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Are you looking for LOL surprise birthday party ideas for your little girl? I have been in your shoes for the few last weeks. Since my daughter loves LOL dolls, it made sense to plan an LOL themed birthday for her.

My goal was to create a beautiful birthday party within a limited budget. To reduce the expenses, I knew that we had to create more things ourselves rather than buying them. So, this birthday party involved a lot of searching, cutting and gluing. Especially because those LOL dolls seemed to multiply!

I knew that there were a lot of them but I never thought that there were that many. There are so many, that I am still finding new dolls that I could’ve used. Plus, their sweet eyes and fashionable clothes don’t help much either.

The best part is that we achieved the goal. My little one had a beautiful birthday party without breaking the bank. Now, I am here to help you with yours. Make sure to pin this post because I am sharing everything I used to help you save you time. You just have to choose what’s best for you based on your birthday’s goal.

Let’s start with the decorations…

This post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclosure for information.

LOL Doll Party Decorations

For the decorations, I focused on colors, balloons, and the cake table area.

This section includes the details of the backdrop, cake table, entrance, and wall decorations. So, here you go:

Backdrop

I have always admired the moms who have created a beautiful backdrop for their kids. For a long time, I wanted to do the same, but I always thought that it would require a bigger budget.

Because of that, year after year, the backdrop was mostly plain. Then, two years ago, I decided to add a poster board with some cutouts on it.

This year, I thought to create a beautiful backdrop myself and I couldn’t be happier. It absolutely transformed the entire area.

This is what I did

Background wall: I used two regular wrapping papers that I found at Walmart, but you can get your own combination from any other store including Dollar Tree.

Big LOL dolls: The adorable dolls in the center are the large doll centerpiece characters from Daisy Celebrates. There were perfect for it! Each doll is the size of a regular page I also used a couple of them as centerpieces as shown later in this article.

“Happy Birthday” Banner: This is the birthday banner I got, but I also found this one and this other one.

Smaller LOL dolls: Most of the dolls that you see at the bottom of the backdrop can be found here. This site has a great variety of dolls to choose from. To give you an idea of their size, I saved them in Canva and added two dolls per page (landscape orientation). I also used some of these dolls to decorate around the house.

Quick alternatives

Don’t worry if you don’t have time to create a backdrop yourself. Here are some quick options that will surely save you time:

• Hot Pink Stripes with several LOL dolls
• Three big LOL dolls
• Happy Birthday Bowknot Striped Banner
• Design only with no dolls

Cake Table

It’s important to pay attention to the cake table since it is something that guests will focus on and where most of the pictures are taken.

Here is what I used:

Table cover: The table cover helps you determine how many things you need on the table. Having a pretty table cover makes the cake table look much better instantly. At first, I just wanted a light pink table cover, but it didn’t match what I had in mind. That’s why I chose this one that was a lot more colorful. I also found this other table cover, in case it works better for you.

DIY cake stand: At the stores, I was looking for a nice cake stand that I could use for the snacks but the ones available were either too expensive or wouldn’t be appropriate for a kid’s birthday. Fortunately, Cyndy from The Creativity Exchange shows how to quickly make this chic cake stand with a plate and bowl. I ended up finding the plates at Target for a little over a dollar. They look great and I can use them over and over again!

The Entrance 

I took gold and black streamers and added five gold stars over them. I, then, took the Queen Bee LOL doll and hung her on the wall, beside the streamers. This was a quick, easy, and inexpensive way to decorate the entrance.

Wall Decorations

In addition to the balloons, I wanted to add some colorful touches to the walls. That’s why I ended up wrapping up our picture frames.

For the wall decorations, I only used:

• Regular wrapping paper
• Banner template
• Poster boards (black and white)
• LOL banner – I uploaded this banner template in Canva and added the letters to it to make it more personal. Here is the same template but with different LOL dolls. Also, here, you can download a happy birthday banner and an alphabet banner too.
• Number 6 – this site has all the numbers and each number has a different doll.

