Juniper’s “Madeline in Paris” 4th Birthday Party

How to host a “Madeline in Paris” themed birthday party at home with creative DIY party activities, French decor, and costumes inspired by the classic Madeline children’s books.

Party Theme

Madeline must be one of the most beloved children’s book characters of all time: she’s clever, brave, a bit mischievous, and just plain cute.

Naturally, our daughter Juniper fell in love with the little red-head and her Parisian adventures when we were gifted a small set of Ludwig Bemelmans’ classic books (*a similar set to this one) by her Auntie Jodi. And I delighted to re-live my own childhood reading the Madeline books to Juniper before bedtime, donning my best French accent of course!

I forget when the idea first struck me to do a “Madeline in Paris”-themed 4th birthday party for Juniper…but it boasted endless creative possibilities. Plus, I knew Juniper would be so excited to dress up like Madeline in her new chin-length bob haircut just like Madeline!

And how fitting that her younger sister Pepper could dress up like “Pepito,” the prankster son of the Spanish ambassador.

When I pitched the potential theme to Juniper, her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree! And I set to work to bring the Madeline stories to life for her 4th birthday party this June.

*I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience and also compiled all of the Amazon links shared in this post in a handy collection on my Amazon storefront, which you can peruse HERE.

Invitation

We opted for a small family gathering at my in-laws’ home with her Florida cousins, aunts, and uncles. And I threw together a Paperless Post invitation at the last minute just for fun with a few Madeline-esque rhymes to bring a smile to everyone’s faces.

Party Costumes

Juniper as Madeline: Juniper was so excited to dress the part of Madeline on her party day in her new blue dress (with pockets!) that I found on Amazon along with a detachable Peter Pan collar that I secured with some fashion tape.

Juniper wanted to keep her accessories simple with just a yellow flower hair clip, but I think this yellow straw hat and red satin scarf would be so cute to complete the Madeline look.

Pepper as Pepito: “Pepito” has actually been one of our family’s favorite nicknames for Pepper for a while now! And on the party day, she dressed up as the trickster son of the Spanish ambassador in her red onesie with the white collar I cut out of sticker-backed felt. There was no way I was going to successfully get a hat on this child, so we opted for a black bow instead. Voila!

Lauren as Miss Clavel & Mark as “The Bad Hat”: I got to channel my inner nun and dress up as Miss Clavel, wearing all black and creating a make-shift nun’s habit using a piece of black fabric and white headband I had on hand.

Juniper really wanted her daddy to be “The Bad Hat,” which is the title of one of the Madeline books {tee hee}. So, he donned one of his visors in the easiest costume ever executed…and of which we have no photographic evidence. {Eye roll.}

Decorating Guests with Parisian Accessories

As our party guests arrived, we invited the kids to join us in our Parisian world of imaginative play by giving them their own accessories.

For the girls, we tied yellow wire ribbons in their hair with tails that stick straight up just like they do for the “12 little girls in 2 straight lines.” We also attached Peter Pan collars to their tops that I had cut out of white sticker-backed felt.

And for the boys, we ended up drawing mustaches on their faces with eye-liner when the sticker ones I bought were not sticking. {Psst! HERE’S a set of sticker mustaches that look much better.}

Once everyone was accessorized, it was time for a photo op!

Group Storytelling Activity

To kick things off, I invited all of our party guests (kids and adults) to join me in a circle for a group storytelling activity. And I directed their attention to a sheet of paper on the window where I had written out the classic opening text from the Madeline stories.

First, we read it aloud all together.

Then, I shared that we were going to do a Group Storytelling Activity where we bring this story to life with our bodies, working together to come up with repeatable gestures to paint a picture of the words and phrases highlighted in color.

We worked through the text, line by line, and as went along, I took suggestions from the group for our different different gestures, encouraging them to use their whole bodies to express that word or phrase. When I saw a stand-out suggestion from one of the volunteers, we all practiced it and incorporated it in our visual poetry performance!

Here’s an example script of how I led this activity:

“How can we use our bodies to paint a picture of an ‘old house’ that we see underlined in our first line? An ‘old house’…let me see you try out different shapes and movements in your body. Ooo! I like that, Clara. Everyone look at Clara’s ‘old house’ and how she creates the shape of a house with her arms while slumping. Let’s all practice that…great! And now, we can say the first line together with our gesture. ‘In an old house in Paris that was covered in vines….’ Okay, we’re onto our next gesture. Let me see you all come up with a gesture for ‘covered in vines.’ Yes! I’m loving all these creative ideas I’m seeing. Oh, Jeremiah’s looks like fun to do. Let’s all try that. And if we keep going, the next line says, ‘lived twelve little girls.’ And we want a gesture for ‘little girls.’ Cora just did the cutest curtsy. Can you show us all again, Cora, so we can try it? Yes! Now, we’re ready to take it all again from the top….”

