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Posts Tagged ‘kids birthday party’

Throw a Robin Hood Birthday Party!

Posted by Katie on May 15, 2010 in General

robin-hood1If you’ve watched any TV lately, you’ve likely seen previews for the new Robin Hood movie starring Russell Crowe — and while the movie may not be appropriate for kids of all ages, a Robin Hood-themed birthday most certainly is!

I got the idea from the amazing Peppers and Pollywogs. Check it out!

Robin Hood Party Invitation:

Invite the kids to the party with thin parchment paper that is rolled into a scroll and tied with a ribbon. Inside provide all of the party details, and attach a feather for added festivity.

Robin Hood Party Decorations:

This is a great party to have in the spring time when the action can take place outdoors either in your backyard, a woodsy area or a park. Use colors like green, brown, and rustic yellows for balloons, streamers, and table ware. Place banners around the party area and make up a “family crest” to place at the front entrance to the party. Spread chocolate coins around the party table as festive confetti.

Robin Hood Party Games/Activities:

  • Have an archery contest, using the Nerf bow and arrow is a good idea.
  • Play Tug o’ War.
  • Have a “helper” dress up as a “gypsy” and tell the kids’ their fortunes.
  • Enjoy Tax Collecting. Divide the kids into two teams, one group are soldiers and the other group includes Robin Hood and his gang. Hide coins all over the party area that are ready for collecting. Robin Hood’s gang tries to find them before the soldiers. Have the hunt and see who collects the most taxes!
  • Play Take the Taxes. Make up small loot bags with chocolate coins inside. Blindfold one kid, who becomes the “Sleeping Sheriff of Nottingham” and sits on a chair in the middle of the room with the “taxes” which he is defending in his flap. The other kids line up. On the signal, “GO”, they must attempt to pick up the taxes without being caught. The sleeping Sheriff catches those who have made noise by pointing at them. A kid pointed to must start over from beginning.
  • Tagged by the Sheriff of Nottingham. Designate one kid to be the Sheriff. When he tags someone, he becomes one of the Sheriff’s men and seeks to tag others as well. Play the game until everyone has joined the Sheriff!

Tip Tuesday: Make Balloon Animals!

Posted by Katie on May 11, 2010 in General

Balloon dogThere are some things that always make a birthday party better: a killer theme, a great activity, generous goody bags, and balloon animals!

Yes, balloon animals are always an instant hit and they aren’t that difficult to assemble! Trust me, if I can do it, anyone can!

Check out the video below to learn how to make a balloon dog. Once you get the dog down, the rest of the animals are a piece of cake :)

Tip Tuesday: Bowling Party!

Posted by Katie on March 30, 2010 in Tip Tuesday

bowling-lane-cake-recipe-photo-420-FF0304BOWLA09Spring weather can be tricky! You know what they say — “April showers bring May flowers.”

Well if you are planning a birthday party and don’t want to worry about the weather, consider a bowling party!

I went to familyfun.go.com to pick up some tips on how to throw the best bowling party possible!

THE HIGHLY HIP T-SHIRT PARTY FAVOR – Download directions and templates for making customized T-shirts using your computer and specialty printing paper.

THE FUNKY CD SLEEVE INVITATION - This snazzy invite is a cinch to make: the envelope is a paper CD sleeve, the kind with the round cellophane window (sold for about 15 cents each at office supply stores). The bowling ball is a circle (4 3/4 inches in diameter) of black card stock, addressed and decorated with a white gel pen. (Note: due to the envelope’s irregular size, you’ll have to pay slightly more postage and write your return address on the back.)

WILD AND CRAZY PARTY GAMES – Even your most dedicated bowlers love thinking outside the frame. Just watch the party’s fun level rise when the guests draw from a hat of outlandish bowling directives. Before the party, brainstorm ideas and write each on a piece of paper shaped like a bowling pin (see above).

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

  • Bowl backward
  • Do a silly walk as you approach the lane
  • Bowl in slow motion
  • Bowl pretending that one of the boards in the lane’s wood floor is a tightrope
  • Before you bowl, predict whether you will knock over an odd or even number of pins
  • For younger kids, consider trying the following. Between the time you release the bowling ball and the time it hits the pins: speed-sing as much of a song as possible; spell out loud the birthday child’s name backward; call out as many pizza toppings/ice-cream flavors/kinds of candy as you can think of. Each bowler should then try to top the record.

Tip: Is there an arcade at your bowling alley? Then bring a big stack of quarters for your guests.

A BOWLING LANE CAKE – This clever cake will send your little bowlers into seventh-frame heaven.

Theme Thursday: A Party from a Galaxy Far Far Away!