LOL Surprise Birthday Party Games

Pin the Bow

This pin the bow game was perfect, and we had so much fun playing it!

I wanted a game just like that, but I thought that I would have to create it myself. Fortunately, Kristen from Musings of an Average Mom had already created one.

The templates for pin the bow are available on her site and you can download them completely FREE. I printed both pages (doll and bows) on cardstock paper so it could last longer.

LOL Bingo

You will love this LOL Bingo!

Thanks to Kristen (again!!) we were able to play an adorable bingo. She created several high-quality bingo cards which allow multiple players.

The best part is that these bingo cards do not include numbers. They include a picture of the LOL doll and its name making it easier for little kids to play too.

The guests love this game and we all learned more LOL names 😊.

Printables

Since kids love printables and coloring, print several printables and keep them in a designated area or table with different school supplies like crayons, pens, and colored pencils.

Distribute the coloring pages on the table and let the kids choose their favorite printable to color.

Another option is to have a printable set ready for each kid. In that way, each kid will have the same packet of printables. You can put each set inside an LOL bag or on top of a table as I suggested before.

Here are some places where you can download coloring pages:

• Plenty of pages to color
• More coloring pages
• Ten templates
• More than 20 unique coloring pages

LOL Word Search

Since there were different ages among the guests, I wanted to include a variety of games that could still entertain all ages.

The LOL surprise word search printables were perfect!

These printables have a combination of a coloring page with a word search, include short and long words, are cute, and are free to download.

To add a little bit of excitement, we created groups among the guests and competed to see who could finish first.

You will find a good variety after a quick google search for “LOL surprise word search free printables”. But remember, that most of these printables are for personal use only.

Photo Props

Nowadays, photo props are part of birthdays, school activities, and other events. Photo props work best with a group of people. So, if a group of kids is attending your LOL birthday party, consider adding this activity. This kit of sixteen pieces can get you started.

Piñata

Last year, my daughter went to a birthday party and they had a piñata. All the kids had a good time searching for the candies and toys that were inside the piñata.

As part of the planning for my daughter’s birthday, I looked for LOL piñatas too. After all, there were too many things happening and we ended up not having one. But to save you time, here are the ones that I was considering:

• Star-shaped – This was my first choice but just because it matched with the birthday party colors.
• LOL dolls piñata – This one has light colors and different LOL dolls on both sides. Plus, it’s also available at Amazon which you can see here.

LOL Birthday Party – Food and Drinks

Birthday Cake

This year, I bought the birthday cake at Walmart as I usually do. I normally find the theme that I want but this time they didn’t have an LOL design.

I could order the cake online but instead, I let my daughter choose one from the ones that were already on display.

The cake was pretty and simple which was perfect to add some decoration to it. In this case, I added these cute cake toppers that I found at Oh My Fiesta in English. It has a variety of free LOL templates that you can use too.

I had never used DIY cake toppers before but I decided to give a try, and I really liked the results.

Snacks

If you are having snacks and drinks, you have to visit Daisy Celebrates! Like me, you will be able to find more cute things for an LOL themed birthday party.

There’s where I downloaded the Hershey’s wrappers and juice pouch labels. You can also get chip bag labels, water bottle labels, and more.

I have to confess that I wasn’t planning to have chocolate bars but after seeing the Hershey’s wrappers, I couldn’t resist printing them for my daughter’s birthday.

Cupcakes: Inspired by Hungry Happenings‘ cupcakes wine goblets, I decided to create something similar for this LOL birthday party. Instead of wine goblets, I found Irish glass coffee mugs that had the perfect size and shape that I was looking for. I bought them at Dollar Tree, but there are similar ones here and here too.

Brownies: In this case, my focus was on saving money. So, I bought a package of brownies at Walmart and used these round cake toppers. There are also these pink toppers plus these few pages of toppers.

Drinks: These are the exact water bottle labels that I used. It only took minutes for us to print, cut, and tape them to the bottles.

By the way, the download link is kind of tricky. It’s just a text that says, “free download” but looks like part of the ad. It’s easy to ignore or overlook but that’s the link. After clicking the link, you immediately get a zip file.

