Did you know that on this day in 1941, the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences copyrighted the Oscar statuette? That’s why on this Theme Thursday, we suggest celebrating your little superstar’s birthday with a movie star party! Here are some fun games and activities we found on bestkidsbirthdayparties.com that will make for a fun party that leaves every child feeling like a legend of the silver screen:

BACKSTAGE PASS

Draw up a list of the guests and write “VIP” at the top. As each guest arrives, formally scratch their names off and give them all-access backstage passes to the party! To design backstage passes, cut up pieces of bristol board about the size of an ID card. Write on the top: “[your child’s name here]’s Hollywood Party” and beneath “VIP [recipients name here] all-access backstage party pass.” Color in with party colors and sparkles. Punch a hole on either side and pull enough string or yarn through so it can dangle comfortably around the child’s neck. For extra glam, also hand out Black Gangster Hats, Disco Hats, and Colored Boas.

PAPARAZZI

Capture the magic of the event and add to the fun by having volunteer photographers (friends or other parents) pose as picture-taking paparazzi! Get lots of film so they’ll feel free to snap away! Create a photo backdrop with black bristol board against a wall, and encourage all the guests to stop by to have a “formal” picture taken. Guests will genuinely feel like celebrities with these camera-toting hounds on the loose!

ACADEMY AWARDS SCAVENGER HUNT

Set up an Academy Awards scavenger hunt for all the young stars! Prepare a list of items (microwave popcorn, pictures of famous movie stars cut out of magazines, a movie actor’s pretend autograph, and so on). Give a free movie rental coupon to the kid who finds the most!

Did you know that today is Orville Wright’s birthday? We suggest celebrating the birthday of one of the Wright Brothers by throwing an airplane party! Ehow.com has some fun suggestions for a party that will make sure your little pilot feels like he or she’s flying:

Invitations

Take a look at a plane ticket and model the birthday invitations accordingly. Include the “passenger’s” name, flight destination (party location), estimated time of arrival (date and time of party), and a message: “Thank you for flying with Birthday Airlines.” You can even include a note for the passengers to bring their tickets with them, and you can then collect them at the door as they “board” (arrive at the party).

Decorations

Enlist the help of your little airplane enthusiast to build some simple model airplanes for the party. Hang them from the ceiling with strings, and surround them with white helium balloons as clouds. You can even hide messages in the balloons and have the kids pop them open later to get their “fortunes.” Label one area of the room “Baggage Claim,” and have the kids deposit their coats or presents by the sign. Label another area “Departure Gate,” and have the goodie bags sitting there for when the kids leave.

Activities

Airplane contests can be fun, and you can judge based on appearance, performance or originality. Have the kids make and decorate their own model airplanes out of simple kits, or teach kids how to fold paper airplanes and let them experiment. You can have the birthday child be the judge of the contest.

The children can make their own pilot badges with pieces of soft foam, markers to write “Airplane Pilot,” feathers, and other art supplies. You or another adult can attach pin backings to the finished badges.

If you have a little one whose eyes light up every time someone mentions dump trucks, tool kits or Bob the Builder, then we have the perfect theme for him or her: a construction party!

We found some great ideas for party games on Amazingmoms.com to make your little builder-in-training’s birthday unforgettable! Take a look:

Build-It with Blocks: Children will use cardboard “brick” blocks to build a tower as high as they can within a designated period of time.

Construction Zone Obstacle Course: Set up an obstacle course with piles of dirt, tires, stepping stones, caution tape and any other safe items you can think of. To play, the children will go through the “Construction Zone” as fast as they can.

Dirt Mover: Provide each team or player with a kids-safe hand shovel, pail and a pile of dirt. Place the pail a reasonable distance from the pile of dirt. Each player will take a shovel of dirt from the pile to the bucket until the pail is full. This game can be played as a relay race with team players taking turns, or children will race against each other.

Before the party, make a big truck by painting a large cardboard box. Provide beanbags for the children to toss into the “dump truck.”

It’s summertime and we figure that a lot of you will be heading to the beach at some point! But what about those of us who won’t be able to make it down to the shore? Our suggestion for this Theme Thursday is to create your own seaside getaway by throwing an ocean-themed birthday party!

