Elmo Birthday

For the family birthday parties that we had using Elmo as the theme, I made the cakes.

I used the Wilton Elmo Face Cake Pan, Duncan Hines Golden Butter Cake Mix, and Duncan Hines Whipped Vanilla Frosting. I followed the instructions on the Duncan Hines cake mix box and poured the cake mix into the Elmo pan to cook. When it was finished cooking I let the cake cool for about an hour before I started decorating it.

I used Wilton Icing Color Set to color the frosting the colors I needed. Which basically is just red - for the face, orange - for the nose, and black - for the mouth and eyes.

To get the furry look of Elmo I used my icing gun with the No. 16 open star decorating tip. Then I used the No. 3 round decorating tip for the smoother parts of Elmo.

Tint all icings at one time while the Elmo cake cools. Refrigerate tinted icings in covered containers until ready to use.

Use 3 cups of icing (I chose vanilla but you can use something else as long as it's white) :
- Tint 1 1/2 cups red/orange (small amount) combination
- Tint 1/2 cup black (thinned with 1 1/2 teaspoons corn syrup)
- Tint 1/4 cup orange/red (small amount) combination
- Reserve 3/4 cup white

1. Use tip 3. Fill in mouth on the Elmo Cake with black icing (smooth with finger dipped in cornstarch).Outline smile using tip 3 with black icing.

2. Use tip 3. Fill in nose with orange/red icing combination (smooth with finger dipped in cornstarch)

3. Use tip 3. Fill in eyes on the Elmo cake with white icing (smooth with finger dipped in cornstarch). Fill in pupils with tip 3 in black icing (smooth with finger dipped in cornstarch)

4. Use tip 16. Cover face with stars with red/orange icing combination

The first thing you will need to decide is where and when to hold your Elmo birthday party. For little ones, it may be easiest to hold the party at a familiar location, such as your own home, a relative's home, or a park you frequent often. When planning the time of the party, keep in mind that naptime schedules may need to be considered.

If you have the time to make your own invitations, here are a few ideas to consider for your Elmo birthday party:

- Cut a circle out of red construction paper to serve as Elmo's head. Use colored construction paper for the details - black for a mouth, orange for a nose, and white for eyes. Write your party details in silver marker on the back.

-Create Elmo's face by cutting an oval from red construction paper. Attach two large googly eyes, an orange pom-pom for the nose and black paper will create Elmo's' happy birthday smile.

- Have Elmo's pet fish Dorothy give your guests the party details! Cut the shape of a fish bowl out of blue construction paper. Draw pebbles and plants on the bottom. Paste a goldfish cutout in the middle, with a bubble coming out of her mouth that includes all the party details.

- Punch a hole in the corner of a card-style invitation and attach it to an zipper pull as a special gift to get your guests excited.

- Cut three circles out of colored construction paper. Glue them together so they overlap a bit. Punch a hole in the bottom of each circle and attach a small strand of ribbon. The finished product will resemble balloons. Decorate the two outer balloons with Elmo stickers and include the party details on the middle balloon.

- Include creative wording for your party details, such as:

On Sesame Street lives a friendly monster,
He likes to giggle and has lots of red fur.
Who is it? Elmo of course! And he wants to say,
We hope you can make it to [birthday child]'s birthday!

My sister did this and it was really cute.
- Some where on the invitation you could write :
Brought to you by the letter "[first letter of child's name]" and the number "[age of child]".

My nephew, Adam, was turning 2 so his said:
Brought to you by the letter "A" and the number "2".

- "Hooray, Hooray it's ________"s Birthday!
Below that include the party details; date, time. address and RSVP number.

Make your little guests giggle with glee by using decorations that fit your theme! Here are a few Elmo party ideas:

- Use primary colors (blue, red, yellow) for your traditional party decorations such as streamers and balloons. Tie three to five Elmo balloons together to place around the party area.

- Add Mylar balloons to some of your balloon groups. An Elmo Airwalker Balloon for the birthday child will really make him or her feel special!