Regarding the juices, here is the template I used.  Since we were in a rush, we ended up taping the labels but they looked cute anyway.

DIY Party Invitations

I didn’t use a formal invitation this time, but I found so many free and beautiful templates that I had to share with you.

For most of the invitations, you just have to do a right-click on the image to save it to your computer. Then, I suggest using Canva to add the details.

• Omg, it’s party time – These horizontal invitations already have different sections for all the birthday details.
• Pink with white polka dots – Different templates to choose from and each template has a different doll on it.
• Comic Style invitation – This template is very cute and modern
• Adorable invitations – There are several templates to choose from which makes it difficult because they are all so cute!
• Come join us – There are one birthday invitation and one card template. The invitation template also includes a thank you card too. (By the way, that site has other things as well.)

LOL Dresses for the Birthday Girl

Many girls like to dress up as an LOL surprise doll for their birthday party. Here are some LOL clothes that I found:

• Gorgeous pink tutu dress
• Sleeveless gown dress
• Colorful dress
• LOL Diva doll costume

More LOL Birthday Party Ideas Worth Sharing

Below are additional birthday party ideas that I didn’t use but are so cute that I still wanted to share them with you.

Food Labels – I really wanted to use these food labels, but I already had too many things on the table and not a lot of variety of food or snacks.

Boxes – I found two sites where you can download different boxes to use on your cake table. Here are some boxes and another site with more boxes.

The information on both websites are not in English and Google doesn’t translate everything on the page but, you are still able to save the images and print them.

Blank Pages – These cute pages are good to prepare a notebook, to use for games, or for something else.

Bookmarks – This website has cute bookmarks, a printable calendar, and more.

LOL Surprise Birthday Party Ideas Summary

As you could see, it’s possible to create a cute LOL birthday party without breaking your bank. I hope that these party ideas make it easier for you to create yours. I would also love to see pictures of your birthday too!

Now, that this birthday party is over, I can’t wait to plan her next one.

In the meantime, comment down below sharing your best tip for a kid’s birthday party.

Worried about your child’s transition into Kindergarten?

I understand because I went through it with my daughters.

When kids start Kindergarten, there’s a lot of new experiences to absorb at once. And even though they will be okay, as moms, we want to make sure our kids have the smoothest transition into Kindergarten.

This article covers ways that you can help your child to get ready for Kindergarten as well as how you can make this transition easier for them. You will also find resources to help you out.

This post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclosure for information.

How can I help my child transition into Kindergarten?

The following areas are a foundation of how quickly your child can adjust to Kindergarten.

Go through these areas and determine how prepared your child is in each of them. Identify the area or areas where your child needs more reinforcement and focus on those first.

Let’s get started…

Wait for their turn

Overall, this may be hard for kids to adjust to. There will be many times when kids will have to wait for their turn in Kindergarten.

Kids must wait for their turn to go to the bathroom, to use a swing on the playground, or to answer the teacher’s questions.

The good news is that there are situations that should make this transition easier for Kindergartners.

That includes kids already attending a pre-school program or a structured daycare. That’s what I did with both of my daughters and I feel that they have benefited from it.

So, what can you do to help your kids wait their turn?

Here are some tips:

• Make them aware: Whenever your child interrupts during conversations, let him or her know what is expected.
• Play traditional board games: It’s a good way to have fun while it teaches kids to wait until it’s their turn again.

Follow instructions

Kindergarten is more structured to prepare kids for higher grade levels. Throughout the day, kids must follow several instructions to complete the tasks.

In my daughter’s school, following instructions is so important that it is part of the daily evaluation.

For example, my daughter has a folder that she brings back home every single day. That folder has a calendar that lets me know how she behaved that day.

Ways to reinforce this strategy at home:

• Playing games: Every game has directions that need to be followed to play. That’s why playing board games or any type of game will be beneficial for this too. In addition to the games suggested above, other games can help your child following directions too.
• Activity books: These books normally include activities with instructions that the kid needs to follow. Plus, activity books such as color by number, help kids with other skills.

