We are so pleased to have But First, Party! here sharing this adorable Tutti Frutti Valentine’s Day Party with us today. It’s the perfect theme to offer healthy snacks along with some sweet treats.
Oh, hello 2017! The new year is here, and we can’t think of a better holiday to follow New Year’s Eve than Valentine’s Day. It’s a holiday that reminds us that love comes in all shapes and sizes, and perhaps it even gives us a reason to abandon our resolutions—if just for a day—and indulge in a little something sweet.
Setting out to create a cupid-free fete for preschool-aged children meant dreaming up a party less focused on romance and more centered on the celebration of friendship. Still, we knew we wanted to incorporate a Valentine staple—the heart—but we also wanted to mix it up with fun fruity features. When we saw the fruit-themed valentines options from Tiny Prints, we knew we had found the one (it comes in a melon design or best of the bunch)!
The decor is all about bright colors, big smiles and lots of laughter! To juice up the table settings, we used bright pink watermelon plates, coral heart-print cups and napkins, and banana-print forks—which are totally DIY! Yep, that’s just a bamboo fork with banana washi tape adhered to the handle! We also stuck gift tag stickers all over the table.
The bunches of heart and fruit-shaped balloons are another decor highlight!
The perfect party garlands!
Even the chairs were dressed up for the occasion with bold colored tissue paper tassels.
Can’t find a tablecover you love? Printed giftwrap is always a great option—it’s easy to find and can’t be stained! For this party, we used leftover polka dot wrap from Christmas on top of white butcher paper, which also came in handy for the kid’s art project. And when the festivities had come to an end, we just folded it up and tossed it out, making for a super simple cleanup!
In keeping with the Tutti Frutti Valentine Cuties theme, the kids got their creative juices flowing while painting with apple stamps. Slice apples in half vertically for your little guests, set out gobs of colorful paint, and an easy and fun activity is born. When dipped in hues of pink, the apple stamps even resembled hearts, filling our table with even more love!
Another activity that’s a cinch? Fruit play! As parents, we often tell our children not to play with their food, but the kids had a big laugh trying to juggle apples and oranges, carry a watermelon and balance a pineapple on top of their heads.
When it came time to exchange valentines, the little ones used fruit-shaped erasers and colored pens to write to their loved ones. They popped their classroom cards into felt mailboxes we jazzed up with banana and watermelon cutouts. You can make your own out of cardboard—or cheat just a little by grabbing a premade mailbox and personalizing it. Ours is from the dollar section at Target!
The children loved writing and exchanging their valentines, but they also enjoyed creating and eating easy-peasy fruit skewers—and moms will love sneaking in this healthy snack. We provided adorable fruit swizzle sticks, and the kids loaded them up with colorful fruit, like scooped balls of cantaloupe and honeydew and heart-shaped watermelon bites that we pre-made with a cookie cutter.
And because you can’t have Valentine’s Day without a little chocolate, we sprinkled our fabulously fruity cake by Sweet and Saucy Shop with heart-shaped chocolate watermelon seeds. The lemon, kiwi and strawberry macaroons and the Parisian pineapple candies from Sugarfina were the perfect pair! And the kiddos went bananas for the candies—who could blame them?
This tutti frutti Valentine’s Day party for kids was berry sweet—orange you glad we shared it?
Photography by Denise Crew