Giant Panda Party with Unique Homemade Yin Yang Birthday Cake

Yin Yang cake for Kayden's 5th. March 2004.

Yin Yang Cake Instructions

Bake 2 cakes - one white, one chocolate. Switch layers, with chocolate on the bottom and white on the top. To create the curve of the yin yang design, fold up a 15" long piece of aluminum foil (Reynold's Release foil works great for this) until it is only about 1" high to create a 15" x 1" piece of stiff aluminum that will hold its shape. Print out the Yin Yang pattern here: Yin Yang Cake Pattern. Grease aluminum strip, then bend to fit pattern. Lay on top of cake. Frost one side with white frosting, the other with dark chocolate, pushing it right up to foil pattern. When done, remove foil, then gently push frosting together along seam line. For dots, use black and white M&Ms or mints. I used the York mints and just frosted the top of one with white.

Panda Pinata

I created a giant panda pinata from a lion pinata that I bought at a local Mexican grocery store. (They usually have an extensive choice of pinatas from which to work.) Starting with packages of black and white tissue, I sliced folded lengths of tissue paper using my fringe template from my sewing supplies. I glued these on with glue stick and then added black construction paper eyes, mouth and nose.

Decorations

On the invitations, we asked all the kids to wear black and white clothing to the party which really added to the atmosphere. We found a black and white zebra print plastic table cloth and plastic utensils to set the stage. Next we created yin yang party plates. Start with two packages of white plates and one package of black party plates (depending upon amount needed - you'll only need half as many black plates). Cut the black plates in the "S" curve of the yin yang pattern, then overlap one half onto a white plate and glue in place. Finish them out with white and black adhesive label dots. We bought white label dots and colored them in the yin yang pattern and placed a couple on every paper cup. We asked a friend to bring some bamboo cuttings from their yard to place in the corners of the room, added black and white streamers and pulled out all the stuffed panda animals that we had to complete the decor. For goody bags we assembled cellophane bags of black and white jelly beans tied off with black and white curling ribbons, and tucked these inside zebra striped purses along with an animal print bandanna (both available from Oriental Trading.)

Treasure Hunt Game

This is a very popular activity. We had a treasure hunt with black and white animal pictures (zebras, cats, dogs, skunks, tigers, etc., and of course lots of pandas). Download images or photos (there are many good free clip art sites) of the animals and print both a small clue-sized version of each one you plan to use in addition to a large one. Fold up a small clue and tape it behind the next large picture. Tape up the large pictures around the house and yard. (Be sure to add false clues so they can't skip ahead.) I recommend writing down the clue list and numbering each one so you are sure to keep them in the right order. Set aside the starting small clue to give them at the start of the game. The prise at the end consisted of inexpensive stuffed panda beanie baby-like toys that we'd found. (The dryer is a always a good hiding place for the treasure.) The kid's even enjoyed re-hiding the clues afterward for more fun on their own.

Not available for purchase