Candy Land Birthday Party

Invite your guests to a magical land full of candy. This Candy Land birthday party was the perfect 1st birthday bash! It put all of the focus on my sweet little one while creating all of the delicious lands in the Candy Land kingdom. I brought the Candy Land board to life, where forests are made of peppermint and mud is made of chocolate. 

My little Zelie took center stage in this sugary kingdom, surrounded by delightful treats and candy-filled landscapes. This party was certainly a labor of love but that’s the type of thing I live for when it comes to celebrating my kids. And the great part was that I was able to use the decorations all again for a youth activity. I also think you could use this as a classroom theme!

Pro Tip: You can sell everything on the Facebook marketplace after the party or donate them to a teacher to use for their classroom.

This birthday party was a dream come true, perfectly tailored to celebrate my sweet princess Lollie. Besides the fact that Candy Land is nostalgic, making life-size candy sounded like a fun way to spend my time. It was also a perfect fit for my little girl because her middle name is Lollie. So, how could I not turn my darling little baby into the cutest princess in all of Candy Land, Princess Lollie?

Traditionally, in our family, a big part of first birthdays is the cake smash. It seems to symbolize that our babies are leaving the baby era and becoming a child. And introducing them to the world of flavors is part of the joy of this stage. Letting your little one dig into their first birthday cake is a messy, yet fun tradition. This tradition allows our little ones to savor their birthday cake their own way. By engaging all their senses, it provides darling entertainment for everyone involved. So, creating a sweet Candy Land feast for all of the guests seemed to go right along with the feast our Princess Lollie would be experiencing on her big day. Turning Candy Land into the perfect celebration for our darling one-year-old.

Join us as we share the secrets to hosting the perfect Candy Land party, where every moment is as sweet as the last!

Preparations for this Candy Land birthday party were a labor of love, each step filled with excitement and anticipation. Luckily, here at DIY Family Time, we have gathered and created all you need to host your own perfect Candy Land party!

We kicked off the preparations by crafting adorable invitations, sparing you the trouble. We couldn't help but design 3 different versions depending on the age of your child. The invitation with the phrase "Sweet One" is perfect for the first birthday, "Two Sweet" is perfect for a second birthday, and "Our Sweet" is versatile for any age. You can purchase these darling editable invitations from our Etsy Store. This allows you to focus on other party preparations.

First, I made party hats. I bought gold party hats from Hobby Lobby. Then, with colorful yarn, I made some fun pom-pom ball toppers. When those were finished, I glued them to the hats.

After making the party hats, my attention then turned to Princess Lollie's outfit. After selecting the perfect style and coordinating fabrics to match the color scheme, my sister and I set out to create a magical dress and apron for her to wear. We pulled ideas from Candy Land boards, Pinterest, and Etsy and mashed them together to create the perfect Princess Lollie outfit.

We used the Melanie Maxi pattern from Peek-a-boo Pattern Shop for the dress and added large flutters. Then we crafted the apron on our own. Then added some sparkly tulle and a lollipop for a one-of-a-kind outfit.

Lastly for preparations, a cake needed to be decided upon. I went the route of making and decorating a cake. I wanted the cake to look like it jumped right off the gameboard. With big dollops of frosting and sprinkled with candy, the cake turned out perfect for this Candy Land birthday party!

The magic continued as I ventured into building the various lands of the kingdom. I was committed to decking out the space with decorations, and there was no limit to my enthusiasm for making it look fantastic. Wall decor played a crucial role in setting the scene. I transformed balloons into the cutest sprinkles by cutting them into thirds and tying them off, filling the walls with sprinkles of fun. Then, surrounded “Princess Lollie” with sprinkles. The letters for her name were cut out using a Cricut and cardstock.

Adding colorful trails between the different lands brought an extra touch of cuteness to the experience. I selected colors to coordinate with my color scheme for the party as well as the gameboard. I then cut the papers, crafting trails that weaved throughout the lands. Let me take you on a journey through each landscape of this sweet kingdom.

The first stop on the Candy Land board is Gingerbread Tree. Although I didn’t make a tree, I did set up a Gingerbread Village at the entrance of the party. Here I had a book for guests to sign. The table was decorated with our paper gingerbread houses and gingerbread boy garland. This was an easy setup, low-effort area.

I hung multicolored “sprinkles” on all of the walls. They were the perfect addition to the party’s playful atmosphere. They covered so much area and made a nice big statement without costing much money or time. Having multiple colors helped tie in all of the colors of Candy Land along with the colored trails. 

The next stop is Peppermint Forest. I bought some giant peppermint candies on clearance after Christmas. Then, I made some PVC pipe Candy Canes. I bought some 12-foot-long PVC pipes and found this tutorial on YouTube. Using a heat gun and some sand, you can also easily bend the pipes into 8-foot tall giant candy canes to bring your Peppermint Forest to life! I also used some straight PVC pipes as peppermint sticks. 

To decorate these candies, I originally planned to spray paint them. Just know that PVC pipe doesn’t take to spray paint easily. So, using red and white duct tape is a much easier option.

