is a version of Hot Potato game, but instead of passing potato, the kids pass an orange. Have the children sit in a circle, and get them to pass the orange while the music plays. When it stops, a person holding the orange goes out of the game and receives a prize. Keep playing until there is only one child left.

*Candy Race: Split the group into 2 equal teams. Give each team equal-sized toy sand shovels and wrapped candy. Line the kids up and have them race from starting line to another side of the party area, around a chair and back keeping the candy on the shovel all the way through. Then they tag the next player in line to continue the race.

If players drop candy, they have to pick it up, place on the shovel and carry on. The team to finish first wins!

*Strawberry Jell-O Eating Contest: Before the Strawberry Shortcake birthday party, prepare Jell-O according to package directions. Make individual and equal size bowls for everyone. At game time, have the kids race to eat their Jell-O without using their hands.

*Berry Mash: Blow up red (strawberry), blue (blueberry) and magenta (raspberry) latex balloons. Place some small prizes (e.g., theme stickers, candy, etc.) in some of the balloons. On the command "Go," have the kids stomp on the balloons to get prizes. (Before the game, explain to the kids that if they get more prizes than some other players, they have to share.)

*Bean Bag Toss: Make small strawberry-shaped beanbags before the party. Place several small containers/boxes on the ground. Have the kids take turns throwing their beanbags from various distances for points.

*Berry Thief: Before starting the game, explain to the players that whoever is holding the prize berry (a marble, a small plastic toy, etc.) is the Thief. Then secretly slip the berry into one child's hand without the other kids seeing you do it. To do this, hide the berry in your fist and walk from player to player pretending to put it in each child's hand. (Kids should act identical whether they received the berry or not.)

Once you transfer the berry to a player, continue to pretend transferring it to a few more players before announcing that you no longer have it. Then start the game by shouting "Find the Berry!"

Kids try to determine who the thief is by tagging each other, but they have to be wary of one another since the thief's identity is unknown. The thief deceives players by tagging them, while managing not to get tagged himself. When tagged, a child must show the tagger what's in his or her hand. If it's nothing, both players resume running.

If a player tags a thief, the tagger gets the berry and becomes the new thief. When this occurs, both the current and the previous thief must act as though no transfer has occurred.

For a group of ten or more kids, double the fun by having two thieves instead of one.

*Berry Patch Hunt: Before the Strawberry Shortcake birthday party, string a ball of green yarn (strawberry vines) around the yard, making sure to go around, through, under, and over as many objects as possible. (You can set it up inside the house as well.) The better the maze, the more fun the children will have unraveling the vines.

Begin stringing the vine at convenient spot to hide the final prize. Work your way backwards, hiding favors, fun messages, or hints about the prize along the vine's path. Remember that the place where you finish stringing is the spot where the children will begin.

*Strawberry Stories: Bring your party to an end with Strawberry Shortcake video or book. Either one is a fun way to entertain your guests while they are waiting for their rides.

Strawberry Shortcake Birthday Cake:

*Strawberry Shortcake Cake: Bake this birthday cake using Strawberry Shortcake Pan (available from party stores). Then decorate the cake in red, pink, and green colors.

Strawberry Shortcake Birthday Party Food Ideas:

*Sandwich Rolls: Spread a thin layer of peanut butter on several tortillas. Top with a layer of strawberry jam and roll up each one. Cut each tortilla roll in 3 sections.

Spread several other tortillas with cream cheese. Cover the cream cheese with a layer of thinly sliced lunch meat and lettuce. Roll up each one and slice in sections as before. Spear with frilly toothpicks to hold the rolls together.

*Berry Sparkles: Wash whole strawberries and pat them dry with a paper towel. Fill a few shallow bowls with colored sugar or make your own colors by stirring two drops of food coloring into 1/4 cups of sugar.

For each quart of fruit, blend 8 oz of softened cream cheese, 4 tsp of confectioner's sugar, 3 tbsp of milk, and 1 tsp of vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Whip the mixture with a fork until smooth and creamy.

Holding the strawberries by stems, dip each one in the cream cheese mixture, and roll in the colored sugar. (If you plan to use other fruit, then use toothpicks to spear blueberries, blackberries, or chunks of fruit before dipping and rolling them.)

*Peanut Butter & Strawberry Jam Sandwiches (cut them into heart shapes using cookie cutter)

*Hotdogs with Chili & Chips
*Veggies & Dip
*Pizza

*Garden Salad
*Apples & Caramel Dip
*Ginger Snap Cookies
*Pretzels
*Ice Cream

Strawberry Shortcake Birthday Party Drink Ideas:

*Strawberry Slushies: You'll need 32 strawberries, 12 ice cubes, 1 cup of frozen concentrated limeade, and 1 cup of water. Whirl the ingredients in a blender, doing portions at a time, if necessary. Serve slushies in strawberry cups (available from a party store).

*Orange Punch
*Strawberry Milk Shakes