Plan a special delivery Post Office Inspired Birthday Party for your little Mail Carrier! | littleredwindow.com
I totally love planning a party with a good theme. So when I asked O what kind of birthday party he wanted to have for his 4th birthday, I was bracing myself to hear Spider-Man or Toy Story, his current obsessions. Which would have been fine. But maybe a little too easy. And if you’ve visited Little Red Window before, you know I like a challenge. So I was surprised and delighted when he said, “I want a Mailman party!” Well, actually first I laughed and then I was surprised and delighted.
Lest you think O is crazy and this totally came out of left field, I will tell you, one of his favorite tv shows is a British claymation series called, “Postman Pat.”
We watch it on Hulu. Since I’ve never met anyone else who’s ever heard of it, let me introduce you. This is Postman Pat.
He’s a somewhat bumbling mail carrier in a small British country town. In each episode he gets a new (and generally sort of ridiculous) “special delivery” assignment (think giant magnet or huge block of ice) and highjinks ensue. But with the help of his sidekick Jess, the black and white cat, he always gets the package there on time and declares, with two thumbs up, “Mission Accomplished!” As far as kids shows goes, it’s actually pretty cute.
So that’s where the mailman party idea came from. And I was pretty excited because I knew it was going to force me to be creative. I had lots of ideas for decorations but the party didn’t really come together until O said to me one day, “Mom! At my mailman party, let’s deliver the mail!” Which is pretty brilliant if you ask me. Because what’s better at a themed party than a themed activity?!
So I’m going to share what I came up with and I hope you’ll bear with me, I have a lot of pictures! I sent a quick digital invite (slightly modified for the internet):
Then, for decorations, I went with navy and white with a little bit of red. And since I was planning this party in August after the 4th of July, it was easy to find a navy tablecloth,
navy and white striped plates and straws
etc. I used some (free) boxes from the post office to make a cupcake stand and O’s little toy mail truck as a topper:
Around the room I hung streamers and (I totally did not get a good picture of this) I used Airmail Envelopes with a red and white stripe around the edge to create bunting.
For the activity, the first thing I decided was that, as a party favor, I wanted the kids to each have some sort of mail carrier outfit (there were only 5 other kids at the party, so it was a reasonable endeavor). I found cheap blank white hats and small messenger bags online:
And then used iron-on printer paper to add post office logos to them. I just followed the directions on the brand of iron-on paper I used (which I would share with you except that I didn’t love it):
This project was way more fun since I had a “helper.”
And then I made some small houses and small cardboard mailboxes so the kids could actually “deliver” the mail!
To make the houses, I found tiny mailboxes
at the party store (although look at the target dollar spot around Valentine’s day, I’ve seen them then!) and then simply cut a house shape out of foam board to stand up on top. The cutout around the mailbox was enough to keep it standing although I did add a little hot glue to the back as well:
Then I drew the house details on with a sharpie. 
I also made two cardboard mailboxes (I will share a full tutorial for those later so stick around!):
Did you notice that each little house has an address? They were No.1, 2, 3 or 4. So I got some Tiny Business card size envelopes, cute Mini Airmail Stamps
and some Stamp Stickers (affiliate links) and made little letters to be delivered to each house: 
When they arrived, each of the kids got a mail hat and mail bag filled with letters to deliver. And to be completely honest with you, with kids this age (3 1/2 – 4 years old) you really never have ANY idea how planned directed activities are going to go or what they will find fun. But luckily they were totally into it and spent a good half hour delivering mail. (In my world I consider 30 minutes of any activity a complete success!) Also it was totally adorable:
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Tamara Palacio says
Hi,
Can you please tell me where you got the post office logos and iron paper
Thank you so much.
Alexandra Trins says
This party looks amazing – I bet the kiddos had a great time! Where did you find the little messenger bags and hats? I’m thinking of doing something similar for my almost-4 year old son. He loves anything to do with mailmen 🙂
Cassie May says
They were both from Oriental Trading online! Definitely cheap but they worked!
Alexandra Trins says
Thank you so much! I ordered all the supplies and now starting the party planning!
Cassie May says
oh good! Have so much fun!!
Marilyn Groneng says
My brother-in-law will be retiring soon from the Post Office. I have his retirement party all set. So adorable!
Cassie May says
Oh, what a great idea! Have fun!
Jan Lewis says
Such an adorable idea. This could even be modified for an adult party too! I especially liked it because I make jewelry out of postage stamps!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/PSPendants?ref=hdr_shop_menu
Thanks for sharing!
Theresa @DearCreatives says
This is so adorable! I’m pinning this to my kids party board and featuring it. Thanks for sharing @DearCreatives party.
