Last Sunday I hosted a unicorn birthday party for my eldest’s 5th birthday. This was the first birthday for all her friends I’ve hosted. We looked at the easy option of booking a soft play party but F really wanted a unicorn craft party. I was a little daunted by the idea of planning and hosting a kids party myself but a couple of friends convinced me it was possible. In the end, after a lot of planning, I pulled it off and I’m pleased to say that not only did F love it but her friends did too. I thought I’d share with you how you too can host a unicorn birthday party too.
Venue
I started by booking a church hall. I knew a hall was the best option for a 5th birthday party as F has a lot of friends in reception so we invited all the girls and a few of the boys. In total we had 16 children attend. Once I had booked the venue and set the date and time it was time to start planning the details. The main things to think about are decorations, food and drink, party bags and activities & games.
Invitations
I used Canva to design my own which I then printed out. I sent ours out 2 weeks before and this seemed to work well.
Decorations
I was kindly sent a selection of unicorn party decorations and table wear from Party Delights. I chose decorations for the hall, party bags and fillers, table wear and a couple of other bits which I will tell you about below. For the decorations, I chose this gorgeous banner that can be customised for any age.
You can also make your own party decorations like this Printable Happy Birthday Banner.
I also chose some hanging decorations and some pink and purple balloons. The final decoration had to be a large unicorn head helium balloon. I picked mine up in a local card shop but Party delights do stock them and helium canisters.
Party bags
Party bags are a big thing for 5 year olds. Even my daughter expected one for herself. I chose some unicorn party bag favours which are shown below. The wands and blowers seemed to be the biggest hit at our party. As well as the favours I put a few sweets in each bag too. I considered not doing party bags and ordering a selection of cheap children’s books and wrapping these up instead. I think this would have worked well too.
Activities and games
My daughter really wanted a craft party so I scoured Pinterest for ideas. I didn’t want anything too messy for several reasons. In the end, I choose to start the party with unicorn mask making and finish with biscuit decorating.
These Happy Birthday Coloring Cards make a great simple colouring activity.
For the unicorn masks, I prepared the cardboard mask and set out a paper straw for each child. In the middle of the tables, I supplied felt tips for colouring, foam stickers, feathers, glittery card triangles (the horns), glue sticks and washi tape. I made a sample one before the party to get them started. They all loved it and created some great masks.
The final activity was biscuit decorating after they’d eaten. This worked great as an activity and as a dessert. I got a unicorn cookie cutter from party delights and the weekend before the party I made 50 biscuits which I froze and defrosted before the party (some did lose their horn which is why I made extra). I used this recipe and made 5 batches. On the day of the party, whilst the kids were eating I mixed up some bowls of coloured icing and then gave the children some mini marshmallows and sprinkles. I made the icing on the thicker side to try and minimise the mess but I had also put on the invitations to bring aprons. Again the children loved this activity and made some fantastic biscuits.
For the games I made a pass the parcel with sweets between each layer, we played pin the horn on the unicorn, musical statues and duck, duck, goose (which we rename horse, horse, unicorn). I also took a ball along which kept some of the children entertained if they finished eating or a craft activity earlier than the rest.
Food
For the food to feed 16 five year olds I bought 4 pizzas (two plain cheese ones, ham and pineapple and a pepperoni), 80 mini sausage rolls, some cheese and onion rolls, a couple of big bags of crisps and some cherry tomatoes. I cooked the sausage rolls and pizzas on the morning of the party and the kids seemed to enjoy the cold pizza. It was definitely easier than making sandwiches. We took blackcurrant and orange squash and made up a couple of big jugs. I ordered some paper plates and cups as well as a couple of platters from party delights, this made clean up a breeze. The unicorn table cover was also from party delights.
I bought a unicorn cake from Sainsburys but quickly realised it wasn’t going to easily cut into enough pieces. I bought a selection of cupcakes in the end too. In the end, this turned out to be the best idea as it meant I could wrap them and put them in the party bags before the party and we didn’t need to worry about cutting the cake at the party.
Timing
2-2:30 unicorn mask making 2:30-3 pm games 3-4 pm Food, biscuit decorating and singing Happy birthday Overall the party was a big success and I would do something similar again. I would also recommend party delights. The items we chose were really good quality and there was lots of choice on their website.
My top tips for planning a unicorn birthday party
- Start planning early, book your chosen venue as soon as you can.
- We sent out invitations two weeks before which seemed like a good time. I asked for parents to RSVP to my mobile number and I kept a list on my phone as parent’s replied. This meant I had a list of how many children I was expecting.
- Tidy up between activities as you go. We only had the hall for 30 minutes after the party so after the kids had made their masks and were playing games, a couple of us cleared up and set out the food.
- Ask for help. My sister, husband and one of my friends helped me out. I would say have at least two helpers. We only had 30 minutes before and after the party to set up and tidy up so it really helped to have extra helpers.
- Do as much as you can before arriving at the venue. I prepared all the party bags, craft activities and food before the party. I had a bag of food, a bag of decorations, a bag with the games and a bag with the craft activities. Keeping them all separate like this made set up so simple.
- Cover the craft tables with disposable table covers. This made cleaning up after the party in just 30 minutes easy.
- If you want to host a craft party you can pick up lots of reasonably priced craft materials in some of the supermarkets, pound shops and other shops like home bargains etc.