Amazingmoms.com has some great suggestions to make it feel like you’re celebrating under the sea. Take a look:

Decorations:

• Your guests will feel like scuba divers when they arrive at the under-the-sea adventure you’ve created. Hang several strips of party streamers vertically from the ceiling. Cut streamers in varying lengths and shades of blue. We use “sticky-tak” to avoid making holes in your ceiling.
• Add paper fish intermittently with the streamers.
• Cover the party table with a light blue or white sheet.
• Make a festive party centerpiece by attaching a bouquet of balloons to an ocean-themed toy, such as a heavy plastic whale. Add other plastic toys as well. Use butcher paper or poster board to decorate the front door with an underwater scene.
• For added effect, switch out some of your standard light bulbs to colored blue and/or green bulbs.

Party Games:

• Shark or Whale Tag: The birthday child begins as a “shark” in the middle of a large playing area. All other players are “fish,” who must try to run past the shark to the other side of the playing area. If a fish is tagged, he or she holds hands with shark to build a bigger shark and help tag more fish. The last fish left wins!
• Minnow, Minnow, Shark: Children will play this game just as they would “Duck, Duck, Goose.” Replace the fox player with a shark.
• Fishing for Treasure: Explain to the children that an old sunken ship is rumored to hold valuable treasure. Their job is to find clues that lead to the treasure, which is a box filled with their party bags. Before the party write and hide your clues. Attach the clues to items you would find on a ship… silverware, candlesticks, teacup, personal items, etc.

Go wild on this Theme Thursday and throw your child a jungle-themed birthday party! Transform your home into the tropics with these great party ideas that we found here on Epinions.com. Have a look:

Decorations:

• Use leafy green-colored helium balloons and scatter in small groupings of three and five (always decorate in odd numbered groupings, as it is more pleasing to the eye) around the room. This will help create a lush, green jungle effect. You can weigh these down with a rock wrapped in green tissue paper so that they can be placed on the floor or ground.
• Use green streamers on the ceiling to create the feeling of a canopy of leaves.
• Draw large leaves on green construction paper, poster board, or fun foam craft sheets. Cut them out and then tape to the streamers and onto the walls to further enhance this effect.
• Use real or silk green houseplants (borrow some if you don’t have enough) and make these part of your jungle decorations. Big leafy ones or rubber type trees would work best. Place in strategic groupings to recreate the feel and look of a “jungle.”
• Purchase raffia from a craft supply store. This is usually sold in long strands. Place the entire bunch down the center of the table like a table runner. This will create the effect of native jungle grass.

Jungle Party Games:

• Jungle Animal Freeze: There are no winners or losers in this game… just hilarious good times! Play music (something jungle- or animal-inspired like “I’m Being Eaten by a Boa Constrictor” or “Talk Like the Animals” would add a nice touch) and then instruct the children to jump up and down or dance to the music. Stop the music and then shout out a name of a jungle animal. The kids then have to stop and strike a pose like that animal!
• Animal Charades: Here’s another game with no winners or losers. Before the party, cut out pictures of animals from magazines or from a computer publishing program. Glue or tape them to small index cards. Place the cards in a bag or upside-down in a pile. When the game begins, each child takes a turn to pick a card (advise them not to show anyone else what’s on the card). They must then act out the animal that’s on the card without using words; animal noises and sounds are permitted. When the children guess the animal correctly, everyone jumps up and acts out their own version of that animal. Continue playing until each child has had a turn. This game is guaranteed to bring on peals of laughter and to burn up some excess energy!
• Pin-the-Spot/Stripe/Tail-on-the-Jungle Animal: Blow up a large image of a jungle animal (have your child choose their favorite) and then cut off a part of its body (this could be the tail, nose, a stripe or spot that has been blanked out to appear “missing”). Recopy the animal with the missing part onto a large poster-sized sheet of paper or card stock). Then make multiple copies of the missing part for the children to use as their game pieces (your local copy center can do this for you). Play the game just like Pin-the-tail-on-the-Donkey.
• Safari Animal Round-Up: Before the party begins, gather together as many stuffed animals as you can (borrow some from friends and family if you don’t have enough). Hide them throughout the party area. Make this more or less difficult according to the age of the children who will be in attendance. Send the safari hunters out to round up the wild animals. Whoever finds and captures the most animals wins!