This ended up being such a fun group activity that got the blood flowing and engaged all ages while simultaneously introducing the story of Madeline to those who were less familiar with it!

I used to be a theatre teacher, and so it was fun to play that part again. But trust me, you can do this, too! The group will catch on quickly, and pretty much lead it themselves.

Another option for an opening activity could be doing a read-aloud from one of the Madeline books. To keep kids engaged, you could have them do a certain Madeline “pose” whenever they hear her name. And one for Miss Clavel and other common names or words that come up!

Pin the Bow on Genevieve

As a fun transition to our next activity, “Miss Clavel” lined up the kids “in two straight lines” and marched them over to their next activity, “Pin the Bow on Genevieve.”

Genevieve is a stray dog who rescues Madeline when she accidentally falls into the Siene River in the book, Madeline’s Rescue. And she ends up as Madeline’s adopted puppy with her own bow atop her head.

I had sketched out Genevieve in sharpie on a large sheet of white paper, which I hung on the glass door at a reachable height for our birthday gal.

After handing each kid a red bow cut out of sticker-backed felt, I challenged them to place it as close to the center of Genevieve’s head as possible…while blindfolded of course!

We used bandanas as blindfolds and spun each kid around a few times before facing them forward to head toward Genevieve. Once their hands reached the wall, they weren’t allowed to feel around, but had to place their bow blindly.

Juniper’s cousin Jeremiah was our winner, and his prize was his own pair of doggy socks similar to these!

Painting at The Louvre

Though I wondered if we might be crazy for taking on a painting activity at a kids birthday party, I’m so glad we did!

Despite the 8 year age gap between Junie and her cousins, they all enjoyed it. And their little canvas served as their party favor. My niece Reagan even has hers hanging in her now Paris-themed bedroom!

INSPIRATION: When I was looking at other Madeline-themed parties for inspiration, I loved how this party hostess, Gabrielle, had sketched Madeline on blank canvases in advance for the party guests to paint. And I picked up some graphite transfer paper along with the rest of my supplies to aid help make the process a bit easier.

SUPPLIES: Here were the supplies we purchased for this activity (for your convenience, I saved them all in a collection on my Amazon storefront):

• 8″ x 10″ stretched canvases: pack of 12
• printouts of Madeline scenes
• graphite transfer paper
• Twistable colored pencil or stylus for transferring images onto canvases
• Sharpie marker
• primary color acrylic paint set: red, blue, yellow, white, & black
• alternate option: Tempera paint (less vibrant, but washable)
• acrylic paintbrushes
• paint palette trays
• optional: artist smocks
• water cups
• paper towels
• red & white checkered plastic tablecloth
• artist smocks
• chalkboard easel “Louvre” sign (similar to ours)

PREP: I sent my nieces and nephews photos of some different scene options from the Madeline books and Madeline DVD that I had found HERE. And invited them to choose one that they’d paint on the party day.

Would you believe that with the exception of the youngest two, they all chose the Eiffel Tower scene! It’s the most iconic from the Madeline books, but it was also going to be the most challenging for me to transfer.

As I painstakingly traced over every leaf on those trees with the lowered tip of a Twistable colored pencil and went over it in Sharpie, I almost regretted my decision to give them a choice! Thankfully, I passed the time watching “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,”…and when I saw how excited they were to paint their canvases the next day, it was worth the hand-ache.

On the back of each canvas I wrote the date and “Masterpiece by _______” with their name.

ACTIVITY: The kids took a seat at the “The Louvre” in front of their customized canvas, paint palette trays filled with paint in the primary colors and white, brushes, and water.

Before they began, I just gave a few instructions and reminders. I shared that this was acrylic paint, and it would be washable while wet, but once it dries on clothing, it’s permanent. A few of the kids turned their shirts inside out or used a smock I had on hand. We also talked about the primary colors of red, yellow, and blue in their paint palette trays and how they can be mixed together to create any color of the rainbow! Then, they set to work!

It was fascinating to see the different personalities of the kids and how they manifested in their art. Jeremiah and Reagan took their little masterpieces home to finish because they worked so slowly and meticulously on them. Grant spent most of his time mixing paint, and ultimately covered his whole canvas in a wash of brown. My nephew Micah added Pepito’s guillotine on the path to the Eiffel tower….

And the birthday girl was in her happy place, surrounded by her beloved cousins while playing with art supplies.

30 minutes was the perfect time frame for this activity and gave us time to set up lunch for our starving artists afterwards.

Here’s my oldest niece Cora with her mini masterpiece!

MODIFICATION: This activity is one you could easily modify using coloring pages and crayons instead of canvases and paint. You can also eliminate the pre-drawing step and just give them a blank canvas and set them free!