Cassie May says
Thanks Theresa!
Teri@The Freshman Cook says
What an adorable party! This is just the cutest thing ever, and I bet the kids had a ball. I would love if you would stop by and share this at my blog party, “Celebrate It”!
It’s all about sharing how you celebrate the everyday, and not so everyday, things in your life!
http://thefreshmancook.blogspot.com/2014/09/celebrate-it-blog-party-9.html
Hope to see you there!
Alexis @ Persia Lou says
You are amazing! This is such a fun, unique party theme, and perfectly executed! LOVE it!
Heidi @ One Creative Mommy says
This is such a clever idea! Little ones would especially love those mailboxes. Awesome! Pinned to my party board.
Justine Y says
Oh my, So cute and original! Pinned!
Emma Peake says
This party is adorable! & I grew up on Postman Pat!! Classic British Kids TV for ya! Haha!
Cassie May says
Oh yay! Someone who knows Postman Pat!! Thanks for stopping by!
Valerie@Occasionally Crafty says
Wow- I adore this party! You thought of everything! I just love the little outfit he is wearing! Pinned! 🙂
Katie Goldsworthy says
So cute! Thanks for linking it up at Monday Funday! Pinning to our board!
Megan Walker says
Your son is just as creative as you! What an adorable party. I especially love the party favor box. When I was a kid, anything which came in the mail was magical.
Cassie May says
Thanks Megan! I still love getting mail!! 😉
Frances says
Reading this and seeing all the pics reminded me of what a great time we had at the party. And yes, my boys love their postman gear! Such perfect party favors as they are currently into playing dress-up 🙂 Thanks again for having us!
Cassie May says
I knew yours would love it! But omg, I did not get even one pic with all the kids looking at the camera! Did you?
Dad says
The perfect book to cap off this theme party is Good-bye, Curtis by Kevin Henkes. When the mailman retires, everyone in the neighborhood throws him a party. The next day he sends them thank-you notes “and he knows all the addresses by heart.”
Cassie May says
that’s very cute, you should’ve mentioned it earlier! Although after those cupcakes, I highly doubt they would have sat still for a story, lol!
Cheryl@ Sew Can Do says
This is beyond cute and such an original theme! The cardboard mailbox is fantastic. Would love if you’d link this up to the Craftastic Monday Link Party at Sew Can Do:)
Cassie May says
I did! And I’ll have a full tutorial for the mailbox next week! Thanks for stopping by Cheryl!
Cheryl@ Sew Can Do says
Can’t wait to see your mailbox tutorial. I’ve featured this over at this week’s Craftastic Monday party – if you haven’t already, grab yourself a Featured On button:)
Mari says
This is such a sweet idea!
Pat Rapisarda says
What an adorable idea for a party and you did it with such loving creativity! I can absolutely see my 3 year old grand daughter loving the mail delivery and the little hat and bag.
You did a great job and brought a huge smaile to my face just looking at the pics of the precious “mailmen”.
Treasure every second. It goes way too fast.
God Bless,
Pat
Cassie May says
Thanks Pat! They had a lot of fun! 🙂
Tavette says
Oh my goodness. You thought of everything. Those iron ons looked so authentic! To make the houses out of foam board is brilliant and the way you made them stand up even better. They’re inexpensive, easy to store and now you have mailboxes for a Valentines project.
The little mail pouches, hats, shirts – they all looked great. Have never heard of Postman Pat or his kitty sidekick, Jess, but now you make us want to tune in. I have to confess. Since you’re so creative with making things out of cardboard, I looked sev. times at the mail truck on top of the boxes to see if you’d even made that. 🙂 before I continued reading.
I bet the parents were just as excited as the kids when they each returned home with a P.O. goody bag.
If you’re now going to make a cardboard mailbox (and already have all the stuff), you’ll have to have another party. You can make a P.O. at which the kids need to initially pick up the letters they need to deliver or return them to the P.O. if there are no houses with certain addresses on the envelopes. Street signs would be good. Having them watch an episode of Postman Pat will take up a little time & get them revved up to do their jobs.
I’m involved with pet adoptions agencies and what a novel idea your houses are for that. The mailbox could be replaced with a stuffed dog or cat and the wording “My forever home” could be written above the door frame. Or instead of a house, your foam board could be made into a dog house (w/stuffed dog holding it up).
If there is EVER a day you feel like you’re not using your architectural skills, dismiss that thought from your mind forever! Only someone with your skills would have thought all this up. Your son is becoming a “forward thinker” even at his young age. Thanks for sharing your creativity with us.
Cassie May says
Thanks Tavette! 🙂