Teddy Bear Picnic Birthday Party

My son Theodore just turned two and we threw him a teddy bear picnic birthday party at our home. It tuned out pretty cute so I wanted to share the details here for you for inspiration. Many years ago when my oldest son was a toddler, I hosted a teddy bear picnic party in my Denver backyard just for fun. I had a much smaller budget then, but it was just as fun. I took a few of ideas from that party plus some new ideas and inspiration from Pinterest. I knew I wanted the teddy bear picnic to be Theo’s birthday party theme right away, and had pretty much everything planned out months in advance.

As cute and fun as this day was, I have to say, it was a HOT one. We spent a lot more time inside than I had planned on. I finally have kids with summer birthdays, which I assumed would mean we could always host parties in our backyard. (My oldest has a January birthday) But if there is not water involved, I don’t think I’ll be hosting outdoor parties in Summer here in Virginia. I am still getting use to living in the South.

The Invites

I desgined the invitations on Canva and sent them via text message. I asked each guest to bring their favorite teddy bear or stuffed animal to the party. (I blocked out my address for the blog). I think the invites turned out really sweet.

The Food

• croissant sandwich bar
• Amish Style Macaroni Salad from Walmart
• grapes
• potato chips
• teddy bear trail mix
• picnic lunches for the kids made up
• ice cream bar
• cupcakes

I wanted to keep food super simple and picnic – themed. I have a one month old and I knew I wouldn’t have time to be baking or cooking for this party. I tried to buy as much prepared food as I could this time. I loved the idea of a sandwich bar for the adults, and after doing a little digging online, I found out that the Costco meat & cheese party platters was a really great deal! For just $27 you get a pound each of sliced deli turkey, ham, and roast beef. You also get 28 slices of cheese (cheddar, provolone, and swiss). That brings the deli meat to only $7.50 a pound and the cheese is basically free! Plus it gets sliced fresh for the party and arranged nicely on a large tray. You do have to order these party trays in advance, though. They prefer at least 24 hours notice. For the sandwich bread, I got two packages of the Costco croissants and had a lot left over. YUM! I kept the toppings simple – lettuce, tomatoes from the garden, red onion, mayo, mustard, and pickles. I had planned on serving watermelon from my garden because we have been living off of it! I harvested 3 watermelons that day and they were all bad! I didn’t have time to run to the store, so we made do without. We served premade macaroni pasta salad from Walmart, grapes, and potato chips.

I found these adorable bear cocktail picks on Amazon and I had originally planned on doing fruit kebabs with strawberries, blueberries, and pineapples… but to keep the the cost down and the prep work easier, I just used grapes.

For the kids, I wanted to have their meal all ready to go so parents didn’t have to spend time putting together a plate for every kid. In a kraft paper food tray, each child got a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, an applesauce pouch, a grape skewer, a cup of teddy bear trail mix, and a juice box. When I had that teddy bear picnic back in Denver all those years ago, I had made PB&Js and used a teddy bear cookie cutter for each sandwich. I had planned to do the same for this party because they had turned out SO cute. Well, I had an epic fail when the cookie cutter was too shallow to cut through the sandwiches, and just made a real mess. So I just cut a sandwich in half instead. The teddy bear trail mix is something we have made for a few parties and is always a hit! I use all three flavors of Teddy Grahams, pretzels, Honeycomb cereal, mini marshmallows, and Honey Nut Cheerios. I used these paper ice cream cups. (Which I also used for the ice cream bar)

The potato chips, applesauce pouches, juice boxes, sodas, croissants, and deli meat & cheese tray was all from Costco.

I ran out of time to really decorate everything as much as I would have liked. But I think I did alright considering I have a newborn. The ice cream bar was simple and easy to throw together. I served the classics- chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice cream. I used this metal galvanized tub full of ice to keep the ice cream cold. For the toppings I had dark chocolate and white chocolate syrup, nuts, sprinkles, Reese’s Pieces, crushed oreos, mini marshmallows, whipped cream, and mini chocolate chips. I got these red ice cream scoops for just $.97 each at Walmart and the paper cups was a pack of 50 so I used some for the kids trail mix and the rest for the ice cream bar.

The cupcakes were from Walmart and I added a teddy graham to each one. So simple !

The Decorations

I kept decor super simple and minimal. The red and white gingham tablecloths were a Goodwill score that were just $2.49 each! They were the perfect size for the kids to eat at for their picnic. I got this burlap Happy Birthday banner from Amazon and can re-use it for future birthday parties. I ordered 30 balloons from Party City to decorate the yard, inside the house, and to tie at the end of our driveway at the mailbox (we have a VERY long driveway) Make sure you order your balloons ahead of time if you have a large order like this. I had my husband pick these up a few hours before the party.

I thrifted a couple small baskets from Goodwill that I thought were perfect and then found the exact same baskets new at Michael’s! So I got enough to use as centerpieces on the blankets to hold the balloons. I put an apple in each basket as a weight. I used two medium baskets to hold the chips and trail mix on the food table.

What is a teddy bear picnic without teddy bears? I had all our teddy bears out as decorations with little party hats on. (I used party hats for dogs that I found on Amazon) I also had enough little party hats that the guests could put on their teddy bears they brought. And the cheapest plain primary colors party hats I found were at Walmart. Kiddos and adults wore them for fun.

The Entertainment

This is the first kids party I have ever thrown that did not have at least one game! But I wasn’t sure what kind of a game my 2 year old would understand to play. So we set up our little bounce house, a coloring station with coloring pages I found for free online, and set out a bin of water beads with some scoops and bowls. We also had a bubble machine going.

The Favors

I found these adorable honey bear lollipops on Amazon and created a favor tag to match the invitations. Each guest (including adults) went home with one.

The party was simple and fun and I think everyone had a good time. It was the first time we hosted anything at our new house, and I was just so happy to be hosting again. Serving others in my home is really my jam. I just love it! I hope this post gave you some ideas and inspiration to host your own teddy bear picnic. It is really a sweet and whimsical theme. And you don’t have to wait for a birthday! Host a teddy bear picnic at your home or at a park this Fall.

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