Light Lunch

Mark and my MIL took the lead on planning a light Parisian-style lunch for us with turkey, ham, and chicken salad sandwiches decorated with French flag toothpicks…

…and for our sides, they assembled a fruit plate, veggie plate with dip, and an assortment of chips. Of course, we had French flag plates & napkins for our paper goods!

I decorated the lunch table with a red tablecloth, festive red-white-and-blue spray pick (4th of July decor from Hobby Lobby) in vases for a centerpiece along with balloons, a few mini Eiffel towers, and our mini Madeline books (similar to this set).

The only thing I forgot to do at the party was invite everyone to join in the classic Madeline prayer before our meal:

We love our bread, we love our butter, but most of all, we love each other.

I’m mentioning it here, so one of YOU can do it for me at your own Madeline in Paris Party, okay? Let me know if you do!

Madeline Movie Viewing Party

To give some time for our lunch to settle before birthday cake, the kids headed to the Home Movie Theatre room to watch “Madeline in London” on the big screen.

It was a 23 minute episode from the 1990s Madeline animated series, which I watched as a child…and loved! The series features catchy musical numbers, narration by Christopher Plummer, adorable French accents, and Bemelmans’ delightful rhyming storytelling style.

I found the complete DVD collection of the series on Amazon with 6 specials and 59 episodes, which we gifted to Junie for her birthday. (Though you can find a few of the individual episodes on YouTube, too.)

Juniper’s smile couldn’t have been any bigger as she nestled next to her cousins…and they giggled through the episode!

Madeline-Themed Cake

My amazing mother-in-love Rachael offered to take care of ordering the birthday cake, and she spoiled us all with a decadent cake from Betty Cakes in Ocala, FL (the best cakes I’ve ever enjoyed).

She even had them decorate it on theme to look like Madeline’s yellow hat with a satin black ribbon she added at home. Très chic!

She also added some cake toppers with little Madeline & Genevieve figurines and a mini Eiffel tower, both of which she gifted to Junie.

We sang happy birthday to our four-year-old…

…she made a wish, blew out her candles, and gave the stink eyes to the flames that were extra stubborn.

Then, we all dug into the deliciousness. It was the sweetest end to the sweetest party day.

Order of Events

For those of you planning your own “Madeline in Paris” party, I thought it might be helpful to see a breakdown of our activities by time.

I used to be a high school English & theatre teacher, and so I feel most prepared when I draft a detailed schedule in advance. By some miracle, we able to actually stick to this one!

To note: we had seven kids ranging age 4 to 12, eight adults…and of course baby Pepito!

11:00 – 11:10 (10 minutes): Greet party guests with their own Parisian accessories: yellow bows and white collars for the gals, mustaches for the boys.

11:10 – 11:20 (10 minutes): Group storytelling activity with the opening text of Madeline.

11:20 – 11:30 (10 minutes): “Pin the Bow on Genevieve” activity.

11:30 – 12:00 (30 minutes): Painting at the Louvre with art from the Madeline books.

12:00 – 12:30 (30 minutes): Light Parisian-style lunch!

12:30 – 1:00 (30 minutes): “Madeline in London” viewing party in the Home Movie Theatre.

1:00 – 1:30 (30 minutes): Birthday cake & gift-opening before saying adieus!

To Close

It’s a win-win when you get to celebrate your little one with a special party and re-live your own childhood by bringing a beloved story to life!

This summer has been so different than any of us expected, and I don’t know about you, but I’ve been so grateful for creative diversions like this party proved to be. And I hope it sparks some creative inspiration for your own at-home celebrating!

It only seems fitting to bid you adieu with Ludwig Bemelmans’ classic closing line:

And that’s all there is. There isn’t any more.

Well…just a little more!

For your convenience, I’ve compiled all the Amazon links of party supplies from this post in a handy collection on my Amazon storefront, which you can peruse HERE.

And here are some of my other popular birthday party posts to continue the creative inspiration:

For another story-themed celebration, check out our “Anne of Green Gables” Inspired Birthday Party by clicking HERE or the image below.

Click HERE or the image below to join us for a royally fun time at Juniper’s Princesses & Knights 5th Golden Birthday Pool Party.

For Pepper’s 3rd birthday, we had a magical “Mickey & Minnie Mouse” party. Click HERE or the image below for all the mouse-spiration.

Then, I recommend stopping by Juniper’s 2nd Birthday Party, which was Ice Cream Themed! Click HERE or the image below to treat yo’self.

For Pepper’s 2nd birthday, we had a Puppy Paw-ty that was dog-gone fun. Check out the paw-ty details by clicking HERE or the image below.

And for a floral-tastic time, join us for Juniper’s Blooming 1st Birthday Bash by clicking HERE or the image below.

For Pepper’s 1st birthday, we hosted a “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” party for Pepper. Click HERE or the image below to check it out.

*Full Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, meaning that if you make a purchase after clicking through, The Thinking Closet may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for helping to support this site!