From cookies to crafts, this Lorax Birthday Party has no shortage of what everyone needs… Truffula Trees! Mom Smita of The Party Wall crafted an incredibly thoughtful and detailed birthday party for her son, complete with a 12 page Lorax “book” invitation, upcycled decorations and a Lorax play acted out by all the kids in their handmade costumes!

PARTY HIGHLIGHTS to look out for:

• DIY Truffula trees made from recycled PVC piping
• “Thneed Cookies” displayed in a “Oncler Wagon”
• Lorax decorated candy jar, popcorn bags & feathered door wreath
• “Plant A New Truffula” Station, Save the Humming Fish & more themed activities!
• Lorax “show” complete with costume pieces & backdrop

PARTY DETAILS, as told by Smita…

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Invitations

I made 12-page Lorax “book” invitations, which included my own verses about the party written in Dr. Seuss’ classic poetic meter. To build anticipation for the party, the children were asked to bring 15 cents, a nail, and the shell of a great, great, great grandfather snail (which I provided!) to gain entry to the party. :-)

Dessert Table

The backdrop for the dessert table was inspired by one of the pages from the book, with blue sky, green hills and bright, fluffy, truffula trees. The dessert table featured a two-tier birthday cake and lemon-coconut cupcakes adorned with custom toppers from MJ Tabush Sweet Designs, custom sugar-cookies from Hummingbird Baker, orange and lemon French macarons, homemade marshmallows, homemade cake-pops inspired by Bakerella, and homemade chocolate mustache lollipops. The cookies included “thneed cookies” which I displayed in a “Oncler Wagon” that I made out of recycled materials. We also had lots of “truffula fruit” (dipped strawberries) and truffula fruit kebabs. For drinks, we had “butterfly milk” with magical flavored straws. We also had a “Seuss Juice” cocktail for the parents!

Eco-Friendly Elements

We tried to keep the party true to the theme and recycled/reused/repurposed as many items as possible. The truffula tree trunks were made out of recycled PVC piping. The fishing poles had reels made of ribbon reels, broken clothes pegs and corks. I even reused the buildings from my son’s Spiderman party and cut them up and repainted them to make the Oncler’s House and Thneed Factory. We set up a recycling station and asked the guests to bring recyclable items to sort into the recycling bins. We also had the children make crafts out of the recycled items. We set up a planting station outside with Lorax plant pots and seeds. I also put up signs around the room reminding people to recycle their used paper products.

Games & Activities

The highlight of the party was definitely the Lorax “show”–I read the book to the children and had some cousins act out the story. I made costumes for all of the cast, which included a humming fish, a barbaloot, a swomee swan, the Oncler and, of course, the Lorax. The birthday boy insisted on being the Lorax and did a great job for his first ever public performance! I was very proud of him. We served popcorn in Lorax-themed boxes during the show and the audience had their own Lorax mustaches to wear. We even incorporated some of the music from the movie. After the show, all the children put on their swomee-swan wings and danced around like swomee-swans to the music from the movie, in a game of swomee-swan musical freeze. The children also enjoyed “saving the humming fish from the gluppity glupp” (a fishing game that I made using inflatable fish in a paddling pool and homemade magnetic fishing poles) and “feeding the barbaloots” (a cornhole game that I repurposed by adding barbaloots to the front; we used fake apples as truffula fruit to feed the barbaloots, rather than the beanbags). We also had a cotton candy “truffula tree” station set up outside. The backdrop from the show also doubled as a photo booth, so the children could dress up in costume and take photos with the Lorax “standee” that I made.

Favors

In keeping with the theatrical elements of the party, the children took home Lorax puppets and Lorax CDs, in addition to their Swomee-swan wings and Lorax mustaches, so they could put on their own show at home. The goody bags also included “eco-advocate” certificates, Lorax bookplates and Truffula tree crayons. Finally, to help them remember the message of the Lorax, each child took home a keepsake box with a rock inside, with one word on it…”Unless”…