Posted by Katie on March 11, 2010 in General

48097018_1Do you have a hard time pulling your little guys away from The Empire Strikes Back orThe Clone Wars?

Why not embrace their love of Jedis and lightsabers and throw them a Star Wars birthday party? I went to amazingmoms.com to learn a few tips of the trade!

PLANNING YOUR STAR WARS PARTY
You don’t need the powers of “the force” to host a memorable party, but time planning and the ideas in this guide will help. If possible, 4-6 weeks is the perfect no-stress time line. Begin with Star Wars party supplies. Then, use this birthday guide to prepare your Star Wars party games and activities.

Star Wars Partyware from Birthday In a Box

Build a Star Wars party box with everything you need for a fabulous party or purchase a la carte items.

STAR WARS PARTY GAMES AND ACTIVITIES
Star Wars Badges:
Get your guests in the spirit of the latest Star Wars saga with this fun craft project. Before the party, cut out badges from construction paper. Provide the kids with Star Wars stickers, extra paper, glue, scissors, glitter, markers, crayons, magazine pictures, etc., and encourage creative expression. During the party, hand out extra badges as favors while playing games. When giving out the badges, honor the kids with special awards, i.e., Best Yoda Impression, Best Team Player, Most Infectious Giggle, or Biggest Smile.

Asteroid Hunt:
Purchase small treats or gifts and wrap them in aluminum foil. Hide them in a sandbox, around the house or in the yard. At the party, let the children dig in the sand, or search throughout your “planet” to find their “moon rocks.” The kids will love the excitement of opening their rocks and finding treasures!

Light Saber Training Course:
Before the party make some light sabers with foam pipe insulation or skinny swimming “noodles”. Wrap 4-6 inches from the end with colored electrical tape to make a handle. One red, one black, blue etc. To play, divide the kids into teams to go through a challenge course. Each team will get one “Light Saber”. Create tasks for each potential Jedi to accomplish (not too hard) with the light saber in hand. For example: Hit ping pong balls with the light saber, crawl under a chair tunnel, go down a slide, roll under a tarp, pop bubbles with the light saber — you get the idea.

Alien Face Painting:
Purchase a set of face paints and give each guest a unique alien “look.” Let each child make up an alien name for himself or create a few of your own and let the kids draw names randomly. Use movie names or your own, such as “Zork,” “Murblap,” or “Gondar.”

STAR WARS PARTY FAVORS
Make your own party favors by filling plastic party cups decorated with Star Wars Stickers. Write each guests name with glitter glue and fill with glow in the dark items, flashlights, glow-balls, small Star Wars toys and treats. Save time with complete Star Wars party favor kits, an easy and special way to say “thank you for coming to my party!”

Theme Thursday: Twilight Birthday!

Posted by Katie on March 04, 2010 in Theme Thursday

twilight_book_coverThe second Twilight movie — New Moon — came out just a few months ago and, chances are, you have little ones that have read the entire series from cover to cover!

So why not throw your child a Twilight birthday party? Check out amazingmoms.com for more amazing tips!

Twilight Party Invitations and Decorations:
Take a cue from the book covers when coming up with your invitation designs. Consider black and red invitations in the shape of a red apple, a ruffled tulip or a chess piece and attach a torn red satin ribbon to each. Another option is to print and photocopy pictures of the two characters of Edward and Jacob and consider sending invitations supporting two teams: Team Edward and Team Jacob. That way, if you have games at the party, you can have two teams already set up. Or, you can order personalized Twilight invitations from Birthday in a Box with a haunting image that’s sure to leave an impression.

Decorate your house with lots of red and black balloons and a black table cover. Make sure you have plenty of Twilight cups, napkins and plates. Ask your local video store if they have any spare copies of the movie posters, or print up photos of the main characters to hang. If you have copies of the books, have them lined up somewhere for a trivia game later. Also, have the soundtrack playing as the guests arrive. If you really want to recreate the world of Forks, WA and don’t have the soundtrack, pick up a cheap sound effects CD of rain falling!

The other question to ask is “What Would Alice Do?” Queen of party decorations, and a fan of twinkle Christmas lights, Alice uses a whole range of great items when decorating. Take a cue from the book and see how Alice has decorated the house for her various parties.

Twilight Party Recipes and Favors:
In the spirit of Bella and Edward’s date, consider Italian food as an option for your meal. Make sure your beverages are “red” in color for those supernaturally thirsty guests. Red and black jelly beans or ju-jubes also fit the theme as nibblies, or red delicious apple slices as a healthier option. For the cake, consider a red velvet cake with a raspberry middle filling and dark chocolate icing. You can also add the four book cover items to the top: White chess queen, small apple, ribbon and tulip.