We guarantee these ideas will make for a roaring good time!

Did you know that on July 24th, the first “flying saucers” were spotted? In 1947, pilot Kenneth Arnold was flying across Washington when he reported seeing strange “saucers skipping across the water”—hence the term, “flying saucers.”

In honor of Captain Arnold’s discovery, our suggestion for this Theme Thursday is to throw your child a Space Alien party! We found some ideas on Amazingmoms.com that we thought were “out of this world!”

Decorations:

• Black fabric hung from the walls and on the furniture will complete your outer space look.
• Hang glow-in-the-dark stars, planets and white twinkling lights from the ceiling with fishing line. Make the planets with paper, craft foam or, for 3-D planets, cover Styrofoam balls with fabric. Use stick pins to secure the fabric and fishing line.
• Hang re-writable CD’s from the ceiling to create a fun effect. It’s even better when you attach glow-in-the-dark stars to the CD’s
• Fill the ceiling with black helium balloons.

Party Games:

• Rocket Launch: Provide each guest with a kid-safe foam rocket slingshot. Using a permanent marker, write names on the rocket. The children will take turns launching their rockets. The farthest distance wins or everyone can receive a small prize. Plan to play this game more than once — the kids love it!
• Blast-Off ! (Similar to musical chairs): Use fabric or butcher paper to make a large but simple rocket or a giant planet. Place the rocket/planet on the floor. Play music while the kids dance, move and play around the room. When the music stops they all have to find a place on the rocket. Variation: Instead of making just one planet, make few smaller ones — this makes the game more fun!
• Asteroid Belt (Indoor Game): Before the party, inflate several balloons. When it’s time to play have the children form a circle. Toss the balloons or “asteroids” in the air and the children have to keep the asteroids from hitting the Earth. More than likely, the children will not stay in the circle…that’s just fine.
• Saturn’s Rings Toss: You’ll need a hula-hoop, beanbags, water balloons or balls. Mark an “X” with tape on the ground or floor. Have two helpers hold the hula-hoop a reasonable distance from the “X”. The players take turns trying to toss the beanbag planets through the ring.
• Galaxy Treasure Hunt: Use several balls with different shapes and colors to represent the planets and one large yellow ball for the sun. Write witty rhyme clues and attach them to each planet for example:
  

  “This planet had rings, but not made of gold.
  Explore near the driveway like an astronaut bold!” – Saturn

  Hide the planets and sun in different rooms or other challenging spots. The hunt should end with the Sun, where they’ll find their goody bags.

• Outer Space Crafts: Provide paper plates, egg cartons, TP tubes, pipe cleaners, construction paper, paint, markers, glue sticks, scissors and other miscellaneous craft materials. Place all of the items on a protected space and allow the children to build their own rockets, UFO’s or alien creatures.

Hosting a party like this is not “rocket science”—just remember to have fun and be creative!

Our suggestion for this theme Thursday is to throw a barnyard-style birthday party! We were looking around online for how to celebrate in authentic farming style when we came across some fantastic ideas on Birthdayinabox.com

Some of these ideas will surely have your guests thinking that they’ve stumbled into Old Macdonald’s farm!

Check out these fun decorating tips:

-    Cover your tables with red-checkered tablecloths, and use small terra cotta plant pots lined with a bandana to hold the cutlery.
-    If your child has a toy red barn, use it as the table centerpiece
-    If they’re available, decorate with cornstalks or bales of hay. Use bales of hay for extra seating as well
-    Tie red bandanas around each guest’s neck as they arrive.
-    Draw large pigs, sheep, and cows onto poster board, and attach to wooden stakes. Press the stakes into the ground, or attach them to the walls around the party space.
-    Set out a little red wagon (or several if you can borrow some from friends) and fill it with hay. Ask a parent or two to pull the children around on “hay rides.”
-    Create a “Pig Pen” using pink balloons. Draw faces for the pigs using a black marker, and attach pink curly ribbon for the tails. Place the balloon pigs inside a playpen and let your guests play freely with them during the party.