Listen to others

Developing good listening skills is something needed in Kindergarten and at any point in life too.

Plus, listening is also related to kids following instructions. For example, a kid that didn’t listen to the teacher’s instructions will probably have a harder time understanding and completing their work correctly.

It’s also important to listen to other kids’ points of view whenever they are working in teams or just having a normal conversation.

Tips to improve kids listening skills:

• Eye contact rule: Ask your child to make eye contact during any conversation. But, for this to work, every family member needs to do it too. Leading by example will help your child implement it faster.
• What was said: Since kids get easily distracted, asking them what was said help them pay attention next time. I still practice this one at home. Sometimes, my daughter realizes that she wasn’t paying, and I need to say it again, but I have seen her doing much better. Plus, rephrasing helps her put the information in her own words which is another skill they work on in Kindergarten.
• Red light, green light: My daughter loves to play this game. And it helps them with their listening skills as well as following instructions. So, that’s a win-win situation. Here is a great list with more fun game ideas.

Work well with others

Nowadays, Kindergarteners do more projects that involve working as a team. As you can understand, it is as hard for kids as it is for adults.

But, kids need to learn how to work together regardless of differences in personalities, interests, beliefs, etc.

That also includes sharing things with other kids. Because even though kids are asked to bring school supplies, they don’t last for the entire school year. At that point, kids need to share things like scissors, glue sticks, crayons, and pencils.

I also want to include helping others in here.

Kids should help each other no matter if it’s in the classroom, gym, or playground. It could be helping other kids clean up, getting up if they fall, or making them feel better if they look sad. And that’s why I like this book because it focuses on that.

How to be a better team player:

• Sports team: This one is the most common way to encourage working with others. If this is not an option, try the next one.
• Neighborhood Park: I often see kids playing football or soccer in the park or around the neighborhood. That’s an opportunity for kids to work on those social skills while playing.
• Help around the house: Kids always want to help. Involve them with any quick project or task in the house. Doing this has different benefits. They have a new experience, feel proud of themselves for helping, strengthen the relationship, etc.
• Siblings working together: As you already know, each of your kids has a different personality. Ask them to complete tasks together where they can get used to working with each other. You can even come up with a game where they will have to work together to succeed.

Respect others

No matter if a child is going to school or not, I feel that it’s important to teach our kids to respect others.

Several times, I have been in shock listening to my daughter’s stories about how some kids have responded to school personnel.

Normally, kids are reminded to respect their teacher. However, kids need to understand that respecting others applies to other school staff members.

When school starts, kids interact with their teacher as well as the principal, assistant principal, teachers, cafeteria workers, office managers, librarians, front office personnel, nurses, other teachers, and even substitutes.

How to encourage this behavior:

• Open communication: Let your child know every time he or she has good behavior. Or, a behavior that could improve.
• Get some related books: Read some books that cover this topic. I read this book with my daughter and she liked it. Discuss what happened in the story. Anything good? Bad? Any suggestions?

Quick Tip: Add these areas in a visual chart like this one and keep it in an area where your child can remember what is expected.

 Click here to download the flashcards

How can I make my child’s transition into Kindergarten easier?

Know what to expect

Give your child an idea of what to expect. That should make them feel more comfortable with the change and excited too.

Consider sharing good and funny memories of when you were in Kindergarten. How was your teacher? What was your favorite time? How did you make your first friend? Did you wear a uniform?

And if you have pictures, share them too! They will have fun learning about you and seeing you as a kid.

Develop a routine

As I mentioned earlier, Kindergarten provides a more structured environment for kids. Set different routines or schedules at home so they can get used to it. These routines can include times when they get up, eat, and go to bed.

It doesn’t have to be perfect and it’s understandable that it may vary some days, but overall, following a similar routine will help your child adjust faster.

Attend school activities

I know that you are a busy mom but try to do this one for sure.

