Ferdinand Party

I was so inspired by the success of my Trolls Party last summer that I decided to do another movie party this summer. Luckily, I had three recently released children's movies to pick from AND they were based on books. My choices were Peter Rabbit, Paddington Bear, and Ferdinand. After looking into craft and game ideas on Pinterest and surveying a local moms' group, I decided on Ferdinand. I hosted a Ferdinand at each of my four branches in early August. In total, I had 85 kids and 59 adults attend.

Here's what I did.

We started off with our craft. I like to start with the craft so people who are late don't miss the book. I found activity sheets from DreamWorks for a Ferdinand's Bull Horn Headband and Flower Crown. I provided the kids with crayons, scissors, and tape. After the first party, I realized two things: the flower crown was too involved and the bull horn headband was too small. Using free clipart from Teachers Pay Teachers, I designed my own flower crown. I also enlarged the bull horn headband. By the last party, I wish I had designed my own bull headband as well. It's the hair...little kids just get overwhelmed by the intricate cutting and if one adult brings multiple children...

After the craft, I read Ferdinand written by Munro Leaf and illustrated by Robert Lawson. The movie is very different from the book, but I think it perfectly captures Ferdinand's personality.

Then it was time for Ferdinand's Flower Scavenger Hunt. After reading the book, I asked the kids what Ferdinand loves most of all. I'm sure you know the answer. Again using free flower clipart from Teachers Pay Teachers, I designed a hunt for 12 flowers in the children's section. I gave the kids scavenger hunt sheets and crayons to mark off the ones they found.

After the scavenger hunt, we did a flower Frisbee throw. I used free flower clipart from Teachers Pay Teachers and taped large cardstock flowers to three Frisbees. The goal was to reach the grass (a green plastic tablecloth).

We then had the running of the bulls. All the kids with flower crowns lined up first followed by those in bull horn headbands. We then ran around the meeting room and/or children's section.

I sent the kids home with a Ferdinand coloring sheet.

*At one library, I knew I was going to have a large group of kids. At that party, we played Flower Bingo.