As for favors, try these vampire tattoos, Twilight stickers, stick-on body jewels, or you could give your guests personalized mini-zipper pulls or Twilight magnets.

Twilight Party Activities:
Watching the movie is definitely a main event for this particular party, so that the girls can all “moon” over Edward and Bella’s epic romance. There are other fun activities to explore as well. If you’re making it a co-ed party, consider the Team Edward/Team Jacob concept, and have games to challenge the teams against each other.

Twilight Trivia:
You will need: Twilight books or Twilight quiz questions, Paper and Pens

How to play: For the trivia game, you can take a few different tacts. Divide the guests into two teams. Have a game leader ask each team questions and have them guess what book that fact is from. Or you could list off quotes from the books and ask who “said it”.

Vampire Baseball:
How to play: Treat it the same as regular baseball, except add your own Twilight twist to it. For example, rather than having them run, they need to leap from base to base. Or play with the balls that are used making the effort harder for the teams playing.

Twilight Party Crafts:
Creating homemade jewelry is a great idea for these vampire guests. Lots of fake jewels, red and black beads and different necklace and earring patterns will have them creating some gorgeous options that would make Alice Cullen proud. You could also have a “before and after” photo session where you have the guests as “humans” before, and then give them all a vampire makeover and do “after” photos for the girls to take home.

Tip Tuesday: A Wearable Birthday Craft

Posted by Katie on January 26, 2010 in Tip Tuesday

summerhair_rdax_65

I don’t know about you, but sometimes it’s hard coming up with fun activities to entertain your kids. Well, if you have a young girl at home with a birthday approaching, I’ve found a great craft that is sure to be a hit!

All your little fashionistas will love the idea of decorating their own headband! I stumbled upon Kaboose.com and found some quick and simple tips to create a party favor your kids will actually use!

Also, note that this activity requires use of a hot glue gun so make sure there is plenty of parental supervision!

What you’ll need:

  • Embroidery floss in your favorite colors
  • Buttons
  • Plastic headband
  • Scissors
  • Hot glue gun

How to make it:

  • Place a small dot of hot glue at one end of the headband on the inside. Place the starter end of your embroidery floss on the hot glue and start wrapping it tightly around the headband.
  • If you want to change colors, snip the thread you’re using and then put a dab of hot glue to tack the new thread into place. To get the effect in our picture, double up with two colors.
  • To add buttons, simply run the embroidery floss through the buttonholes and position the button on top of the headband. Then, continue wrapping with floss.
  • When you reach the other end of the headband with your floss, tack it in place with hot glue.

Tips:

  • Embroidery floss is available near the sewing, knitting and cross-stitch items at your local craft supply or discount department store.
  • Use buttons, pony beads, or other jewelry beads to decorate your headband.
  • If you plan to use this headband frequently, run some white craft glue around the bottom ends of the headband, across the floss, and let dry completely. This will hold the floss in place even more securely.

Tip Tuesday: Princess and the Frog Party!

Posted by Katie on January 19, 2010 in Tip Tuesday

the-princess-and-the-frogYou’d have to be hiding under a rock to have missed out on all the buzz about Disney’s new hit, The Princess and the Frog.

Every little girl in America wants to be Princess Tiana right now!

If your little girl has a birthday coming up, here’s a birthday theme that’s sure to please! Thank you AmazingMoms.com for the very helpful advice!

PRINCESS AND FROG PARTY INVITATIONS

Send invitation 2-3 weeks in advance. Mail personalized invitations, or use cardstock paper to create lilypad cards for your invitations:

“Hop on down to the Bayou! Join our Princess Tiana on her birthday adventure.”
Sprinkle very fine green glitter on the paper and send away!

Or, you can order personalized Princess and the Frog invitations from Birthday in a Box >>

PRINCESS AND FROG PARTY DECORATIONS
Green and pink would be the best match for this party theme. A little silver touch here and there would also be great. Create leaves out of construction paper to suggest the swampy bayou. Hang silver streamers from the ceiling draping down to the ground to add that mystical element. You could also create firefly shaped cookies and decorate them with yellow icing as decorations and as tasty treats. Cover your table with matching party items. Make your own centerpiece with a stuffed frog wearing a little crown. Consider playing some classic jazz music in the background. It’s a great opportunity to introduce your kids to the era.

Get more great party decorations at Birthday in a Box >>

Princess Coloring Castle
Create a castle for the children to decorate, using a large appliance box. You can spray paint it or cover the box with butcher paper, before the party. Provide markers and crayons for the children use for decorating. This will not only serve as a great party decoration, but it will also provide plenty of party entertainment for you little princesses. They can color and play in the castle throughout the birthday party.

