Party theme for the 6th birthday - what have you done?

[kozachka]

DS wants to have a Sponge Bob themed party for his 6th birthday but I am wondering if that would be age appropriate. What themes have you done? Last year we had a circus themed party with a clown. And the year before. DS is also nuts about fishing and is quite a bit into cooking but I am not sure if they would be as appropriate since some of his guests would be younger.

Also am I crazy to think that we should have two parties - one for his classmates at his Taekwando studio and the other for friends and family.

[egoldber]

For Sarah's 6th birthday we went to the Zoo and had a zoo animal theme. :)

[Meatball Mommie]

For my son's 6th birthday, we did a lego themed party. (Family and friends together and a mix of boys/girl).

I don't think it's a big deal to do a kids party somewhere (or even at home) and then have a family party another time. Actually that's how my birthday parties were growing up.

[Wife_and_mommy]

For Sarah's 6th birthday we went to the Zoo and had a zoo animal theme. :)

DD's 6th isn't until the spring but this is our plan.

FWIW, a preschool classmate of hers had a spongebob themed party for his 5th this past summer. I didn't think it appropriate but that's just my opinion. To each their own and all that good stuff. We weren't able to attend but that wasn't why.

[wendmatt]

I don't think it's age inappropriate, every kid knows who he is even if they don't watch the show. It's just invites and party stuff right? If DD got a Sponge Bob invite I would not be upset or offended and I don't care for the show. You could incorporate it into a pirate theme and the Sponge Bob party stuff is easy to find.
For DDs 6th we did Tinkerbell invites and Tinkerbell cake but did it at the bowling alley. For her 5th we did Scooby Doo and I did a pretty fancy Mystery Machine cake that I was proud of! If your DS wants Sponge Bob I think it's fine.
This year for 7 she's getting a kitten and we're doing a cat cake (if I can work out how to make the one she wants!). Have fun.

[Jen841]

Not my favorite for 6 year olds, but would not prevent my child from attending. When you say 'theme' are you talking invitations and a game or watching a DVD/movie? If it is just paper and decorations no big deal.

Themes you may want to explore since you asked for that age...
Taekwando studio may do bdays
Bowling
Pizza place (the kids got a how to lesson on pizza)
Bounce place/Indoor playground
Cooking place - our Super Suppers does children parties
YMCA/Gym
Movie Theatre
Movie night at your place (PJ Polar Express party depending on the date)
Library may do parties or have a room you can rent to have a party and do traditional games including Freeze Dance

[babybunny]

DS wants SpongeBob for his party theme at age 5. His party is going to be at a gym place. I initally designed the invites with Spongebob and a pirate theme. Shutterfly has photo cards with that theme. Then I decided that was too expensive. And we found simple sports theme invites at Target that I ran through the printer to add the time, date, etc.

However, he keeps asking for the Spongebob cake. I usually try to run with the whole theme with invites, party, cake, goody bags etc. so this is taking a left turn. Or rather I am trying to shift the gears, and it is not working. But I am trying to remember that this is his party. So maybe I will cave in on that.
I had been thinking of purchasing the party goods, but I would rather just do generic plates, etc. He does keep asking for the Spongebob foil balloons at the supermarket and my standard reply is (Is it your birthday??). So maybe that will be it -- the cake and a few balloons. I am not including SpongeBob in the goody bags. Now that I have a $10 off $30 purchase, maybe I will get the Spongebob photo cards for the thank you cards and add a note on the back....

His birthday "party " at school (i.e. cupcakes) falls on the day they have the Thanksgiving feast. Is seems so wrong to have that mixed with Sponge Bob. I won't do it. Charlie Brown and Peanuts theme maybe. But no Sponge bob.

[egoldber]

If DD got a Sponge Bob invite I would not be upset or offended and I don't care for the show.

I agree. He's as ubiquitous as the Disney Princesses. As long as they weren't watching a movie or show, the "theme" is generally not a big deal.

[jenmcadams]

We did a Groovy Tie Dye Theme for my DDs 6th. Other 6th birthdays we've been to have run the gamut from just Bouncy Places to Mini-Chef/Cooking School to Hannah Montanna to a Pseudo Sleep Over (everyone came in Jammies and they had a mid-AM brunch for the girls). We've also been to soccer themed parties (local indoor soccer place), climbing walls/zipline place called JungleQuest, etc.

[sunriseiz]

We don't 'do' SpongeBob, but Ds always notices SB because his favorite color is yellow. It definitely wouldn't keep us from coming to the party.

Anyway, we just did a detective/scavenger hunt party for DD's 6th. Everyone seemed to have fun. Good luck!

[new_mommy25]

We did Star Wars for DS's 6th birthday.

