I received free products from Disney and MomSelect in order to host this Lion Guard #DisneyKids preschool playdate. The opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience.
We were thrilled to have been selected to host a #DisneyKids playdate party. Before the playdate, we received a big box from Disney containing lots of goodies from each of the four Walt Disney World Resort theme parks for our party. The box included Disney themed party supplies and favors. It also included some fun Disney themed activities, crafts and some fun extras from HP, I Love To Create, Nesquik®, all®, Banfield Pet Hospital and GLAD®. Keep scrolling to watch our unboxing video. It was like Christmas morning in our house! My kids are obsessed with The Lion Guard, a new Disney Junior show, so we decided to go with a safari theme for our party.
First things first, the decorations. I grabbed some fun cheetah and zebra print wrapping paper from the craft store and used it as a tablecloth. It’s inexpensive and so easy for cleanup! While I was at the craft store, I spotted matching fabric and turned that into a fabric garland. I also filled a few jars with Lion Guard snacks: animal crackers, “grubs” gummy worms and “tree branch” pretzels. The jungle themed balloons were a fun addition to the party and the kids loved them!
With any party I throw, I always shop my cabinets and closets first to see what I already have that I might be able to use. The faux centerpiece plants came from my bathroom and I borrowed the wooden trunk from my parents. I had the milk bottles and simply filled them with mango lemonade (orange to match the party) and wrapped a piece of burlap around it. I also had the kraft boxes left over from another party and simply glued a Lion Guard circle to it. A little creativity goes a long way and can stretch your budget!
Let’s chat snacks and party favors! I’m all about easy, so I picked up some ready made Mickey Mouse snacks from the grocery store. They came with pretzels, carrots and cheese cubes. Perfect for preschoolers and they loved the Mickey Mouse shaped container. For the party favors, I filled the kraft boxes with animal crackers, play-doh, Animal Kingdom animal toys and Lion Guard tattoos. The kids enjoyed playing with the play-doh and animal toys at the party!
I’m a huge fan of dress up and make believe play for kids, so you know I had to get safari hats and make toilet paper roll binoculars for the kids. Stay tuned for a binocular tutorial. The kids had a blast going on a safari in the living room and searching for lions. I also made the kids matching giraffe Mickey shirts. Grab some cheap undershirts and iron on giraffe fabric using Heat’n Bond. Follow this fabric applique tutorial for detailed instructions.
One of my favorite things from the party, that we received in our playdate box, were the HP Photo Strips. I set up a mini photo booth area for our guests and had my phone set up on a tripod, ready to snap photos. Basically, you download the Pocketbooth app and it snaps a series of 4 photos. You can then print them on the Photo Strips paper, directly from your phone and hand the photo strips out at the party! I covered my background with Lion Guard posters and had the entire Lion Guard plush crew ready to join in on the photo fun.
My preschooler enjoys anything crafty, so I knew we’d be doing lots of Lion Guard crafts at the playdate. I printed out Kion masks (Kion is Simba’s son and the star of the Lion Guard), but instead of masks we turned them into paper bag puppets. We glued the heads to paper bags and attached big googly eyes. We also created Lion Guard masks out of paper plated and paper strips. The younger children colored and each family got to make a lion family handprint canvas. The kids took home all of their projects and goodies, including a few things from our playdate box, in Disney Junior drawstring backpacks.
Check out our #DisneyKids unboxing here:
What did you love most about our #DisneyKids preschool playdate?
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