Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Graduation Party

Hi!

I have been helping out one of my friends plan for her son's kindergarten graduation party at his school.

I pretty much knew instantly what I wanted the theme to be:

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom!

Based on the popular kid's book, this theme is PERFECT to celebrate a child's first year in school learning, what else? THEIR ABC's!

Let's start with a little inspiration for an amazing Chicka Chicka Boom Boom party:

1. Decorate your party to mimic the adorable border of the book with pink and orange lanterns.
2. This party couldn't be complete without some adorable (and yummy!) coconut cake pops.
3. Magnetic alphabet letters make the perfect party favors!
4. These coconut cups would be perfect to give as favors or to drink out of.
5. Serve your guests treats in these Polka Dot cups .
6. Look at the amazing statement these large, orange balloons create!
7. ummmm.....I just realized I used this picture twice :) oops! I have three kids; I can't even think straight anymore.
8. This fabric pulls that pattern of the border perfectly, and would be a great tablecloth, napkins, or backdrop.
9. In the book, the letters "wiggle, jiggle free". What better way to showcase that, than with jello abc's?
10. These DIY ABC crayons would be perfect for favors or to use somehow with as an invitation
11. How adorable are these coconut tree candy holders? I am in love
12. Wow your guests with this amazing Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Cake!
13. These orange gumballs would make any little guest happy.
14. Decorate using alphabet letters, like this alphabet garland.
1. Clearly, I did not proof this photo! But, I still love these coconut tree cookies
15. Have your guests sign a copy of the book, like we did below.

Not pictured?? The Scholastic movie version of this book playing in the background. We have this movie and our whole family is HOOKED on the song.

As fabulous as all these ideas are, unfortunately, they are just not possible for this graduation party, because

a) the budget is super small for a class of 22.

b) their school doesn't allow sweets. (or food of any kind)

Basically, we just needed some decorations, activities (1 craft and some games), and some goodies to hand out.

So, with that in mind, I knew we would just have to get creative with stuff that you buy cheaply and in bulk. So for parties, that meant Oriental Trading. So our jumping off point, looked something like this:

All items are from Orientaltrading.com. From left top:

1. Palm tree cardboard wall hanging: this would be the base to one of our games. Cut out some alphabet letters, and you have a "pin the letter on the tree" game.

2. Coconut cups. Still love them, but too much of the budget would be spent on these

3. Hand print art...perfect for our craft! We decided to do hand tracing instead of paint.

4. Palm tree pens

5. Leaves......cheap, easy decoration!

So from there, we got to personalizing our selections. I am big on the idea of taking cheap, easy party stuff that you can buy from big box stores, and changing them to make something personal and charming. It's the only way we can afford any of the parties we do.

First, I created some easy, 2" circles that help tie in our theme. Although we ended up using them for something else, they would look adorable on a straw, like above.

We took cheap, little bottles of bubbles (also from Oriental Trading) and created some labels to go around them. This INSTANTLY made them fit right into our theme. Since we printed these up at home on regular paper, the labels were free :)

We decided to use the circles on the pens, that way there would be no denying that they belonged to the party.

Simple paper goodie bags got an upgrade with this paper label that I created. Inside were the pens, alphabet stickers, and some little graduation toys found online.

I totally forgot to take a picture of the banner we created, but it basically looked like this picture I used as inspiration. Also, I didn't watermark this image on purpose, so if you like it (and it works for you), feel free to save it and print up for yourself! 

All the students are going to be asked to sign a copy of the book to give to the teacher to keep in their class library. Inside the cover is written:

"Thanks for teaching us our ABC's.

From the kindergarten class of 2012."

How adorable is that?! They get to leave their legacy at the age of 6 :)

I had a blast helping out with this one; I can't wait to see the pictures of how it all turns out :)

Hope everyone's week is going well!

xo,

Rachel