Let’s Go Bananas Birthday Party! Ideas and food for a birthday party theme that’s all about bananas. Why bananas? The birthday boy asked for it!
I don’t know how it happened, but my youngest son, Ryan, is 3 today! I know every mom will say it, but it seems like just yesterday when he was born and I remember it just as well.
Ryan gave us quite a scare from the start, and I ended up in an emergency cesarean with him.
Anyway, as we started getting close to Ryan’s birthday party, we had a conversation about his party that went something like this:
Me: Ryan, what do you want to do for your third birthday party?
Ryan: I want…… a banana party!
Me: Ummm…. what?
Ryan: I want a banana party!
Me: A banana party? You want a banana party?
Ryan: Yes
I was shocked. I thought, for sure, we would be having a PJ Masks birthday party because they are obsessed. Nope, banana party. A few days later, I asked again, just to make sure. And he again was adamant about having a banana party.
Just recently, Justin said this came about because the boys were talking in the playroom and lately, Tyler likes to say random words like toothbrush, lemon, and, you guessed it, banana. When I asked about the party, banana was what he had in mind, and he went with it. So, now I am going with it.
So what do we do for a banana party? He said no to monkeys, and he doesn’t even know what Bananas in Pajamas is. I started trying to look for ideas online and there isn’t much to go with for a banana party.
Originally Published On: March 20, 2018
Last Updated On: April 16, 2020
Invitations
When I started making the invitations, I was lost. I had no inspiration for them, and all I could find online were either bananas and monkeys or bananas in pajamas and Ryan vetoed those. Justin looked on Creative Market for ideas and found these adorable fruit and vegetable graphics that we bought and went from there.
Bananas Birthday Party Food
Since we are doing the banana theme, I decided to go with a bunch of yellow decorations. Of course, we had fresh bananas out to eat and made a lot of foods with bananas in them. Since we paid for the graphics, we went ahead and used them to make cute little signs for the food, too.
Over the next week or two, I will be posting all the recipes that I used for the banana party, and I will update this post as I go with those.
Our food list included:
Timeline
For the banana party, we had to plan ahead on how many bananas we would need for the recipes, and which needed them to be overripe. I bought one bundle of bananas a week before the party so they would have time to overripen before I needed to cook with them. The cake and bread both used three bananas each, so I made sure to leave 6 on the bundle for the party and told everyone in the house that they couldn’t eat them!
The rest of the food was purchased the day before the party to make sure it would all be fresh. Everything else we made required fresh bananas, and I wanted to make sure the angel food cake for the kabobs was also fresh.
My timeline for cooking/baking to be ready for the party:
8 am: Mix and bake the banana cake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours (depends on the size of pans)
9:30 am: Mix the banana bread and start baking as soon as the cake comes out of the oven
10 am: Make banana pudding and refrigerate until the party
11 am: Take a shower and grab some lunch
12 pm: Cut up watermelon and cut angel food cake into chunks
12:30 pm: Frost and decorate the cake
1 pm: Make banana creme puppy chow
1:30 pm: Make fruit kabobs
1:50 pm: Lay out all of the food, dishes, utensils, cups, drinks, etc. and get ready to go bananas!
Our happy little man got a bike for his birthday! We gave it to him the day of the party because he has school today and we wanted him to have a chance to ride it.
Other Banana Recipes
- Banana Bread
- Strawberry Banana Smoothie: McDonald’s Copycat
- Banana Cake with Glaze
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Banana Bread Pancakes
- Dreamsicle Protein Smoothie
- Bananas Foster Sticky Buns
- Banana Cream Puppy Chow
- Elegant and Creamy Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Banana Cream Cheesecake
- French Vanilla Banana Pudding with Nilla Wafers
- Banana Muffins with Streusel and Icing
- Chocolate Banana Milkshake
- Banana Bread Cheesecake
- Banana Bread Bars
- Frozen Fruit Cups: The Perfect Summer Treat
YAY FOR THE BANANA PARTY!! My husband would SOOOOOOO want to be a part of this party! LOL! He loves the bananas and I actually made him a banana cream pie last week for his birthday but your banana cake looks FAR superior to what I made, LOL! Happy Birthday to Ryan!!
Now this is a fun idea. Everyone loves bananas. So many great recipes. Love look of that cake.
I LOVE this!!! Plus if my child wanted a whole fruit or something else nutritious I would be so thrilled. I like bananas to and to have a variety of banana items is really fun. I might have thrown around a few random monkeys.
I absolutely love how adorable 3 year-olds are and what a creative party planning job you did!! Thank you for sharing not only the yummy banana recipes (I LOVE banana-anything) but the time table of how you put it all together. That’s one party detail that’s not always given. Happy Birthday to your son!
What a cute theme. I styled a Monkey/Banana party for my daughter when she turned 3 too, because she loved them so much!!
Aww this is an absolutely super adorable and cute birthday party theme!!! I love seeing all of the adorable photographs!!
Oh gosh Ryan is so adorable! A banana party is such a great idea. Everything looks so bright and delicious.
That’s a brilliant party idea! So cute and different <3
You are such a great mom!!! I bet he was over excited and you pulled it all off so well!!! Good job!!!
Looks like you did an amazing job with everything. I wouldn’t have thought to do a fruit themed party but it looks like such a lot of fun.
During our child’s birthday, we would just say that it seems like yesterday. What a unique birthday party. I’m sure your son was very happy!
Oh my gosh, I love bananas. This is such a cute theme!
Oh yum. What a creative party theme. The banana bread looks delicious!
This is an adorable idea, I love the concept of centering a party around a favorite food rather than a cartoon character or movie. The best part is that you could make each dish homemade! Congrats to him on his adorable new bike.
Banana cake, ok I have never tried that but yes , sure banana pudding is the best and i really liked your recipe. Thanks for sharing!
This is such a great idea. Im so excited to try a banana themed party
Banana birthday party! Wow. For the first time I listened about them. I am also thinking of organizing a birthday party on my sister’s upcoming birthday. The article was lovely
Yyyyaaaayyyyyyyyy! This is a great birthday party to have. Bananas are my good friends. I must definitely try this out.