Normally, schools like to have some activities before school starts. That allows your child to get familiar with the school, teacher, staff, and even their future friends.

In my kids’ school, they have activities such as Kindergarten Roundup where the parents have a better idea of what to expect during the school year and how to partner with the teacher.

There’s also a Meet the Teacher which was the perfect time for my kids to start building a relationship with their teacher.

Also, check with your neighborhood. Every year, the communities around me organize activities for kids for upcoming Kindergarteners. It gives kids the advantage of already having friends whenever school starts.

Have fun getting the school supplies

I understand that you already have a busy schedule and it’s not fun to add more things to it…yet, going around buying school supplies.

But, making it a fun experience is something that will help your child be excited about the new school year.

Most of the times, I go to the stores by myself to finish faster. But when it’s time to get their school supplies, I go with my daughters. I let them choose the colors, styles, and designs that they prefer.

Make a big deal

When my daughters started Kindergarten, I had fears as you probably have them too. I needed the reassurance that they would be okay in the new environment.

After all, starting school is not just a change for kids but parents too. That’s why it’s so important to keep a positive attitude towards the transition into Kindergarten.

If they see us sad, crying, or even annoyed by the change, that’s probably the reaction that they will adopt too.

Helpful Resources for You and Your Child

Game Board Ideas:

Candy Land Game: Princess Edition

Disney Theme Park Edition of Candy Land

Spiderman Chutes and Ladders

Activity Book Ideas:

Unicorn color by number

Boy’s First Color by Number

Rewards / Behavioral Chart Ideas:

Magnetic Reward Chart (Additional supplies included)

Magnetic Stars Reward Chart

Treasure Hunt Mini Reward Chart

Final Thoughts on Child’s Transition into Kindergarten

Not only have you learned how to help your child with the transition into Kindergarten but also, you’ve learned how to make it easier for them too!

Remember, identify the areas that need improvement. After that, I would suggest focusing on one area at a time. In that way, you can determine which strategies are working better.

Speaking about strategies, which one will you implement first? Or, if you have a tip not included above, share it with us! Either way, leave a comment below.

Has your child memorized the list of sight words for Kindergarten, yet?

As soon as your child starts Kindergarten, you will hear their teacher talk about sight words.

That’s because sight words help your child in different ways.

In this post, I will answer three common questions from moms:

• What are sight words
• Why are sight words important
• How do I teach my child sight words

I will share the same strategies that I use at home to help your child succeed.

Plus, the good news is that you don’t have to wait for the teacher.

If you are a mom who likes to be proactive, keep reading because I will give the exact list of sight words that my daughter got from her Kindergarten teacher so you can get a head start!

What are sight words?

Sight words are words that are frequently used in children’s books. Words like “out”, “where”, and “red” are some of many sight words included in the list for Kindergarten.

To give you an idea of how often they are used, it is said that sight words count for up to 75% of the text in children’s books. With that huge percentage, it’s easy to understand why it’s so important for you to practice with your child.

Ok, but how does it work?

It’s easy.

To work, your child needs to memorize the list of sight words. In that way whenever they are reading, they can immediately identify those words that they are already familiarized with.

These words are normally taught throughout the Kindergarten school year. But if your child is ready, you can practice before school starts. Since my daughter attended pre-K, I started teaching her when she was 4-year-old.

Why are sight words important?

It may not seem like a big deal but memorizing sight words is very important for young kids. It helps them to quickly recognize words while reading.

Here are a few benefits that I noticed after my toddler started learning her words, she:

• is more confident when reading
• reads better and faster
• feels even more motivated to read
• is more motivated to read on her own

My daughter has always loved books, but I have seen a bigger difference after she has been able to quickly recognize common words.

This post contains affiliate links. You can read my disclosure for more information.

How do I teach my child sight words?

There are different strategies to teach sight words to your child. Don’t get stuck on using only one. Feel free to use as many as you need to help your child succeed.

I use the first three strategies for every single word, but I always add the fourth strategy whenever my daughter is having a hard time memorizing one.

