Pancakes and Pajamas Birthday Party

January 17, 2025

Pancakes and Pajamas 3rd Birthday Party

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While I’m in the season of caring for a toddler and infant, I wanted a simpler planning experience for our toddler’s 3rd birthday. I took a look at her food interests and pancakes came to mind right away especially since she loves having breakfast for dinner on Thursday nights. In addition to pancakes, pajamas are the next best thing. So, without a doubt, Pancakes and Pajamas became the theme and it was fabulous. I received so many compliments from other parents on how they loved being able to show up as a family in their pajamas or cozy apparel. If your little one loves pancakes or you desperately need simple fun party ideas, this blog post is for you.

Invitation

My husband and I designed this invitation together. If you would like a copy to edit, reach out to me over on my instagram. We planned the party to start at 10:30 for it to end in time for parents to go home for afternoon nap time.

‘Pancake’ Cake

This cake was time consuming in the evening, but it was all worth it. For time reference, I baked it late on a Thursday night and the party was on a Saturday morning. I used three 8 inch round pans and purchased 2 of the Pillsbury Funfetti Cake mix with candy bits. Rotating through three pans allowed me to keep baking while one or two pans were cooling. With the two boxes, I was able to make 12 ‘pancake’ layers, but ended up using 10 out of those 12 layers. 10 layers was a great height and enough to serve 27 with leftovers.

I followed the cake mix directions and poured enough to cover the bottom of an 8 inch round pan. The goal is to make it look like a pancake, so it’s okay if one layer is thin and another is fatter. I used 1 and ½ of a 2/4 measuring cup to pour the batter. Then, I set a timer for half of the time it says on the box and kept an eye on them for any golden brown color.

Pancake Cake

2 Boxed Pillsbury Funfetti Cake Mixes, follow directions on box

8-9" round pans (we used disposable pie pans)

Parchment paper and/or spray

2/4 measuring cup to add batter

Frosting

5 sticks of softened butter

6 cups confectioners sugar

3 tbsp milk

2 tbsp vanilla (I always eye this)

Sprinkles

You may need to adjust it based on how much you are using.

On the day of the party, I applied the frosting in between the layers. When that was completed,I put the leftover frosting in a ziplock bag and cut the tip to add the ‘whipped cream’ on top of the cake. If you don’t want to make the frosting, you could get away with purchasing the whipped cream frosting at the store. I skipped adding a ‘syrup’ glaze because I didn’t have the time to do it and I thought it looked great without it.

Activities

Pancake Decorating, Table Coloring, books and free play

Pancake Decorating Supplies

Small Pancakes

6 inch Lollipop sticks

Cool whip

Sprinkles

I am a huge fan of adding structured activities to a party in addition to free play. Pancake decorating was a hit. The kids loved decorating and eating them.

Here is how to do it!

Before flipping pancakes, place a 6 inch lollipop stick just above the middle of the pancake batter. The stick helps kids be able to grab the pancake while decorating and eat it in a fun way too. In little cups, I added cool whip and sprinkles. I chose cool whip because it has very little sugar in it and kids need to save the sugar intake for the cake. (: Each cup had a kid’s spatula type spoon to spread the cool whip on the pancakes. The last step is for them to decorate. Another idea is to create colored cool whip by adding food coloring. I absolutely love these trays from IKEA. I use them for so many things

Table Coloring Supplies

18” X 175” white kraft paper

Crayons

I ordered 18” X 175” white kraft paper and taped it to our table for the kids to color. My husband wrote Pancakes and Pajamas in bubble letters and used our daughter’s pajamas as a guide to draw pancakes, coffee mugs, fruit, etc. I also used this white kraft paper to label the food on our countertops. For $17, you get a party activity, decor, and coloring activities for months.

What’s your Pancake Name?

I planned to have this for the adults and kids, but our printer wasn’t working. Of course, it appeared in our printer after the party. You can put it in a clear frame and print the name tags on sticker paper. I’m sure everybody will love it! I'm thinking ahead for my son's first birthday. I'm thinking milk and cookies. It would be fun to have a cookie version of this.

Pancake Name Etsy Link

Themed Books

I gathered birthday and pancake themed books around our house and went to the library to check out more. Here is a link to the collection I came up with for the party and month of the party.

Food + Drinks

Food

Pancakes

Fruit

Build your own Yogurt Parfait

Breakfast in a Blanket

For breakfast in a blanket, I cooked sausages the night before and wrapped them in crescent rolls in the morning. I followed the directions on the crescent roll packaging for baking. After baking, they were topped off with butter and cinnamon. As mentioned earlier in this post, I used white Kraft paper on the countertops to label the food.

Drinks

chocolate milk, white milk , orange juice, water and coffee

I purchased these glass pitchers from IKEA to use for this party and future parties. They are very good quality for $5 each.

Pajama Apparel

What my infant wore

What the birthday girl wore

What mama wore

My husband wore a cozy shirt and shorts (even though it’s winter, he loved being able to wear shorts to a party!)

Favors

Favor supplies

A variety of mini cereal boxes

IKEA spoons and IKEA bowls

Gift bags

These were simple favors that matched the theme to put together with my daughter. She loved putting the items in the bags. She especially loved the leftover cereal boxes.

I hope you found these ideas to be helpful with your planning. As always, plan within your means and have fun! Blessings to you and your family!

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