A Kung Fu Panda 2 party is a great way to celebrate your little one’s birthday and to kick off some summer fun! Since opening in theaters on May 27th, young fans everywhere have been practicing their kung fu moves and reliving the magical, feel good sequel to the immensely popular Kung Fu Panda. With a few easy tips and Kung Fu Panda Party Supplies, you’ll see that you can whip up a colorful menu, simple decorations and a few panda-centric activities in a flash and hang on to your inner peace like a true kung fu hero!
Invitations
When preparing to host any party, I make sure to have a few handcrafted touches, but I also try to preserve my sanity and sleep by purchasing a few items and cutting a few corners. For example, for a Kung Fu Panda 2 party, I would totally buy these great invitations. Save your energy for a little cooking and some party activities. What you need to do with these invitations is simple and quick. Inside each card, along with information on the date, time and location, add a note inviting guests to dress as their favorite character from Kung Fu Panda 2, and you’re done! I just love seeing kids arrive at any party in costume and in character. The party ends up being more fun for everyone involved.
Decorations
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Go to your local dollar store for a variety of paper lanterns, which you can place on furniture or hang from your ceiling. There is no need to worry about lighting, since the lanterns will look great as props. Also, if you don’t have a ton of chopsticks at home, see if you can get some at the dollar store. Use them as decorations and also as part of your table setting. Then, get some red and black rubber balloons, filled with helium, to tie to your front door and also in the main party room or dining room. Try to get a red tablecloth, which will set off your food really well. A great touch to the party decorations are nicely displayed bamboo plants. Bamboo can be very expensive, so here’s my secret: some pet supply stores, and virtually all aquarium supply stores sell affordable ribbon plants, which grow in water and look just like bamboo. Buy a bunch, and display them separately, each in a glass of water, as decorations. They really brighten up a room. You can also give them out as prizes or send them home as special favors after the party. Make sure to tell kids and parents, when they take the ribbon plants home that, while fish happily enjoy the plant, it is very toxic to furry household pets if ingested. Just a friendly public service announcement.
Games & Activities
There are tons of really fun games that you can organize for this party. Just like Po does in the movie, hold a staring contest between the kids, and call out each one who falters and smiles until only one winner remains. Another fun activity is to play music from the Kung Fu Panda 2 soundtrack (you can find a few minutes on YouTube), and have the kids show off their best kung fu moves and poses. When you stop the music, the kids must freeze. Anyone unable to hold their pose is out. Keep playing rounds until only one kung fu master is left. Your guests will use up a lot of energy and giggle juice during that game. Then you can hold a chopstick mastery contest. Divide guests into two teams and give each team one bowl full of marbles. Give each player on each team a cup and a pair of chopsticks. Set a timer for three minutes, and see which team transfers the most marbles from the communal bowl to individual cups! If your guests are interested, you could also sit them down to view the original Kung Fu Panda movie, available through Netflix and movie stores everywhere.
Food
If you are organizing a Kung Fu Panda 2 party, then you need to serve Chinese food. Takeout is fantastic if you have a place you know and trust nearby. You can order takeout and supplement with a few homemade dishes, or you can also do it all yourself without much trouble. I promise. Here is a simple fried rice recipe that kids of all ages love at my house: dice 1 cup celery, 1 onion, 1 cup carrots, 1/2 cup char siu (Chinese barbequed pork, available at most butchers and Asian food stores). Saute all the ingredients at the same time, until the onions go limp. Dump in a pot of day-old rice (about 3 cups uncooked), and pour in some soy sauce to season and pepper to taste. Separately, beat an egg, pour it in a saute pan and cook it so that you get a thin egg crepe. Take it out of the pan and chop it up and add it to the fried rice, and yum! Serve it alongside a green salad with mandarin slices and a light citrus vinaigrette. As a side dish/finger food, I suggest cooking up pot stickers for your guests. Your local Asian food store will have bags of pot stickers in their frozen section. Buy veggie pot stickers, in case one or two of your guests are vegetarian. The dumplings won’t be any trouble to cook up, and they will taste good hot or cold, so feel free to cook them up ahead of time. Prepare a few bowls of dipping sauce for the pot stickers. All you need is equal parts soy sauce and vinegar, with a dash of red pepper flakes or chili oil. I use red pepper flakes because they keep longer in my cupboard than chili oil. In addition, I would cook up some steamed white rice, and steam some veggies, like broccoli, water chestnuts and mushrooms, and add some soy sauce to season. The best of both worlds might be to order a few takeout dishes and to cook a few yourself, for fun! Think simple and healthy in terms of beverages. Serve cold green tea or water to your guests.
Cake
I recommend making your kid’s favorite flavored cupcakes, covering them with red icing, and sticking a fortune cookie on top of each one. On the side, you can serve vanilla ice cream with orange slices. Decorative, delicious, and totally within the Kung Fu Panda 2 theme!
Favors
Kids will love getting blowouts and tattoos as favors. Package the favors in little takeout boxes with a fortune cookie per box as a fun little gesture in keeping with the Kung Fu Panda 2 theme. You can give out ribbon plants as favors to parents who attend the party or who come to pick up their kids. Follow any or all of these tips and you’ll be sure to have a really successful party with very happy guests!
