As a school librarian, my young children’s birthday parties have always centered around favorite authors and illustrators. Eric Carle, most famous for his Very Hungry Caterpillar, is a great author-illustrator to use as a birthday party theme. If you are planning a birthday party for a young boy or girl and want an adorable and unique theme, try these tips for creating a great Eric Carle themed birthday party.
The Decorations. The decorations for an Eric Carle themed birthday party are inexpensive and easy to find. Simply look for typical birthday party decorations in the Very Hungry Caterpillar colors of red, green, and yellow. Combining balloons, streamers, and tablecloths in the classic Carle colors will instantly give the party the right feel for the theme. If you already have Eric Carle books at your house, or if you can get some from the public library, set these books around the food and cake tables as a completely free Eric Carle birthday party decoration. Finally, an Eric Carle garland kit is available through retailers such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble. This kit is easily customizable to read “Happy Birthday” and even include your child’s name.
The Cake. A Very Hungry Caterpillar cupcake cake is super simple to make, but looks incredibly adorable as the centerpiece of an Eric Carle birthday party. Instead of putting your cupcake liners in a muffin tin, use a tiny loaf pan. The loaves are rectangular which mimics the shape of the caterpillar’s sections. With your extra cake batter, make a small round cake for the caterpillar’s head. Pipe green tinted icing onto the individual cupcakes for the body of the caterpillar. Don’t mix the icing well when you tint it and it will look more like the collaged colors that Eric Carle uses. Ice the round cake with red icing for the head. Some eyes and antennae complete this Very Hungry Caterpillar cake.
Where to Buy. If you search online using a common search engine for Eric Carle plates, napkins, and other paper products, you may find that you come up short. Carle is very popular in the UK and many UK retailers carry these paper products, but finding them in the US can be difficult. Fortunately, the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book art, located in Massachusetts, has an online store. The store is packed with plenty of Eric Carle themed paper products, perfect to finish your birthday party plans. Visit www.carlemuseum.org to search the store. Or, if you prefer, just purchase paper products in red, green, and yellow, just like the colors of the Very Hungry Caterpillar.
Games and Activities. Carle creates his unique illustrations by using tissue paper collage. Let your party guests feel just like the illustrator himself by making their own collages. Just cut colored tissue paper into small squares. Draw a shape (a butterfly, a ladybug, etc) on a sheet of paper. Let the young guests use a glue stick to paste the tissue paper pieces to the drawn insect. The colorful collages will be quite reminiscent of Eric Carle’s famous illustrations. Another great activity for an Eric Carle themed birthday party is to create mini books. Using these directions: http://minibooks.scholastic.com/minibooks/howto/ allow partygoers to create their very own book. The Internet is also full of dozens of Eric Carle coloring sheets that make a great beginning activity as the birthday party guests arrive.
Eric Carle is a well-loved children’s author and illustrator and his iconic characters make a great theme for a child’s birthday party. Use these ideas to plan the perfect Eric Carle themed birthday party.