Recipes, Activities, and how to host a Disney Junior party or playdate

My son was super excited to finally throw another Disney Junior preschool playdate for our friends this month! We had previously hosted a Jake and the Neverland Pirates playdate, as well as a family Disney Side event themed around Main Street, USA. This year, we celebrated friendship and magic with all things Disney Junior!

Are you interested in throwing a Disney Junior party? We had a great time with many of the shows and characters, but of course you could use these ideas as a jumping off point or supplement to a party that is themed exclusively around Sofia the First, the Lion Guard, (Captain) Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Doc McStuffins, or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Our attendees were on the young preschool side so a few of the activities we planned got nixed in favor of free play, but I’m happy to share those as well. We will be using some for Disney family days or other playdates in the future!

General Disney Junior Activities

to be used with any of your favorite Disney Junior characters

• character charades (We used photos of characters available to meet at Walt Disney World, and had the kids take turns acting them out for their friends to guess; you could also print cards with character names or photos if you prefer)
  
• Disney Junior paper bag puppets (Provide coloring and craft supplies, encourage kids to decorate a paper bag puppet like their favorite Disney Junior character. Additionally, print out and glue on the DIY masks, hats, and accessories listed below to get the kids started!) 

• Walt Disney World attractions Bingo (you could make some like ours with your favorite photos, or use something like this – at home or at the parks!) 
  
• free play with favorite Disney Junior toys
• Disney Junior dance party (Check out our Spotify playlist here, or choose one of the albums featured in the widget below)
• coloring pages
• story time (We read an adorable and hilarious book called My Very, Very Smelly Breath from Banfield Pet Hospital. The kids had a blast “being brave” and smelling the scratch and sniff pages, but if you can’t get a copy of the book there are literally hundreds of great stories to choose from featuring your favorite characters!) 
  

Captain Jake and the Neverland Pirates

As mentioned, we had a playdate previously that was themed to all things Jake. Feel free to check there for more ideas!

FOOD

• Fruit Swords (we used grapes for the ease of construction, but any fruit that could be a kabob can be a sword, just add sword toothpicks!) 
  
• Captain Jake’s Chocolate Doubloons (around here, you can also usually find them in Party City)
  
  
• Pirate’s Booty 
• Pirate ship Jello treats 
• Bilgewater (iced tea + lemonade) or Pirate Punch (fruit punch)

ACTIVITIES

• DIY Captain Jake’s hat
• hunt for buried treasure (bury plastic jewels, rings, necklaces, coins, etc in kinetic sand indoors, or a sand table)
  
• Captain Hook hooks 
  

Sofia the First

FOOD

• Magic Wands (pretzel rods covered in colored candy coating/white chocolate) 
  
• Sofia’s Tea Sandwiches (peanut butter and jelly, deli sandwiches… whatever your preference!) 
  
• Perfectly Princess cookies 

ACTIVITIES

• DIY Masquerade Mask and Amulet
• Pin the Amulet on Sofia (use the amulet template above, or design your own; take turns playing “pin the tail on the donkey” pinning an amulet on a large poster of Sofia (purchased or printed)
• Royal Prep Academy (some great ideas for practicing princess here!)

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

FOOD

• Clubhouse Snack Mix (here’s the recipe we used/tweaked) 
  
• Minnie’s (Mini) Muffins 
• Donald’s Cheese & Quackers 

ACTIVITIES

• Minnie’s Bows & Bowties 
• Mickey & Minnie ear headbands
• Catch Minnie’s Flutterin’ Butterfly Bows (by playing a fun game (or three!) of Elefun)
• Chip n Dale’s Acorn relay (divide into two teams, each with a bowl of acorns and a spoon; instruct participants to scoop up an acorn, walk it down to “Chip and Dale’s collection bowl”, and run back to return the spoon to the next teammate. Repeat until all acorns are delivered to Chip and Dale!)

The Lion Guard

FOOD

• Bunga’s Best Grubs 
• Pridelands Animal Crackers 
• Kion’s Carrot Mane 

ACTIVITIES

• Animal Safari (Hide plastic safari animals around the house or yard, and send kids out to retrieve them. For added fun, make these adorable binoculars first!)
• DIY Masks: Kion, Fuli
• paper plate lion mask craft (Have children paint/color paper plates and allow to dry. Cut “fringe” along the edge of the plates with strips approximately 1 inch wide, and draw face and additional details as desired. Use yarn, a paint stick, or your own hands to hold up and the masks as the kids admire their lion faces!) 

Do you have a little one who loves Disney Junior? If they were choosing, which character(s) would they like to party with?