Here are four different strategies:

• Read the sight word

The teacher gives us cards with the words already printed on them. I have re-created the entire list of sight words to make it easier for you.

You can easily download the list, print them on cardstock, cut the words through the lines, and use them as flashcards. In the beginning, I wrote the words on index cards, and it worked perfectly fine for me too.

Also, make sure that your child reads frequently so he/she can start recognizing these words in the books.

Related article for kids: 20 Summer Books for Preschoolers

• Write the sight word

Writing the word is another good way to practice. When I practice with my daughter, it tells me if she really remembers how the word is spelled.  Your child can use one or more of the following tools:

– primary journal: I have one for my daughter and that helps her know how to write within the lines too. This journal is very similar to the one I have.

– dry erase board: this is something that you can keep reusing and kids love using them. There are different sizes available such as a portable board, tabletop easel, and a standing whiteboard.

– manuscript tablet: it works like the notebook, but the pages can be removed easily too. This is the manuscript tablet that I bought before but I found another option that gives you a lot more pages, 500 to be exact!

Quick tip for difficult sight words:

If my daughter doesn’t remember how to write the word correctly, I ask her to write it several times by using one of the following methods:

– the rainbow method: In this case, your child can write each sight word with a different color or write each letter of the word with a different color. You can use crayons, markers, pens, or colored pencils.

– the sizing method: I ask my daughter to write the same sight word five times but every time she writes it to make it bigger. Or you can do it vice versa, from bigger to smaller. In the end, it should look something like this:

• Spell the sight word

I use this strategy regularly because it’s easy to do and you can use it anywhere. I can practice with daughter in the car, while brushing her hair, before serving food, and so on.

It also makes her comfortable and gets her more used to spelling words, which is something that she will need in higher grades. For this strategy, grab your list of sight words or cards and ask your child to spell the word for you.

• Act silly

Acting silly always work with kids! Look for silly ways to make your child remember the sight words.

Since you know your child the best, try to apply the word to something related to their life. You can sing the word like Frozen, Baby Shark, or any other song that your child likes.

To give you an example, my little one had difficulty remembering how to spell the word eight. I taught her to sing it like the song Bingo and that was it. She was able to memorize it correctly!

The good thing about the Bingo song is that you can use it for pretty much any word with five letters such as funny, every, and there.

A quick tip to help your child memorize the words:

Throughout the years, different researches have shown the positive effects that moving while learning has on young kids. Keep this mind and encourage your child to move while memorizing the words. Some of my daughter’s favorites are playing with the hula hoop, jumping on one leg, singing, and dancing.

Additional tools to learn sight words in a fun way

As always, there are additional tools such that you can use to help your child learn sight words in a fun way.

Sight word games

1. Cute flies

2. Sight words pizza

3. Bingo

4. Zingo

Note: For this game in particular, you can see the pictures on the website. It has more than 1,000 reviews.

5. Pop for sight words

6. Activity book

Some sight word flash cards

• Pocket flashcards

• 5 Packs of flash cards (from Pre-K to third grade)

What are the basic sight words? (FREE list – instant download)

My daughter has been working on many sight words in Kindergarten but here are the first ten basic sight words that she got from school:

• me
• can
• a
• yellow
• red
• I
• go
• see
• the
• be

Click here to get the complete list (instant download)

100+ sight words kindergarten printable

Make sure to download the printable list for Kindergarten. Remember that it’s exactly the same list of sight words that my Kindergartener got from her school. Even though there could be a slight difference between schools, districts, or even states, most of the words included in this list are pretty much standard.

Submit the information below if you prefer for me to send the link to your email instead of getting the instant download.

Final Thoughts about the List of Sight Words

In summary, to help your child rock Kindergarten:

• Practice the list of sight words by following the strategies mentioned above
• Read often – experts recommend reading at least 20 minutes every day
• Have fun and add silliness to the learning process
• Have patience with your child. It may take some time, but they will get better over time

Now, it’s your turn

Have you used any other strategy not included in here? Share it with us by leaving a comment below!