Nearly one year on, my Rainbow Cake and Unicorns post about M’s birthday party is still one of the most popular posts at A Merrier World. I have received several emails and comments since that time, most recently from Rupa, asking for information about the games we played and the treats I prepared for M’s little guests. Hopefully, this post will answer many of these queries and provide further inspiration for anyone planning a similar unicorn-themed party for a young child.

I drew my own inspiration for M’s party from a number of sources on the internet as well as from my own imagination. I will provide references where possible and I’m sorry if I miss any attributions – the exact details are a little hazy after so many months. Please let me know in the comments if you can fill in any blanks 🙂 .

All good parties start with an invitation. I kept M’s invitations deliberately simple, leaving a large space where she could write in the name of each friend she wished to invite. I set the scene of the party by describing an enchanted forest and added an image of a unicorn (hand-drawn and then scanned). Looking at the invitation again, perhaps I could have included an RSVP …

Having planted expectations of an enchanted forest in the minds of M’s guests, I felt that I should actually make some attempts to create an enchanted forest. In the week before the party therefore, my three little helpers and two of their friends painted large trees, butterflies and flowers that I cut out and used to decorate the house on the morning of M’s birthday.

Also decorating the house were several long, sellotape-handled streamers made from rainbow-coloured strips of crêpe paper – one strip each in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, pink and purple. These were to be waved up and down by the children in a rainbow dance during the party, but I used them in the first instance to decorate the front windows of our house by hanging them from the curtain poles.

To complete the rainbow enchantment, O pinned up a large parachute over the entrance to our magical forest so that the guests arrived under a canopy of colours.

As the children were arriving at the start of the party, I collected them all together at our kitchen table by providing unicorn colouring pages for them to complete with colouring pencils, stickers, glitter and glue. We also made a unicorn horn for each child by rolling a sheet of sparkly cardboard into a cone and stapling an elastic strap onto the sides to hold it in place on their forehead.

Once everyone had arrived and sticky, glittery hands had been washed, I gathered the children into a huddle at the door leading through to the forest clearing where the unicorns lived. I explained that unicorns are very shy creatures, but you can tell where they have been by the magical blue pebbles their hooves leave behind when they stand still for long enough. I then gave each child a  shimmering drawstring purse which they could use to collect any of the unicorn treasures they found in the enchanted forest (each child’s purse had their name written on a tag to save any arguments later).

Whispering excitedly, the children crept through the hallway to our living room where I had hidden enough blue glass decorative gems for even the most timid child to be assured of finding a good handful to put in her organza gift bag.

To accompany the fervent unicorn hunting, I played the Unicorn Song on our laptop and blew bubbles (a guaranteed success!).

Magical gems safely stashed away, I then handed each child one of the rainbow streamers that were hanging above the window. All little girls seem to have innate knowledge of the connection between unicorns and rainbows, and our guests danced enthusiastically to the Rainbow Colours song by Nancy Stewart.

After all that activity, we sat down for a game of Pass the Parcel (centre prize a plastic rainbow bracelet) …

… followed by a game of Pin-the-Horn-on-the-Unicorn (after nearly a year, the drawing is still stuck on the back of our living room door!).

There was only just enough time left after this for a quick game of Musical Unicorn Bumps before returning to the kitchen for the party tea.

I kept the party food simple – cheese and ham sandwiches, carrot sticks, apples, unicorn horns (twirly crisps) and cocktail sausages. The unicorn plates, cups and napkins I used have since been discontinued, but others are available from online party suppliers.

And then, of course, there was the Magical Unicorn Rainbow Cake …

… with its crumb of many colours.

Each guest left the party clutching their organza purse of unicorn gems, a rainbow streamer, a slice of magical rainbow cake and a unicorn horn (ice cream cone) filled with jelly beans and popcorn.

As the sun set over the enchanted forest, one very happy 4-year-old drifted cozily into sleep whilst her exhausted parents sipped a well-earned glass of wine!