A SPECIAL WELCOME
Announce the guests upon arrival and present them with their very own Royal Princess or Prince Crown. Then direct the children to the coloring castle. Where they will color and play, until all of the guests have arrived. End the party with this quiet coloring time as well to settle the kids down. Parents will really appreciate the thought!

PRINCESS AND THE FROG PARTY GAMES

Frog, Frog, Prince/Princess
A variation on duck, duck, goose, this fun classic can be modified also by having the kids hop like frogs around the circle rather than running.

Stick the Kiss on the Frog
Can the princess find her prince? Played just like “Pin the Tail on the Donkey”. Enlist an artistic teen to make you a Toad or Frog on a piece of poster board. Draw and cut several red lips from card stock paper. On the day of the party, add double stick tape to one side of the lips and write the girls’ names on the other.

Musical Lilypads
Create a bunch of large lily pads out of green poster board. Using the movie soundtrack, or some 20’s jazz music, have the kids hop (or dance) around the room until the music stops. You can either play it so that a child has to go wait in the swamp area when they’re “out” or you can get the kids to try and help one another to all squeeze onto the remaining lily pads together.

Frog Pinata Fun
Fill a Frog Pinata with small princess toys, plastic jeweled rings and candy. Pinatas also make wonderful decorations!

Bayou Red Rover
Write Royal titles onto 3×5 cards: frog, princess, prince, voodoo magician, mama odie, alligator, firefly and so on. Add yarn for the children to wear around their necks. At game time, every player selects a card. When Red Rover is played say “Red Rover, Red Rover send your frog on over…” and the frog runs to the other team.

More Classic Games…with a Swampy Twist:
Simon Says, becomes “Dr. Facilier Says”
Mother May I, becomes “Princess May I?”

PRINCESS AND FROG PARTY CRAFTS
Plan some fun crafts for your party guests!

Make a Wand
Children can fashion their own wands with small wooden dowels, glitter, glue and several strands of satin ribbon. Before the party, paint the dowels with silver spray paint and cut the pieces of ribbon.  During the party the girls will add sequins and the ribbons.

Variation – if you have boys at the party they can make royal shields with craft foam, stick on jewels and gel pens. Be sure you have plenty of hands to help.

This wand kit from Birthday In a Box is an easy way to include a craft in your party.

Royal Play Dough
Before the party make a batch or two of Play Dough (click for recipe). Provide each child with a ball of dough and some fine glitter (craft store). The children will work the glitter into the dough. Package each of the guests dough into a Zip-loc bag to be taken home as a party favor.

Pretty as a Princess Picture Frame
Requires a Polaroid or digital camera. Use cardboard or craft foam picture frames. Provide stickers, stick on jewels and gel pens to use for decorating the frame. Take an instant photo and place it in the frame.

PRINCESS PARTY FAVORS
Kid-safe body glitter, hair ties, stickers, wands, princess coloring book, frog beanie toys, bubbles, chocolate coins… placed in a pink bag or basket will surely send your guests home with a smile!

Birthday in a Box party favor sets for your Princess and Frog Party >>

PRINCESS AND FROG PARTY RECIPE IDEAS

Frog and Crown Cookies
Take your child’s favorite cookie recipe and create cookies using frog-shaped, or crown-shaped cookie cutters. The other option is to use a standard gingerbread or shortbread recipe, and allow your little royal guests to decorate their own cookies before eating them.

Crown Birthday Cake
For a super easy cake…
Bake and frost a round cake. Add inverted sugar ice cream cones around the edge to form a crown. Use frosting to attach pink and white gumballs on the tip of each sugar cone. You can also add more candy, or frosting jewels around the edges or on the sugar cones.

Princess Coach Cake
Create a beautiful princess coach for your princess with this specialty cake pan from Birthday in a Box.

Princess or Frog Soda
Combine flavored Italian syrup (purple or red), club soda and half & half. Serve in plastic royal goblets and top with whipped cream for princess soda. Or create swamp soda using green food coloring in your desired clear soda (ginger ale, 7-Up, Sprite and more). Add orange juice to get a swampy brown effect.

Theme Thursday: A Rock 'n' Roll Birthday

Posted by Katie on January 14, 2010 in Theme Thursday

pop-star-guitar-cake-recipe-photo-420-FF0309CAKEA06Last week, music fans everywhere celebrated the 75th birthday of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Mr. Elvis Presley.

Unfortunately, I didn’t blog about this special occasion, so, to make it up to you, today’s theme is rock ‘n’ roll birthday!

