This Inside Out party has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #InsideOutEmotions #CollectiveBias
Terrible Twos.
Threenager.
The <use your imagination> Fours.
Ask any parent about their toddler’s emotions and I’m almost positive you will get the head shake followed by a sigh. Emotions are tricky when you are forced to share your toys and play nice.
Who am I kidding? I’m pushing 30 and I am not about emotions.
Which is why I was so adamant about Disney’s Inside Out being Michael’s first movie theater experience. I need him to know it’s okay to feel a whole slew of emotions, and that feeling sad isn’t all that bad. Inside Out did just that and was the perfect stepping stone for what was to come.
Exactly one week after we beefed up our dialogue about emotions in a fun, animated way, we buried Grandpa Ivan.
I’m sure you can imagine, there have been oodles of ‘use your words’ and ‘how does that make you feel’ going on these days, so we planned an Inside Out party. That’s what we do. It’s our thing.
INSIDE OUT PARTY DECORATIONS:
These adorable plushes gave each place setting its own identity so the kids had nothing to argue about. If you are planning a small party, the plushes can double as an easy party favor.
Each place setting came with matching cutlery and a favor box.
Party tip: I encourage my guests to place their utensils in a separate container so I can wash and reuse them. Although this helps with my budget, not all of my guests remember to recycle them, so parties utilizing multiple colors keeps people from finding out about my mess of a party supply cupboard.
I filled each favor box with:
- Printable coloring sheet
- Crayons
- Kellogg’s Inside Out fruit snacks
- Bing Bong Ding Dong
INSIDE OUT PARTY FOOD:
Those cupcakes, though!
Creating fun cupcakes for my parties will forever be my favorite task as a party planner. Unless, of course, I spend the day making 99 cupcakes. Not saying I did or anything because that’s insane…
Party tip: If you are throwing a party for a movie, look for a movie poster to use as your backdrop.
INSIDE OUT CUPCAKES:
- Anger: (Red cake mix.) Orange and yellow swirled frosting with a patterned tie and a beige wrapper.
- Disgust: (Green cake mix.) Pink and lime green swirled frosting with a dark green glitter wrapper.
- Joy: (Yellow cake mix.) Blue frosting with a shooter marble and a yellow wrapper.
- Sadness: (Blue cake mix.) Blue frosting with a pair of glasses and a blue wrapper.
- Fear: (Purple cake mix.) Purple frosting with a red bow tie and a grey wrapper.
Crafting tip: I will share the tutorial for the ‘memory’ centerpiece very soon!
I served ‘Fear’ root beer…
Crafting tip: The label is 4×4 inches with a 3 inch bow tie.
… and ‘voices your in head’ banana bread.
We had an ’emotion potions’ smoothie bar where the guests could create character themed smoothies.
EMOTION POTIONS SMOOTHIE BAR:
- Joy: Banana, Peanut butter, vanilla yogurt
- Anger: Banana, strawberries, strawberry yogurt
- Sadness: Banana, blueberries, vanilla yogurt
- Fear: Banana, blackberries, blackberry yogurt
- Disgust: Banana, pineapple, spinach, vanilla yogurt
My favorite character, Bing Bong, played a few roles. He and his ‘Bing Bong’ Ding Dongs gave my table a centerpiece and filled the favor bags at the end of the party.
Spoiler alert: The end of the movie… the scene with Bing Bong. All the feels! Michael doesn’t understand the importance of that scene, but I do. Dang. Motherhood is making me soft.
The Kellogg’s Inside Out fruit snacks, just like the Ding Dongs, were open to the guests to graze on during the party and joined the coloring activity in my party favors.
INSIDE OUT PARTY ACTIVITIES:
Toddlers are tough to entertain when it comes to themed party games, but they know what to do when it comes to toys, so we played with our emotions. Talk about an easy party activity, right? The only sort of problem is Michael giving things around our house an emotion based on its color. Call it a work in progress!
Toddlers. Sigh…
So the party moved outdoors. The kids did kid things…
… the ladies played with
… and the men? They did man things and ate cupcakes.
The next time you are at Walmart, keep your eyes peeled for the display full of plushes. They are a great alternative for the times when ‘use your words’ doesn’t work.
And with that, I leave you with a funny from the funeral.
Pastor: “…There will be no more mourning.”
Michael: “Why will there be no more mourning? I like the morning!”
Toddlers.