- Have more ideas for party games than you think you will need. It’s better to have more ideas that you don’t use than to have 16 children waiting for you to think of something to do.
Find lots more tips for planning a child party here.
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Disclosure – we were kindly sent a selection of party wear from Party delights in exchange for this review. All photos, thoughts and opinions are my own.
What a fantastic party and I love the theme! love the idea of letting kids decorate their own biscuits – I bet that went down a treat 🙂
They loved the biscuit decorating.
The biscuit decorating was a great idea! Looks a lot of fun!
It was. They love the toppings and lot and lots of them!
What a great mum you are wow! I bet she had a fab time…and her friends did too. That cake looks amazing:)
They all had a fab time
What a lovely party you threw and I absolutely love the unicorn theme! 🙂
It’s a very popular theme at the moment.
Wow! This looks so much fun and well done for being so organised! My son’s birthday is coming up soon and I need to start planning. Great tips 🙂
Planning and organising is definitely the key.
This whimsical party makes me want to be a kid a again! So cute and creative.
Thank you.
It looks like you had lots of fun. Well done for getting over your fears and hosting the party yourself. I love the Unicorn biscuits. Thank you so much for the mention of my Unicorn Party Box as a hassle free alternative.
You’re welcome. Love your boxes so I’m sure the party ones would be great too.
Oh my! My girls would be so excited to have a party like this!
I bet they would.
What a brilliant party! And brave to do crafts with 16, 5 year olds. I’m organising first party for my 4 year old and he wants to go to soft play. But may pass this on to my sister for inspiration for my niece!
I think it helped that the majority were craft loving girls.
Oh a unicorn party is just the best!!!! We love unicorns in the household.
They are really popular right now.
This looks amazing. I absolutely adore that cake!
Thank you
What a great party idea, my niece would love this
Thank you. I bet she would
I love the idea of crafting and biscuit decorating at a party – beats the same old musical statues! You did so well with this, it looks fab!
We did have a little bit of musical statues too!
It looks really fabulous. I love the biscuit decorating and the cake looks amazing too. Brilliant party idea.
Thank you. It went better than I expected!
Love this Unicorn party. The cake looks fab and so do the party bags too x
The cake is gorgeous. The first time I’ve bough a birthday cake for my kids but the party was enough without bking a cake too!
OMG I want a unicorn party! You pulled it off perfectly well done, I hope F enjoyed it 🙂
Thank you. She loved it.
Omg I love this!!! It’s my daughter’s 8th birthday soon and she adores unicorns – I’m going to definitely do this for her!!
Good luck, I’m sure she will love it.
Love love love love love, LOVE this post as I’m a bit of a unicorn fanatic haha I need this for my birthday! I do like what you’ve done and how you have created the theme.
Thanks so much
Aw done lovely ideas here!! Loving the unicorn biscuits and pin the horn game;)
Thank you. The biscuits were lovely
wow! I love the mark making activity! that looks like the perfect party for little ones!I wish I did that when I was a little girl
Thank you. They did all enjoy it.
Looks like everyone had a fantastic time at the party. Love how you iced biscuits!
Thanks. The kids liked to add lots of toppings!
Oh my… what a beautiful party. I love all the ideas – I wish I was invited haha xx
Thank you. She’s requesting the same again next year (already), so I’ll remember to invite you!
Those unicorn cookies look fab! #BloggerPinParty
They were great fun
Great ideas, nice to have something different from the same old bouncy castle and party games! #kidsandkreativity
That’s what we thought too.
Well done, this looks like such a cute party! I love the biscuit decorating idea, that’s fantastic. Bearing in mind all your party planning tips as my son will be 5 next year and 5 seems to be the age where they invite the whole class – a village hall type venue is a must as we don’t want to spend a fortune! Thanks for joining us at #SharingtheBlogLove
I hope they help you. A village hall is a great idea for big parties.
What a lovely idea for a party. I’m just starting to plan my daughters 6th birthday party and this has given me som ideas, thank you! They really do love a party bag, don’t they? Thank you for joining us at #SharingtheBlogLove
I’m glad to help.
This sounds so much fun!! I’m going to pin it for when my daughter is older! She’s only had one party (her 3rd) and we went somewhere so it was super easy. But as she gets older she might want something like this. Sounds a lot of work but manageable if you get it all ready in advance! Xx #SharingtheBlogLove
Planning and getting organised in advance is definitely key!
Wow what a lovely party and theme, your daughter looks like she had a fab time and great tip about using cupcakes rather than cake slices! #kidsandkreativity
Oh my goodness that looks so MAGICAL! I bet they all loved it!
What a lovely theme for your child’s birthday party #KidsandKreativity
Looks like they had good fun at the party and I especially like the biscuit decorating activity! x
#bloggerpinparty
Popping back again for #KidsandKreativity ?x
Who doesn’t love a unicorn! Some great tips there, and I love the cookies, I need to get one of those cutters! Thanks for joining in with #KidsandKreativity, hope you come back next time! x
I love the idea of a craft party, it sounds like fun – maybe I’ll try this next year for my daughter’s 5th birthday! #bloggerpinparty
Oooh fab! My nearly 3 year old has asked for a Unicorns (and Flamingos!) party for her bday in September! I love the biscuit decorating idea! ?
Thanks for sharing this.