We did Spongebob when DS was 4. He chose the theme and it didn't really matter one way or another to me. I never thought that someone would be offended. He never really even watched the show but for some reason he thought Spongebob was super cool and hilarious. I bought dish pans and filled them with bubbles and the kids blew really big bubbles. We did a water balloon toss. There was a pinata. We probably had more games but my memory is fuzzy. For food we had krabby patties (hamburgers). For the favors I bought yellow sand buckets and filled them with felt hamburgers (I hand-sewed them all), a Spongebob book (found packs of 8 for 9.99 at Costco), bubbles, and a few other things.

[kozachka]

Thank you for all your comments, ladies. I managed to talk DS into switching his theme to Black Belt. We plan on inviting DS school class to the martial arts studio that he attends. So these (http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/browse/processRequest.do?demandPrefix=12&sku=PT1435&prodCatId=388960&mode=Browsing&erec=0&Ipp=16&No=16&sp=true&Ntk=all&Ntx=mode%2bmatchallpartial&N=388960+95&tabId=1&requestURI=processProductsCatalog&sd=Black+Belt+Karate+Party+Theme) Oriental Trading party supplies would work great, if we can get them on time. I just need to figure out how many people will be attending and place the order. And we are inviting our friends and family to club house at the apartment complex. It's next to the (enclosed) pool and hot tub, which is why I though it would be appropriate to incorporate Sponge Bob supplies. Thinking Bikini Bottom and fish. Will have to think of something else now. I'd prefer not to do two themes if at all possible, of course.

On related note, what are the must have's for a birthday party in your opinion? Obviously, cake and candles. We also want to get pizza, juice and water for kids and parents. Plus goodie bags. Is pinata a must? How about goodie bags, how much do you put in those? Should we provide additional snacks besides pizza at the marshial arts studio (we'll have food/BBQ at home)? And as far as entertainment at home, are we expected to have hired entertainer (clown or moderator of some sorts) or just games?

[babybunny]

DS thinks a pinata means party, but some places don't allow them because of the mess. There are the new "pull string" ones that eliminate the swinging of the bat that scares me. Some little kid always seems to just miss getting wacked in the head.

[new_mommy25]

Thank you for all your comments, ladies. I managed to talk DS into switching his theme to Black Belt. We plan on inviting DS school class to the martial arts studio that he attends. So these (http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/browse/processRequest.do?demandPrefix=12&sku=PT1435&prodCatId=388960&mode=Browsing&erec=0&Ipp=16&No=16&sp=true&Ntk=all&Ntx=mode%2bmatchallpartial&N=388960+95&tabId=1&requestURI=processProductsCatalog&sd=Black+Belt+Karate+Party+Theme) Oriental Trading party supplies would work great, if we can get them on time. I just need to figure out how many people will be attending and place the order. And we are inviting our friends and family to club house at the apartment complex. It's next to the (enclosed) pool and hot tub, which is why I though it would be appropriate to incorporate Sponge Bob supplies. Thinking Bikini Bottom and fish. Will have to think of something else now. I'd prefer not to do two themes if at all possible, of course.

On related note, what are the must have's for a birthday party in your opinion? Obviously, cake and candles. We also want to get pizza, juice and water for kids and parents. Plus goodie bags. Is pinata a must? How about goodie bags, how much do you put in those? Should we provide additional snacks besides pizza at the marshial arts studio (we'll have food/BBQ at home)? And as far as entertainment at home, are we expected to have hired entertainer (clown or moderator of some sorts) or just games?

For six year olds, I think one or two games, or a game and a craft, would be really fun. There's a website, I think it is birthdaypartyideas.com, that has suggestions for every theme imaginable. I don't think entertainment is necessary at all unless it is something you really want to do. It might be kind of fun to arrange for a few black belts from the studio come and do a demonstration like breaking bricks or a kata. You could offer them money or they may want to do it for free.

I don't think a pinata is a must although the kids certainly love them. If I do a pinata, I buy a pack of paper or plastic goody bags and pass them out to the kids to put their loot in.

For the martial arts studio, I think pizza and cake is plenty. If you think you need more you can always do some sliced fruit.

For goody bags, I tend to kind of go all out but it's really not necessary at all. I do a few things related to the theme, and then a snack like item (prepackaged) they can eat on the way home or later.

[MMMommy]

Is it strange or odd that I do not find Spongebob to be offensive or inappropriate? I think Spongebob in general is funny and hilarious. DD1 had a Spongebob birthday cake when she was only 2. As for the show, any jokes would have been completely over her head, but she found him to be cute and funny to look at.

On the other hand, I do find Bratz dolls to be offensive. I see that as being inappropriate. But Spongebob is harmless to me.