"The Beatles" Themed Party Ideas for Kids

My son is a huge Beatles fan so it made sense that we did a Beatles themed party for his 4th birthday.  We host about 30 family members so I will also be giving some quick catering tips for feeding your guests.
The Invitation:  The invitation usually sets the theme for the party.  I saw a Beatles album cover and immediately thought it would the perfect invitation for my son’s birthday.  I took a picture of my son and replaced one of the band members with my son’s photo.  My friend at White Rabbit Design made the graphic for me and printed the invitations.  They came out perfect!

For the gifts for the kids, the “loot bags”, I decided to go with a very practical gift that all kids can use – a placemat!  I created this 9 by 11 print and customized each image with each kid’s name.  I then sent them to my local Staples Print Centre and had them print and laminate them for me.  I chose a very high grade laminating material so that the placemats could stand up to constant use.  Here is the image if you want to create one for your own child!

Here is what the place mat looks like once I customized them with each name and a Beatles-themed saying:
 

I don’t like to send the adults home empty-handed, so, I created a little gift for them as well!  I used the saying “Let it be.” to create a little poster that can be used anywhere in the house.  The frames are from Ikea.  I personally love this message and I think most adults with children would be able to relate to it as well.

To package up the gifts for each family, I created a little tag for the bags that used a snippet from a famous Beatles song “I get by with a little help from my friends”:

Next, the cake – the most important part of any birthday party!  I chose to go with strawberry shortcake flavour.  We called it a “Strawberry Fields Forever” Strawberry Shortcake.  I used the image from the invitation for the top of the cake and made it square so it would look like an album cover.  Most bakeries provide the service of printing on cakes.  I went to Longo’s Markets for my cake  Here is what the cake looked like:

My sister-in-law also bought Beatles cupcakes from a little bakery in Vaughan called Patisserie V Marie.
What to wear!  Our outfits were all Beatles-themed as well!  We all wore Beatles-themed t-shirts for the party.  I found one for my son and husband at Old Navy, Mine was made at a custom t-shirt stand found in Vaughan Mills mall called iDesign (I used a snippet from a Beatles song and I found the image online).  Little Dylan got his guitar shirt from H&M.

Music!  The venue had a sound system so we were able to play The Beatles albums throughout the party.  Unfortunately the music did not drown out the crashing of the bowling balls.
The food!  Of course!  Because it is a children’s birthday party, we like to do the party early in the morning when kids are at their best.  I chose easy dishes I could do quickly and in large quantity.  Morning means breakfast so here is the menu:
Egg sliders:  Make these the morning of the party.  I scrambled eggs, added milk, some shredded cheese, salt and pepper and I filled greased muffin tins 3/4 the way full and baked the egg rounds for about 10-15 mins at 350 degrees Fahrenheit or until a toothpick inserted into the centre came out clean.  I served them on little slider buns which are perfect for little hands.  Serve with whichever toppings your guests like, such as ketchup.
BLT’s:  Make these the morning of the party too.  I cooked the bacon flat in the oven so it would be easier to assemble my sandwiches.  I used baguettes to create the sandwiches.  Layer the Mayo, bacon, lettuce and tomato and then cut your baguette into easy to handle sandwiches using a bread knife.
French Toast:  I ordered the French toast from a local cafe called Symposium Cafe.  I frequent this cafe for breakfast and I always use them for my breakfast catering.  They do a great job – the food is fresh and the prices are very reasonable.  I love their French toast too and because I was making the rest of the food I decided to order one of the items to make my life a little easier that morning.  I Had a bottle of maple syrup next to the French toast for those who chose to add it.
Fruit salad:  I used cantaloupe, honeydew melon, grapes, and strawberries.  I cut the fruit the morning of the party.
We also created a coffee station with cream, milk and sugar and a drinks station with orange juice, apple juice and water.  I used cups with lids and straws for the kids to avoid spillage, which they sell at your local party store.
This venue is rented so there is minimal time to decorate and customize your table so please excuse the dull look of this table.  Here is how we set up our breakfast table:

We were very happy with the way the party turned out!  I hope you find these ideas useful for your next Beatles-themed party!
Warm Regards,
Jules