Toy Story Birthday Party: A Step-By-Step Plan, Character Games And A DIY Andy's Room

A Toy Story party is easy to imagine and hard to time. Most of them run out of steam forty minutes in, when the food is gone, the games have finished and there's still an hour of parents standing in the kitchen.

This is the plan that fixes that: what to do six weeks out, what to do on the morning, a running order for the two hours, a game built around each character, and a DIY Andy's room made from things in the house.

We don't make or sell toys or licensed Disney merchandise. We design and print kids' birthday cards, pin badges and party decorations in the UK - bunting and banners, balloons, table confetti, cake toppers and party bag fillers - and those are what we've linked here.

Six weeks to the party: the countdown

• Six weeks out: pick the date, the time and the number of children. Two hours and one child per year of age plus a couple is the sane version.
• Five weeks out: book the hall or clear the room, and decide indoor or garden with a wet-weather answer ready.
• Four weeks out: send invitations and ask for allergies and dietary needs in the same message.
• Three weeks out: order decorations, cake topper, card and party bag fillers in one go so it arrives together. Shop this card
• Two weeks out: write the running order on paper and work out who's helping. You need one adult per five children, minimum.
• One week out: order or bake the cake, buy the non-perishables, chase anyone who hasn't replied.
• Two days out: charge the speaker, buy the perishables, fill the party bags in front of the telly.
• Morning of: decorate, lay the food out covered, put the music on before anyone arrives.

The two-hour running order

• 0-15 minutes: arrivals. Stickers or badges handed out at the door, colouring sheets on a table, music on. Nothing organised - late arrivals are guaranteed.
• 15-45 minutes: the big-energy games while everyone is fresh. Andy's Coming, Buzz's rocket race, Woody says.
• 45-60 minutes: food, seated, with the noise down and the music quieter.
• 60-70 minutes: cake, candles, singing, photographs. Do it before the youngest ones tire.
• 70-100 minutes: the calmer games - pass the parcel, the claw machine, the toy hunt.
• 100-115 minutes: free play with the music back up, while a grown-up lines up party bags by the door.
• 115-120 minutes: bags out, coats on, thank yous. End on time. Parties that overrun end badly.
• Keep one spare game in your pocket for the moment something finishes early, because something will.

One game per character

• Andy's Coming - the classic. Someone shouts it and every child drops flat and goes still. Last one moving is out, or just play it with no elimination for the little ones.
• Buzz's rocket race - cardboard wings on, a relay from one end to the other. Falling with style optional.
• Woody says - Simon says with a cowboy hat on. Sit-outs get a sticker so nobody sulks.
• Jessie's yodelling contest - loudest yodel wins. Chaos, twenty seconds long, and they'll ask to do it three more times.
• Rex's roar and freeze - dance while the music plays, freeze and roar when it stops.
• Hamm's coin drop - drop coins into a jar from chin height. Good for the ones who need a quiet minute.
• The Claw - a bran tub of small prizes. One dip each, no negotiating, and yes, someone will do the voice.
• Slinky's tunnel - a crawling relay under chairs or through a pop-up tunnel if you own one.
• Toy hunt - hide ten small figures around the room and give each child a number to find, so it's not a free-for-all.
• Pass the parcel with a small prize in every other layer for a room full of under-sixes.

The DIY Andy's room, made from things you own

• The wall: a blue sheet or duvet cover pinned up, with white paper clouds cut freehand and stuck on. That single backdrop does more than anything else in the room.
• The wardrobe door: a strip of brown paper and a paper doorknob, so the corner reads as a bedroom.
• The toy box: any storage box with ANDY written on the side in thick marker, filled with the child's own toys for free play.
• The floor: a rug or picnic blanket as the play area, with a strip of tape as the edge of the bed.
• The bed: the sofa, with a cowboy-print throw or a plain red blanket over it.
• The name: ANDY written in letters on the soles of two trainers by the door - the detail the parents will notice.
• The table: cloud paper as a table runner, table confetti scattered over it, balloons in red, blue, yellow and green at the corners. Shop this card
• The cake table: bunting behind it, a cake topper in the middle, and one clear space for photographs. Shop this card
• The pull-string sign: a card sign saying "Reach for the sky" over the doorway.
• Total cost if you already own a blue sheet: the price of a pack of card, and about an hour.

Food, cake and party bags

• Food kids actually eat: sandwiches cut small, sausages, cucumber, crisps, grapes, and one hot thing if you have an oven.
• Name the plates after characters on a card label - alien jelly, Rex's dinosaur claws, Hamm's pigs in blankets. It costs nothing and they love it.
• One drink option plus water. Two options doubles the spillage.
• Cake: a plain buttercream cake with a topper beats a complicated one that cracks in the car. Shop this card
• Party bags: a pin badge, a sticker, a small sweet and a slice of cake. Four things, done.
• Write each child's name on their bag so the door handover takes two minutes instead of ten.
• Keep a spare bag or two for the sibling who came along.

Shop party supplies

How to write it so it lands

• Write the running order on paper and stick it to a cupboard door. Nobody remembers a plan that lives on a phone.
• Have one spare game ready for the gap that always appears.
• Do the cake before the youngest child tires, not at the end.
• Fill the party bags two days early. It's the job that always overruns.

Where to shop next

• Toy Story party ideas
• The best toys for 4 year olds
• Toy Story bedroom ideas
• Pass the parcel prize ideas
• Gifts for 3 year old girls
• The best Disney toys in the UK
• Toy Story gifts for kids
• Shop kids' birthday cards
• Shop party supplies
• Shop party bag fillers
• Shop cake toppers
• Shop bunting and banners
• Shop table confetti
• Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
• Birthday badges & party pins
• How to make a balloon arch
• Photo booth prop ideas
• Party bag ideas for adults
• How much helium do you need for balloons?
• Birthday cards for kids
• Thank you cards
• Thank you cards guide
• Pin badges
• All guides

Frequently asked questions

How long should a Toy Story birthday party be?

Two hours. Fifteen minutes of arrivals, thirty minutes of big games, food at forty-five minutes, cake at an hour, calmer games after, then bags at the door bang on time.

What games can you play at a Toy Story party?

Andy's Coming (everyone drops flat), Buzz's rocket relay, Woody says, Jessie's yodelling contest, Rex's roar and freeze, Hamm's coin drop, The Claw bran tub, a Slinky crawling relay and a hidden toy hunt.

How do you make Andy's room for a Toy Story party?

Pin up a blue sheet and stick freehand paper clouds on it, add a brown paper wardrobe door, write ANDY on a storage box, throw a red blanket over the sofa as the bed, and write ANDY on the soles of two trainers by the door.

How many children should you invite to a Toy Story party?

A common rule is the child's age plus one or two, with one adult helping per five children. Bigger groups need a hall and a tighter running order.

What goes in a Toy Story party bag?

Keep it to four things: a pin badge, a sticker, a small sweet and a slice of cake, with each child's name written on the bag so the handover at the door is quick.

Do you sell Toy Story party decorations?

Not licensed ones - we don't make or sell Disney merchandise. We print our own bunting and banners, balloons, table confetti, cake toppers, party bag fillers and kids' birthday cards in the UK, and they sit happily alongside a Toy Story theme.

Do you sell toys or Disney merchandise?

No. We design and print kids' birthday cards, enamel pin badges and party decorations - bunting and banners, balloons, table confetti, cake toppers and party bag fillers - all posted from the UK. Any toy we mention is an outside recommendation, not something we stock.