Rubber Ducky Party for two year old!
When my son picked rubber duckies for his birthday party, I thought it would be fairly simple-- but the only duckie tableware I could find was clearly out of our budget. So with some ingenuity and a lot of fun, we had a waddling great party without paying a golden egg. The computer-made invitations read "Turning two is ducky... just ask Nathan" and were sealed with a ducky stamp. When our flock arrived, they heard Ernie singing "Rubber Ducky" as they passed through the yellow and blue streamers to the "pond." The refreshment table for the adults: a blue table cloth with brilliant yellow tableware. There was a pitcher of lemonade and a silver washtub holding sodas. The snack bowls were big yellow sand pails with shovels. The kids sat on a big blue "pond" blanket where they all quacked like ducks. I filled a big blue bowl with water and had a mini-rubber ducky with each child's name on the bottom (their parents helped them bob for names as the kids were 1 & 2 year olds); the splashing was extra fun, but we quickly moved on. I drew a large bath-tub on poster paper and taped it to the wall at eye-level. Each child was given a cut-out ducky, a dot of glue stick on it, and they were cheered on as the "put the duckies in the tub." Next we let each child toss a bean bag ducky in a bucket (Daddy was the bucket-guy and helped the duckies in). The kids modified the game themselves-- we cracked up watching them run the duck to the bucket or dump the ducky in and out. Finally, as segue to cake, we all sat on the blanket and talked about rubber ducky baths while I blew bubbles. They were each given a blue party hat decorated with ducky stickers and a yellow blower. The cake was simple: the grocery store made a cake that had blue spray to look like water. They wrote "How ducky! Nathan is 2!" and left space where I put a real rubber duck floating on it. For favors I wanted to give out yellow sand-pails, but my budget wouldn't allow it, so I used blue lunch-bags with ducky stickers. Inside we put a plastic ducky, a bath-tub squirt toy, bubbles, and a pair of kiddie sun-glasses. These items we got from the dollar store with several in a package. They also took home their hats, blowers and rubber duckies they had bobbed for. Other ideas could include: blue Jell-O pond with yellow candies on top, a ducky piņata, cupcakes with yellow icing in blue cups, ducky window clings for decorations or games, or a game of following a quacking mama duck. Our friends still talk about that party and we all "quack" up!
