Overview

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  A small collection of short, round personality-heavy characters called the Mr. Men and Little Miss crowd were created in 1971, when artist and author Roger Hargreaves created Mr. Tickle. Hargreaves went on to create a total of 43 Mr. Men books and began the Little Miss series in 1981, with a total of 30 Little Miss books. Each Little Miss character’s colorful design and strong characteristics, such as Little Miss Bossy and Little Miss Trouble, lend themselves well to inspiration for your next birthday party.
  
  

Make Your Own Miss

• Artist Roger Hargreaves never created a Little Miss Birthday character, despite others such as Little Miss Late, Little Miss Chatterbox and Little Miss Splendid. Combine a birthday celebration with an art competition by getting your party guests to design their own Little Miss Birthday. Print out colorful pictures of the other Little Miss characters for inspiration, but let partygoers design the body shape, hair style, shoes and facial expression for their characters. Offer Little Miss prizes such as pencils or figurines for categories such as cutest, most realistic, best birthday theme and most Little Miss-like.
  
  

Little Miss Hungry

• Guests at a birthday party know they’ll be rewarded near the end of the event with a tasty birthday cake treat. Keep with the theme of the Little Miss party by creating a Little Miss birthday cake. Choose your favorite Little Miss character (ones with round bodies such as Little Miss Sunshine and Little Miss Bossy) save you time since you can bake with a round cake pan. Combine food coloring and vanilla icing to match the character’s color and pipe black frosting for the character’s hair and facial features. More experienced bakers can create intricate cakes, such as the Little Miss Twins (two characters); Little Miss Busy (who has glasses); Little Miss Tidy (who has a clean up bag; and Little Miss Somersault, who has long, noodlelike legs and arms.
  
  

Cool Colors

• The short, squat bodies of the Little Miss characters make them ideal for letting your party guests express themselves with a coloring competition. Print out Little Miss coloring pages from websites such as DLTK’s Growing Together, which offers Little Miss Bossy, Shy, Stubborn, Helpful, Naughty and Curious, or draw your own with a couple of quick sketches and a thick black marker. Although each Little Miss has her own color (Little Miss Sunshine, for example, is yellow), encourage guests to get as creative as they like, using crayons, markers and paint. Coloring pages serve as an extra take-home memento at the end of the party.