- Create a large "Sesame Street" sign out of green butcher paper. Stencil on the letters and hang it on one wall of your party area.

- Hang a banner above the entrance to the party area that reads "Yippee!! Hooray!! You Came to [birthday child]'s Birthday!"

- Cut large letters and numbers out of brightly-colored construction paper to hang from the ceiling.

- Fill a fish bowl with water, paste a label to the front that says "Dorothy", and add a plastic goldfish.

- Play the "Sesame Street - The Best of Elmo" CD as background music.

- Place a group of stuffed animals on a large blanket where the children can sit during playtime.

- Set a bubble machine in one corner of the room.

- Hang an Elmo Piñata in the party area that can be used as a decoration before the activity begins.

- Scatter refrigerator alphabet magnets down the center of the party table.

Hide and Seek Blocks
Elmo loves to practice his shapes!
Before the party, hide block shapes throughout the party area. To play, send the children on a hunt for them. When every player has found a block, it's time to distribute a small prize. You say, "if you found a red square, come get a prize! If you found a blue circle, come get a prize, and so on until every child receives a treat.

Swim Dorothy Swim
"Uh-Oh!", Elmo's pet fish Dorothy jumped out of her bowl!
Purchase a large fish bowl and three orange bean bags, or plastic goldfish. March an "x" on the floor, a reasonable distance from the bowl. The children will take turns tossing the fish into the bowl.

Bubbles Bubbles and More Bubbles
Provide plenty of bubbles for adults and kids to blow.
The excitement of chasing bubbles is endless for little Elmo fans!

Dough Time
Provide bright red play dough, shape cookie cutters, and rolling pins
(sanded pieces of wood dwelling) and a flat surface for creating.

Pin the Nose on Elmo
You'll need a large poster of Elmo, orange noses cut from construction paper, double sided tape, and a blind fold. Tape the Elmo poster to a wall in the party area, keeping the height of your guest in mind. Place a piece of tape on the back of a nose, and hand it to the player. Depending on the age of the player, have him or her stand anywhere between 3' and 10' away from the poster on the wall. Let the player walk forward and try to correctly pin the nose on Elmo! Repeat until every player has had a turn.

Guess How Many?
Fill a clear jar with cookies. Have each Elmo birthday party guest (parents can help the younger kids) guess how many cookies are in the jar. The one who can get the closest to the actual number will get to be the first to take the picture with a birthday child.

Gelatin Eating Contest
Put equal amounts of flavored gelatin into small bowls. Have one bowl of gelatin for each Elmo birthday party guest. Line up bowls along the ground on a tablecloth. Put names of Sesame Street characters on each bowl: Elmo (for birthday child's bowl), Cookie Monster, Ernie, Bert, Big Bird, Zoe, Telly, etc.

Each player places his or her hands on the ground next to the bowl. On command "Go", all players start eating gelatin in their bowls without lifting their hands off the ground. The first person to clean his or her bowl wins!

Ha! Ha! Ha! Have the kids stand in a circle. One player says "Ha", the next one in a circle says "Ha Ha", and the next one says "Ha Ha Ha" and so on around the circle with each player adding "Ha" to the string. The objective of the game is to keep a straight face without laughing. The person who starts laughing leaves the circle. The last remaining player is your "Ha Ha Ha" champion.

The kids who left the circle can make facial expressions or funny comments to get people in the circle to laugh (without touching or tickling them!)

Elmo Sandwiches
Prepare birthday child's favorite sandwiches. Cut them into fun shapes such as stars, triangles, circles, and squares or even a fish.

Cookie Monster Cookies
Bake your birthday child's favorite cookies. Make them extra-large "monster" size.

Fish Tortillas
With the help of a fish cookie cutter, cut out fish shapes out of homemade tortilla chips.

Elmo Mini Pizzas
Decorate the pizzas to look like Elmo's face.

Elmo JELL-O
Make JELL-O in the Elmo colours.

Goldfish Crackers
They are always a hit with kids and they look like Dorthy.