Making gumdrops was a paper mache-like process, involving newspaper, Mod Podge, paint, and a sprinkle of large, clear glitter. I used a small pot turned upside down and used newspaper to create a dome shape on the top then covered the entire thing with cling wrap. Then I used Mod Podge on pieces of newspaper onto this mound, creating a gumdrop-shaped structure. This process was long because I only used one pot. Therefore, I could only make one at a time and had to wait for each gumdrop to completely dry before moving on to the next one, which ended up being about one gumdrop a day. Later in the process, I used some styrofoam half circles to make some gumdrops in the same fashion.

After the Mod Podge and newspaper dried, I painted each gumdrop a different color. Then I sprayed each with adhesive and sprinkled each one with large clear sprinkles. This helped the mounds look like gumdrops.

I didn’t make a licorice forest. This is a land I chose to skip for this party.

However, when we made a life-sized game of Candy Land for a church party, we made licorice out of red and black pool noodles. To make licorice, you use two noodles each. With one noodle, you cut it lengthwise into thirds. Then you glue those strips to the second noodle, twisting the second noodle as you go down.

This was the most important land for the party because we were celebrating Princess Lollie! For making large lollipops, check out our tutorial. They are perfect for adding a sweet touch to the festivities. I wish I had made more of these lollipops because they were so cute. A big forest would have been very fun to have as a backdrop. 

Another option for lollipops would be to make suckers. These are simple to come together and are very cute. All you need to do is tape balloons (blown up) to a dowel. Then you cover the balloon with cellophane and tie it with a ribbon. These are fun and totally customizable! You can get cellophane in almost any color or you could use clear cellophane and use any color of balloon.

For this land, I made charming ice cream cone garlands for this Candy Land party. I started by cutting brown paper into cone shapes. Then I covered the cones with burlap for a textured and waffle appearance. Next, I got a garland of white paper balls. I found mine at the dollar store.  Then, I topped my cones with the white paper balls. Next, I hung the garland. 

To add a touch of magic, spray the tops of the cones with adhesive spray and generously sprinkle them with either colorful sprinkles or large glitter. Be sure the ice cream cones are evenly spaced for a visually appealing arrangement. This simple yet creative process resulted in an adorable ice cream cone garland that elevated my Candy Land-themed decorations.

I also bought an ice cream cone balloon sculpture pattern that you make from foam board. It is made of foam board and shaped like an ice cream cone. Then it is filled with balloons. I used various shades of pink for the ice cream and tan for the cone. This was a fun addition to this land.

Of course, no Candy Land birthday party is complete without the essential treats. I selected candies and treats, so every aspect of the party was as sweet as can be. For the Molasses Swamp, I broke out the chocolate fountain and a collection of treats to dip. This was the perfect activity for this party.

Because this party was to celebrate a first birthday party, I didn’t plan any extra activities. I had a sign-in book at the entrance and the chocolate fountain with sweets and treats to dip in it, pictures set around of our Princess Lollie’s first year, and we opened presents and did the cake smash. But, no worries! There are plenty of other activity ideas for your perfect Candy Land party. 

Simple and quick activity that lets your guest get creative but doesn’t bring the mess of decorating real gingerbread houses. Print out our gingerbread house boxes on white paper and have the kids color them like a house from Candy Land!

We have done this for both youth activities and church activities. Build a life-sized Candy Land game for your guests to play. Create a trail of colors made from paper. We found that using a diaper box as a giant dice worked really well. Cover each side with coordinating paper with your trail and have your guest roll the dice to see what color they are to move to. When playing this for a church activity, we had players gain a special treat as they passed each land. (i.e. Chocolate Snack Pack when they passed the Molasses Swamp.)

Set up a few games of Candy Land. Have your guests find a place to begin a game. Set a timer for 2-5 minutes and start to play. When the timer goes off, have all green players rotate left and the red players rotate right. You can change the colors as you go or alternate the movers each time. It will add a little extra extra excitement to your Candy Land game! If you want to make this activity extra fun, buy (or gather) different versions of the Candy Land game. That way the boards are all different. 

Pro Tip: You can almost always find copies of Candy Land at local thrift stores.

Besides the chocolate fountain and treats for dipping, I absolutely loved having a candy ice cream bar at the party—it was a total hit! This was a fun treat bar that went right along with the theme. As we all know, ice cream and cake are a match made in dessert heaven, so having the candy ice cream bar alongside other treats was a no-brainer. I also served cupcakes with lollipop toppers. 

Party favors aren’t a must, but these gingerbread house boxes were so easy to use as both party favors and decorations. I just filled each box with a couple of wrapped treats and then set them up as decorations. When guests were getting ready to leave, I encouraged them to take one. Decorations, party favors, and clean-up all in one!

As the colorful trails of Candy Land fade into sweet memories, I can't help but dream about the magical journey I created for my Princess Lollie's 1st birthday. The time invested in preparations and decorations truly paid off in creating a beautiful kingdom of sweets. 

Each landscape added its unique charm to the festivities. As we bid farewell to this Candy Land celebration, I'm left with a heart full of gratitude for the moments of joy shared with my family and the memories we've created. May the sweetness linger and inspire many more celebrations ahead!