I went to Disney’s FamilyFun website to learn more about how to throw a rock ‘n’ roll birthday worthy of its name! This is the story of Maisie’s 7th birthday as told by her mother.

SETTING THE STAGE
Before guests arrived, we made our family room into a rock arena by pushing some furniture aside.

For star-worthy curtains, we cut an old sheet in half, strung it on a clothesline, and decorated it with silver posterboard cutouts.

Tuneful tip: To create “backstage” and “onstage” areas, hang the curtains in a doorway between two rooms.

GETTING THE LOOK
Instructed to come wearing rock-and-roll finery, the girls had raided their moms’ closets for some pretty outrageous styles.

Maisie’s older sister, Ella, and her best friend were enlisted to do hair and makeup (a great way to involve Ella in the party) for each new arrival. When everyone was totally glam, we had a runway-style photo session to record their fabulous getups.

Tuneful tip: Have plenty of extra baubles, boas, and funky hats on hand. For an even wilder look, let your guests apply temporary tattoos.

COOL CRAFTS
Next, it was time to create some musical instruments. My husband, Doug, had cut cardboard guitar shapes the night before. For our guitar-decorating station, we covered a table with a plastic cloth and set out sparkly star stickers, faux jewels, string, markers, and other goodies from our craft cupboard. The girls went to town decorating their instruments. Each one looked a little different, but they were all works of art.

Since every pop siren needs a microphone, we collected a bunch of cardboard paper tubes from the recycling bin. The girls wrapped each with colorful duct tape and fitted a ball of crushed foil into one end.

SHOWTIME!
We set up a karaoke machine, and the girls strummed their guitars and sang into their microphones. They performed alone and in groups, and had a great time cheering each other on and singing along to a playlist of Maisie’s favorites.

After everyone had rocked to their heart’s content, we had a little time left over, so we played Freeze Dance. The girls danced to a tune, and when I stopped it mid-song, they froze in place. The girls giggled wildly as they tried to hold their wacky dance poses. Whoever moved had to sit down, until just one dancer — the winner! — remained.

Tuneful tip: Capture your guests’ music and dance performances on video, then burn discs to send with your child’s thank-you notes.

STAR TREATMENT
Our guitar-shaped cake was a smash hit and ended the party on a high note. The guests headed home with their cardboard guitars and their favor bags filled with boas and sunglasses. And Maisie was left with happy memories of her groovin’ seventh birthday.

Theme Thursday: Zoo Animal Birthday Party

Posted by Josh on October 29, 2009 in Theme Thursday

zoo_backpack_150Whether you’re watching tigers on the prowl, feeding giraffes, or taking a ride on the train, the zoo is a great place to take the kids! But if you can’t take the party to the zoo, why not take the zoo home with you by throwing a zoo-themed birthday party. Here are some great ideas from birthdaypartyideas4kids.com :

Zoo Party Decorations
Decorate the food table with a tablecloth that reaches the floor and then attach construction paper grey bars to the tablecloth to make it look like a cage. Hang a please don’t feed the animals sign on the table until you are ready to serve. Scatter stuffed zoo animals throughout the party area and make a habitat for each one using artificial plants, grasses and flowers.

Fun Ideas
Dress parents and older siblings up as zoo keepers. Khaki shorts and shirts with safari hats. Wear name tags such as “Zookeeper”, “Feeding time administrator”, “Lion keeper”, etc.

Food
Trays of fruits and vegetables with pictures of animals that like those kinds of treats.

Popcorn in brown paper bags that say “Gorilla Food”.

Peanuts in small bags that say “Elephant Food”.


Boy gets big wish on his birthday

Posted by Birthday Cate on August 31, 2009 in General

I tweeted about this on Friday (@morebirthdays), but what a great story this is, out of Springfield, Missouri–a 4-year old cancer survivor got his wish to be a fireman, at least for a day, to celebrate his big day.

From KSPR in Springfield:

As the fire truck rolled into Station One, on board was a very special firefighter—4 year old Jackson Wolfe.

Wolfe is a young cancer survivor.

So, a group of Springfield firefighters wanted their profession to be his reality for a day.

“He really liked watching the vehicles pull off in the ditch when we were going down through there. He was kind of upset when we had to turn everything back off,” said firefighter Scott Owens.

While eating some pizza, Jackson opened up to his dad about the ride in the firetruck.

“Did you have a lot of fun on the firetruck? I did. What did it do? It put it’s siren on. When we were in it, it wasn’t very loud,” said Wolfe.

Jackson will also take a trip to Disney World in September with his family. So happy birthday Jackson! Here’s to many more birthdays.

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