Team Umizoomi Birthday Party

Of course my kids always pick birthday party themes that do not have pre-packaged supplies readily available at retail stores. My son's third birthday was no exception. He loves Geo and wanted a Team Umizoomi party...so we made it happen. Sans Party City. Sans Target. Thankfully, the good people at Nick Jr. have provided tons of printables on their web site to help us out.

By the way, if you're reading this and thinking, "Team Umi-wha???," then you most likely do not have preschool-age children, and/or do not watch cable television.

Team Umizoomi is an animated series on Nick Jr. about siblings Geo and Milli and their robot friend Bot who solve problems in UmiCity using their mighty math powers. Yes, it's math and yes, kids love it.

My son's Team Umizoomi party was a family party consisting of four kids and about 15 adults. Even though there weren't many kids at the party, I still wanted to plan some fun activities for them. Here's a glimpse of what we did...

INVITATIONS

Umi Friends, do you feel a celebration coming on?! For your own Team Umizoomi party, you'll want to start by sending invitations. We printed the Team Umizoomi Party Invites from the Nick Jr. web site onto regular paper, trimmed the edges, and folded along the dotted lines. We used foam number-stickers to add a "3" to the front of each invitation.

UMI GEAR

Team Umizoomi, ready for action! Set the tone for your party with your very own Team Umizoomi shirts. Check out the free printables on Nick Jr. (listed below). Just print them onto iron-on transfer paper. Be sure to check the package instructions to see if you need a reversed image or not for your iron-on transfer paper. Both reversed and regular images are available on the web site. We recommend printing the images on white shirts (the ones below were purchased at Target); the image just didn't look right on the gray shirt.

UmiCar Iron-On
UmiCar Iron-On Reversed
Team Umizoomi Iron-On (includes regular and reversed)
Milli Iron-On
Milli Iron-On Reversed
Geo Iron-On
Geo Iron-On Reversed
Bot Iron-On
Bot Iron-On Reversed

DECORATIONS

We printed two sets of the Team Umizoomi Tabletop Decoration onto white card stock. After cutting them out, we used double-sided tape to adhere each pair back to back. Then follow the dotted lines to make the slits, and fit the two sets together.

We made a few garlands using ribbon and some of the printables from the web site:

• Team Umizoomi Party Decorations
• Team Umizoomi Straw Toppers (just cut off the tabs for the straws)

1. For each printable used, print two copies onto white card stock.
2. Cut out all of the decorations.
3. Measure the doorways and other areas where you will hang the garlands and cut your ribbon accordingly. I left a few extra inches on each end for curling; just mark your "start" and "end" points on the ribbon with masking tape.
4. Use double-sided adhesive to secure each pair of decorations together, with the ribbon in between them. Leave a couple of inches and add another pair to the ribbon. Continue until you have filled the space needed, according to your measurements.
5. Curl the extra ribbon left on the ends, and hang up your festive masterpiece.

The Team Umizoomi Posters are fun and festive. Each one requires four sheets of paper (we used white card stock), plus a couple of minutes to trim along the dotted lines, and secure the pieces together.

• Geo Poster
• Milli Poster
• Bot Poster

Looking for more decorations? I printed the iron-on designs (see links above) onto white card stock, trimmed them, and hung them around the party area. Just be sure you do not use the reverse images.

If you have an insane amount of time before the party, you could make some Platonic solids (three-dimensional shapes) to decorate your party area. This sounded like a fantastic idea to me; I cut and made about three dozen of these shapes. It took forever. Yes, they looked kind of cool. I got to post on Facebook that I was making dodecahedrons (12-sided shape). But really, they did not make or break the party. If you are so inclined, here are the templates to make cubes icosahedrons, tetrahedrons, octahedrons, and dodecahedrons. Be sure to leave yourself plenty of time. And lots of wine couldn't hurt, either.

THE ACTIVITIES

1. Umiriffic Scavenger Hunt - Print the scavenger hunt card and pictures onto white card stock; cut out the pictures; and hang them around the party area (up high, down low...) before the party.

Each child gets a scavenger hunt card and a crayon. They can work together or individually to find all of the pictures on their card.

