Candy Land Party

If your kid is obsessed with the idea of a rainbow world where gumdrops grow on trees and rivers are chocolates, then you can throw them a candy land theme party! What party theme could be sweeter than a candy land theme? Filled with bright colors, cute decorations, cool patterns, lots of frills, and sugary treats, this party theme is sure to please the sweetest little girls. It would be fun to decorate and prepare for – it gives a lot of room for creativity, plus your child’s guests would be so thrilled to come! So for your little daughter’s next birthday party, consider the candy land theme, and she will remember that party for life!

Check out some of these sweet ideas for your next party:

Invitations

For the invitations, you would want your invite to pop (pun intended)! Set the mood for the upcoming party by giving out sweet and colorful invites that reflect the candy land theme. You can get a lot creative starting from the invitations themselves!

You can design your own invites and go the DIY route. Here are some brilliant ideas:

  1. You can attach a card-style invitation to a pack of candy with a curling ribbon by punching a hole in one corner of the invitation.  
  2. If you’re delivering invitations by hand, you can create and print custom candy bar wrappers containing the party info and wrap them around a Hershey’s chocolate bar. The shape of a Hershey’s bar is wide and thin enough to stick a party invitation. Then, place the event name in front – for example, “Madison’s Sweet 6th birthday party” and create a custom Nutrition Facts at the back containing the party details.  
  3. If you’re going to mail your invitations, wrap the party information around candy that doesn’t melt in the mail like Twizzlers or a boxy of Jelly Belly.
  4. Don’t want to spend much on invitations? Print out a swirly lollipop pattern and stick it to a piece of cardboard. Then, edit your invite on a circle sticker to place on top of the cardboard. Put it on a stick to make it look like a lollipop, and put a ribbon at the bottom of the swirly cardboard piece.
  5. If you don’t want to spend on invitations at all, create a digital invitation using photo editing software and apps and send it to your guests on Facebook or email.
  6. To lessen the hassle, you can pick out from these ready-made, fill-in invitations with a sweet theme and mail them to your friends!

Dress Code

Make sure the birthday celebrant is dressed up for the theme. Dress her up in a candy tulle costumecandy princess costume unicorn rainbow princess costumecotton candy princess costume, or a lollipop tulle costume. She’d gain lots of compliments with any of these pretty dresses!

Most girly guests would love to get dressed up for this party. Have them come dressed to impress, or provide the outfits such as tutus and fancy unicorn headbands.

If you want to keep it low-key, have your guests come in casual candy-colored clothes they are comfortable with.

Special Items You May Need for the Party

Since you’ll be hosting a candy land party, people will expect sweet foods and treats. You might want to prepare home-made cookies, cupcakes, cotton candy, and popcorn

Besides basic party supplies like decorations, food, plates, cups, cutlery, and napkins – you may also want to consider buying the following items for your candy land party:

  1. Cookie cutters – If you want to bake your own sweet treats, you may need to buy cookie cutters so you can make cookies in different fun shapes!
  1. Cotton candy machine – A cotton candy machine would be a cool treat for your guests. On the day of the party, have someone man the cotton candy machine and make some cotton candy for the kids to eat or take home as a party favor.
  1. Popcorn machine – Whether you’re serving savory or sweet popcorn, it’s a delight to serve on your candy land party. Kids love popcorn, plus it’s a filling snack!
  1. Chocolate fountain – Let the kids have fun dipping their pretzels, cookies, marshmallows, and other foods on the chocolate fountain.
  1. Piñata – Everybody loves a piñata party! You may want to provide a colorful piñata for the guests to try to break and reveal prizes!

