How to throw a Paddington Bear Party with the Party Elves

Have you noticed how your little ones are going simply Paddy lately? Yup, the Paddington Movie has taken the kids’ party scene by storm, one marmalade sandwich at a time. Our friends The Party Elves are here to rescue you from that moment of weakness where you promised a Bear-y lovely party!

The Invitations
Make or buy luggage labels. You can get these at the older stationery stores in Bras Basah area, make sure to have twine or ribbon attached. On the label, write “Please look after this invitation. Thank you.” along with the party details. On the other side, write the child’s name, so they can tie it on for the party. We found these tags looking like the real deal on Etsy.

You can also check out the British blog Party Delights, which has handily created free, printable designs that you can use to make your own invitations.

And if you want to go the extra mile, tie each label to a little blue or gunny look-a-like sack with a mini bear in it, or just fill it with orange sweets for the marmalade effect. (Psst! You might have to make the gunny sacks yourself, in which case the cloth shops on Arab Street have the gunny material, and a couple of stitches or double sided tape should do the trick!).

If you are handing the invitations out, why not use little marmalade jars (or any little jar) and write the invitation on a piece of paper that looks like a marmalade sandwich? Again, try filling the jar with a few orange sweets in keeping with the marmalade idea, because as we all know, bears really like marmalade!

The Entrance
If there is a long path leading up to the party area/venue, try using bear paw prints to show everyone the way. You could have plain paw prints, or print “Bear-y good time this way” or “Pad along here for the party!’ to get your little guests in the mood (without getting too lost!).

Decorations
The tendency with the decorations for a Paddington Bear party is to go British since all his adventures are in London. A red, yellow and blue theme (in keeping with Paddington’s famous gumboots, hat and duffel coat) is a little twist on the traditional Union Jack colours.

Some British touches might be toy black cabs or London post boxes and buses around the tables and shelves. The alternative is to print drawings of these and have them in frames or sticks dotted around the party table and general area.

To instantly get everyone in a party mood, create a backdrop with the above-mentioned images and some coloured pompoms or rosettes.

Popping a few vintage-style suitcases around would be a great addition to the details. You will have to plan in advance for this, and trawl second hand stores, markets or online forums to find these. Our go-to Etsy has them in varying shapes and sizes – just search for vintage suitcases!

Alternatively (and not to mention more economically) you can make some out of boxes – three or four is really all you need to get the look.

Suitcase-inspired goodie bags for the guests work great – they start off as decoration and then you don’t have to worry about what to do with them after the party because they go away with everyone. Minimum effort, maximum effect!

Finish the look with bunches of red yellow and blue helium balloons and you are ready to party.

The Cake
For this occasion, a suitcase cake is perfect. Bake two rectangular sponge cakes – you could even sandwich them with Paddington’s favourite marmalade and buttercream instead of jam. Cover the cake in brown icing, add a fondant icing handle, and pipe “WANTED ON VOYAGE” across it.

If you’re feeling extra ambitious, try making a little Paddington from fondant icing to sit on top – and don’t forget the hat!

Can’t be bothered with fondant or spending on a topper? Just use a paper topper by printing a picture of Paddington, the hat and marmalade sandwiches, pop them on popsicle sticks and push them into the top of the cake.

The food and drink
Clearly, marmalade sandwiches are a must.

Try these cookies for a different take, using orange icing for the middle if you don’t want to do the actual bread sandwiches. You could also try your hand at bear paw cookies, Paddington’s red hat or London Underground cookies.

As Paddington hails from Darkest Peru, include a few delights from his native country. Nuts and raisin bars, popcorn and a chocolate drink will go down a treat with mini fans. Other easy additions would be gummi bears or cheese crackers with a dollop of marmalade on them.

The Games
Plenty of Paddington games can also make the party go with a swing:

Guess the number of bears in a jar: stuff a marmalade jar with gummi bears and whoever guesses most accurately wins the lot.

Memory Game: Get a print out or find mini items related to Paddington Bear – it could be pictures of the hat, raincoat, sandwiches, or little toys related to the book/movie. Lay them on a tray, give kids a second or two to look at everything, and then make them write the items down. Or show them the pictures and hide the matching picture somewhere and they have to hunt the picture down (this is perfect for the younger partygoers as no drawing or writing is involved and gets them moving)

Musical hats: Paddington is rarely without his hat, so play a game around it. Gather all the hats in the house and when the music stops, each child has to grab and wear one. Last to grab is out.

Pin the label on the bear: Draw a big picture of Paddington, then blindfold each child one at a time and have them fix the label on his duffle coat. Nearest to the buttons wins.

Paddington roll craft: Collect empty toilet rolls, and lots of coloured paper/felt in the theme colours, and race the kids into building a ‘toilet roll Paddington Bear’. This will be great for the 3-5 yr olds and is a great ice-breaker, especially at the start of the party as you are waiting for more guests to arrive.

The Party Bag
Send children home with mini marmalade jars of gummi bears, or actual jam with a customised label.

Use the suitcase-inspired bags above if you want to fill a goodie bag, or get a lunchbox-sized brown cardboard box for each child and stick on a brown paper “handle” and a label stamped with their name and “wanted on voyage”.

Or, wrap the goodies in brown paper and make them look like parcels, tag them with the child’s name or as a thank you note, and you have your Paddington Bear party all wrapped up!

Of course, if all these ideas are simply too much to bear, just call in The Party Elves to ensure a cele-bearation that leaves everyone feeling warm and fuzzy!

Lead Image sourced via Pinterest, Image #1 sourced via The Party Delights, Image #2 sourced via Pinterest, Image #3 sourced via Party Ark, Image #4 sourced via Pinterest, Image #5 sourced via Pinterest, Image #6 sourced via Red Ted Art, Image #7 sourced via Pinterest