2. Pattern Power! We made beaded bracelets using pipe cleaners and pony beads. Both are available at craft stores. The kids can string the beads onto their pipe cleaner, then twist the ends together to secure around their wrist.

3. Pin the Shape Belt on Geo. This is a great use for any of the character posters; we used the Geo Poster. Before the party, I used a piece of paper to draft a rectangle that would fit on Geo's shape belt. I used the draft as a template to cut enough belts from yellow construction paper; one per child. If you have an extra minute, draw the circle, square, and triangle on each belt - just like Geo's.

At the party, you'll need masking tape and a bandana or other blindfold (optional - younger kids often don't want to be blindfolded).

4. Super Shapes! Kids can make their own Shape Belts, just like Geo. There are instructions on the Nick Jr site. I made the belts ahead of time (you'll need felt and velcro tape from the craft store), and provided the kids with adhesive foam shapes (also at the craft store).

GOODIE BAGS
We cut out the Team Umizoomi Party Thank You Notes from the web site and attached one per paper bag using a glue stick. There is even a spot on the notes to write each guest's name.

My goal was to find fun things that had to do with shapes, patterns, and numbers for the goodie bags. This was not an easy task so I resorted to:

• beaded necklaces (they're colorful, and the beads are geometric, right?!)
• Rubik's-type cubes from the Dollar Spot at Target 
• a bouncy ball from the party aisle of Target
• my son's favorite candies
• the Team Umizoomi Party Placemats (coloring pages and puzzles) from the web site
• a small box of crayons
• a LEGO mini figure since my sons and nephew are all LEGO enthusiasts

SNACKS

I wish I had remembered to take pictures of the food! Alas, I was too caught up in the action. Here are some ideas for Team Umizoomi party snacks, sans visual representation.

• Cheese & Cracker Shapes - cut cheese into triangles and squares; choose crackers in various shapes.
• Pattern Power Fruit Kebabs - using bamboo skewers, thread a variety of fruit in a pattern of your choosing. Clip the pointy ends off using kitchen shears before serving to children.
• Shapely Finger Sandwiches - use cookie cutters in a variety of geometric shapes to cut your favorite sandwiches (PB&J, cold cuts, etc.)
• UmiCar Sandwich - if you want to get a bit more creative than just using cookie cutters, check out this 3-D replica of UmiCar to impress your foodie friends. Ingredients and instructions are listed on the Nick Jr. web site.
• Bot Sandwich - yet another sandwich option, thanks to our Nick Jr. friends. 
• Milli Sandwich - a sweet and fruity sandwich for Milli fans. You could probably follow the same "template" to create a Milli Pizza - a ready-baked pizza crust such as Boboli, tomato sauce for her helmet, shredded mozzarella cheese for her face, red peppers and black olives cut to make the features of her face, and maybe a couple of bread sticks covered in tomato sauce for her ponytails.
• Geo Sandwich - another sweet and fruity sandwich idea.

TIME FOR CAKE
Of course it had to be a Geo cake! Once again, a big thank you to Nick Jr. for providing detailed instructions to decorate this cake. The web site also has instructions for a Milli cake, Bot cake, UmiCar cake, and a variety of cupcakes and character cookies. By request, we had a chocolate cake and homemade cream cheese frosting. 

I recommend sliding a few strips of wax or parchment paper under the edges of the bottom cake layer to protect your platter or cake stand from stray frosting. Once the final frosting-details are complete, just slide the paper away and voila! Your cake stand is clean and pretty.

Of course you'll need party hats for singing "Happy Birthday" and eating cake. Team Umizoomi Party Hats are available as free printables on the web site.

1. Just print onto white card stock, cut them out, and secure together with double-sided adhesive. 
2. Punch a small hole (a safety pin works well) on each side of the hat, and feed a length of elastic through one hole; tie a knot to secure on the inside. 
3. Measure the appropriate length for the elastic by placing the hat on your child's head as a guide. Leave an extra inch; cut the elastic. 
4. Feed the cut end through the second hole and secure by tying a knot on the inside of the hat.

I hope you enjoy adding these ideas to your Team Umizoomi party. Do you have any other fun ideas to add? Be sure to Post a Comment and share with us! As always, thanks for reading.