In honor of Shrek Forever After still holding the number one spot at the Box Office, I thought I’d give you the inside scoop on throwing a fantastic Shrek party! Why not let the kids celebrate ogre-style on their next birthday?

I found some great party ideas at Amazingmoms.com. Here’s a few that I found particularly fun:

Have fun at your Shrek party and don’t forget to get your ogre on!

There are tons of party ideas out there that are fun and unique ways to celebrate a birthday, but it’s harder to find a theme that truly celebrates the life of the honored guest.

So today I’m passing along a great idea for an adult birthday party! It’s called the “This is Your Life” party and I have stretcher.com to thank!

This Is Your Life
Instead of having an “over the hill” party, I suggest having a “this is your life party.”

Along with the invitation ask your guests to return a questionnaire in which you have asked some variation of the following:

1.     My favorite thing about Fred (use guest of honors name) is ______________.
2.     The funniest thing I ever saw Fred do was when he _________________.
3.     The happiest I ever saw Fred was when he____________________.
4.     The dumbest thing I ever saw Fred do was____________________.
5.     Fred drives me crazy when he _______________.
6.     My most memorable moment with Fred was ____________________.
7.     List five words that describe Fred.

You may to make up your own questions or add to these. You may also want to ask the party guests to share a favorite photo of or story about the guest of honor. The hardest part is deciding how to share this information with guests. You may want to have them put these answers on video, have a slide show, have the party guests read the stories or quips out loud, or invite several special people to tell their stories. If you feel awkward acting as an MC, then ask a good friend or minister to do it for you. Make sure you allow yourself plenty of time for planning.

The best part of a party like this is that everyone can participate – children, grandchildren, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, old friends, new friends and spouses. You can also put the answers, stories, and photos in a scrapbook for the guest of honor to keep.

You will have some laughs and you may even shed a tear or two, because memories are a truly special gift which make getting older worth it.

Happy Thursday, everyone! I just found a great addition to our weekly Theme Thursday posts – airplane party!

I never thought about it before (thanks to the good people at momswhothink.com who did) but an airplane party is a great way to help you little one celebrate his/her big day!

Check it out!

Airplane Party Theme – The Airport:

Use any toy airplanes you already own as table toppers, or group them together to form a centerpiece. If you have a toy airport, you can use that as well.

Make large paper airplanes, and hang them from the ceiling. To make clouds tie together eight white balloons and hanging them from the ceiling as well.

Make a baggage claim sign for the closet or gift table.

Make airport signs that say ‘Passengers only,’ ‘This way to baggage claim’, ‘Customs’, and ‘Crew only.’

Make a banner that says ‘Welcome to (your child’s name) Airport,’ and hang it on the front door.

Airplane Party Theme – In flight food service (chicken or beef?):

Hold silverware together with paper luggage tags.

Make airplane shaped place cards for the table.

Fill baskets with mini bags of treats like peanuts, pretzels and trail mix.

Make airplane shaped sandwiches by using an airplane shaped cookie cutter to cut them out.

Make edible airplanes. Cut a banana in half lengthwise. Place one half; cut side up, on a plate. Spread with peanut butter. Place a whole graham cracker in place for each wing, and use a quarter rectangle for the horizontal part of the tail. Put the other banana half on top. Cut a slit at the tail end of the top half, and put a rudder piece in place to finish the tail. Stick on raisin windows with little dollops of peanut butter.

To make an airplane runway cake, bake a 9” x 13” cake. Frost all but the very top corner of the cake with white frosting. Tint the remaining frosting sky blue, and use it to frost the top corner. Make a runway across the cake using crushed chocolate cookies, or chocolate sprinkles. Use green sugar on either side to make the grass. Put a toy airplane on the runway. Use whipped cream to make clouds on the sky blue portion of the cake. Place another toy airplane on the clouds.

Instead of a cake, you can make cupcakes, and frost them with icing you’ve tinted sky blue. Put a new, clean toy airplane on each.