Decorations

Decorating a candy land theme party is fun, and your options are limitless! Here are some ideas to help you with it:

  1. Decorate the wall behind the buffet table with banners, garlands, and streamers. It’s easy to DIY – just use pastel-colored or brightly-colored papers and make your own. You can design cutouts of candies, donuts, cupcakes, and more. But you can choose from these banners to make it easier:
  1. Go crazy with balloons for a candy land party. Choose a color scheme if you don’t like it to be too colorful. But you can choose from the available balloon sets below:
  1. Turn basic balloons into free-standing lollipops. Wrap them in clear cellophane and add a wrapping paper tube stick. Position them around the room.
  2. Decorate your walls with large hard candies. Buy multi-colored plastic dinner plates. Tape two together, front to front. Wrap them in clear cellophane and cinch the ends with a ribbon. Then, tape them to your wall.
  3. Use a Candy-Land inspired paper square pathway. Use different colored papers, and lay them out on the floor to make a pathway. Then, tape them to the floor neatly.
  4. Decorate the walls and the kid’s area with candy balloons and some big inflatable gummy bears
  5. Make clean-up a breeze by having candy land themed plates and napkins

Food

Party food for a candy land theme party must be appealing to the kids. For the meals (whether it’s lunch or dinner), you can serve them traditional favorites like pizza, chicken fingers, chicken nuggets, hamburgers with fries, sandwiches, hotdogs, sloppy joes, spaghetti with meatballs, and more. You may want to simplify the menu for the main entrée because you’ll be serving lots of fun sweets as appetizers and desserts!

In any candy land party, there must be a candy buffet. Have a table reserved specifically for candies and decorate it with a candy bar” banner. Serve an assortment of candies in glass bowls or apothecary jars. Provide some polka dot or clear yogurt cups to place their candies in. You can serve some plain ladyfingers, pretzel rods, or wafer sticks near a chocolate fountain so kids can enjoy dipping and eating them.

The cake and cupcakes usually take center stage in a candy bar. Display your cupcakes – and if you like, donuts too – on cupcake stands. Choose colorful donuts (especially those with sprinkles) to fit in the candy theme.

For the cake, you can ask your local grocery store if they have a candy land-themed cake or have a cake customized from a local bakery. If you’re a home baker, it’s a no-brainer – bake and decorate your own cake the way your kid likes! You can put up toppings and decorations using real candy, so people can eat it with the cake. Use peppermint sticks, M&M’s, licorice, gumdrops, jelly beans, lollipops, chocolate rocks, and other candy to inspire you.

Here are some party food ideas:

  • Cut sandwiches into gingerbread man shapes using a cookie cutter.
  • Serve healthy goods! Besides all that candy, make sure you also serve something healthy. Arrange fruits and vegetables to make it look like a rainbow.
  • Decorate cupcakes with candies.
  • Serve candy apples in different colors.
  • Set up an ice cream bar. Provide vanilla and chocolate ice cream, cherries, nuts, sliced bananas, sliced berries, and candy toppings.
  • Set up a popcorn maker and let your guests pick their flavor and let them shake it up in a cute goody bag.
  • Set up a cotton candy maker and provide cotton candy bags. Guests can choose the flavors they want and have it all bagged up for eating or for taking home as a party favor.   

Games and Activities

1. Jewelry making

Let them make jewelry together. Have a bracelet-making kit ready and let the kids make bracelets out of their names. Or, give them pastel-colored heart beads so they can design to their heart’s content.

2. Gingerbread house decorating

If your party is around Christmas time, decorating a gingerbread house, can be a fun activity for your party-goers. The guests can pair into groups and decorate.

3. Cupcake decorating

Serve some plain cupcakes and provide the sweets to guests and have them decorate their own cupcakes as a party activity. You may give them a set of candy decorations like marshmallows and sprinkles, or simply let them take from a candy buffet and make a game out of it!

4. Candy Land board game

For a more relaxed activity, you can pull out the Candy Land board game. Set up one or many tables for this activity, depending on the size of your party.

5. Pinata play

You can’t call it a candy land theme party without a game of piñata. Have your guests line up on the piñata and take turns trying to break it while blindfolded.

Party Favors

Don’t let the kids go home empty-handed! Instead, give them something to remember your party by.

  1. A goody bag is always a good idea. Use different colored kraft bags and fill it with any of these items:

You may also want to give one of these items as a party favor of its own!

  1. Use a self-adhesive treat bag and fill it with cookies or candies. Put on some “thank you” sticker to finish it off.
  2. Since your guests are all sugared out, make them excited to brush their teeth when they get home! Hand them some candy-colored toothbrushes, or go for a more sustainable route by giving colorful bamboo toothbrushes. Add in a bubblegum-flavored toothpaste if you like! You may give it out as an individual party favor or part of your goody bag.