Best Birthday Party Themes You have been to, thrown, or heard of . . .

[sste]

Just curious for future years.

I recently read about a great b-day party for the 8-10 year old set: A Backwards Party where the invite is in backwards writing and must be read in a mirror, the guests could wear some of their clothes backwards, they served breakfast for lunch, and the cake was upside down.

Any others?

[SnuggleBuggles]

Cute! I have read some fun ones but none are coming up in my brain at the moment. Our treasure hunt ones were the best I have thrown and probably been to. Though, a summer Olympics' one we attended 2 years back was really well thought out and fun. The kids were randomly assigned teams, they had several fun games and races, the snacks and cake were thematic. It was a good party.

Family Fun and birthdaypartyideas.com have so many neat ideas. I can really get caught up reading those!

Beth

[sunshine873]

A friend of mine did a super-hero party for her DS when he turned 4. Themed invites & decor. All the kids were asked to come dressed as a super hero (boys and girls.) She had some games, etc but said the fave was seeing all the costumes and the kiddos "flying like superman" on the trampoline.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I was thinking more and I really like the idea of the pretend sleepover. Arrive in PJs, watch a movie, play some silly games, go home for bedtime.

Beth

[DietCokeLover]

A friend of mine threw her 3 yo a Little People party. She gathered all sorts of little people sets from friends and set up stations throughout the living room/ party area. She also decorated the cake in little people and had found Little People on clearance and gave those as party gifts.

[salsah]

Just curious for future years.

I recently read about a great b-day party for the 8-10 year old set: A Backwards Party where the invite is in backwards writing and must be read in a mirror, the guests could wear some of their clothes backwards, they served breakfast for lunch, and the cake was upside down.

Any others?

i went to a party like this when i was in first grade! i only remember it because of the pictures of me wearing my clothes inside out and backwards.

[g-mama]

My dh planned our oldest son's 8th birthday party and it was a big hit. The theme was the movie "Journey to the Center of the Earth." He made invitations on the computer that looked like a movie ticket. He bought movie posters of the movie and decorated the entry with them. The boys (6 or 7 of them) watched the movie on our bigscreen TV in the basement. We served pizza bites, mini corn dogs, popcorn (in plastic containers that were red and white and looked like a popcorn bag), movie candy, and Slurpees (that I ran out to 7-11 to buy after everyone arrived).

The favorite part was the scavenger hunt afterwards. It was November so we had the boys get their coats on and gave them all flashlights, and ds got one that strapped onto his head. Dh had written clues in the pages of the book, Journey to the Center of the Earth, that directed them to 5 or 6 places in the backyard. They LOVED this. They had to work as a team to figure out where to go next. It lasted about 15-20 minutes and the last clue led them a location where the goody bags were hidden. If you haven't seen the movie, it's basically about a treasure hunt where they have to follow clues, so that's how this all worked in.

People still talk about that party! My dh is far more creative than I am. :)

This past Nov, we had an outdoor laser tag party in our back yard. Both boys and girls loved this.

[niccig]

We did a constuction party for DS. Everyone got a Home Depot apron, hard hat and tool set from the dollar store. I had activity stations. Design was the colouring in table and construction sticker sheets; Digging with the sand box; Paving was chalk on the driveway; building was builidng a wall of cardboard blocks; Hammering was hammering golf tees into styrofoam - this activity was the hit of the party.

A friend had a super hero party. They each got a book that has a cape, masks, arm bands etc. The Dad was dressed as a super hero and taught the kids how to fly, use their super powers etc. Another friend dressed up as the bad guy and stole the pretend cake, and all the superheros had to catch him with water balloons and sticky string, and then the real cake appeared. DS loved it.

[Raidra]

Love the pretend sleepover and the backwards party.. those are great ideas!

My favorite party that I've thrown for the kids was Lachlann's Mario party this past summer. I made a ton of decorations by hand, which was surprisingly easy though I did start about two months beforehand. Everyone got to pop a few white balloons that were painted with ghost faces and had coins inside.. they used their coins to go to Peach's Prize Stand to buy Mario and Luigi hats. Then there was a scavenger hunt around the neighborhood to find Peach (my sister dressed up). The last clue took them to our shed where Peach was being kept prisoner by a giant poster of Bowser, the kids used water balloons to defeat him. While they were around the block, some other adults scattered more gold coins all over our backyard and the kids each had to find 10, they spent them on goodie bag stuff at Peach's Prize Stand. Then the pinata - I got a soccer ball pinata and painted it black with a Chain Chomp face. The cake was a 3D green pipe with a bottom layer of 'cloud' - we put a stuffed Goomba on top.

This fall, we had a Star Wars party for Colwyn and did a bunch of obstacle course type things. The kids each got a tube of pipe insulation as a training lightsaber. After they completed Jedi Training, my husband came out of the hall dressed as Vader (cued to Vader's music) and the kids all tackled him. That was pretty fun, too. :)

[truly scrumptious]

Our treasure hunt ones were the best I have thrown and probably been to.

I used to have treasure hunt parties as a kid, but we had a variation where the "Queen of Sheba" (my grandmother, looking regal and reclining on a couch) would wave her hand and wish for something silly (like a bottlecap) and the teams would go rushing off to find it and lay it at her feet. We loved it because then she would "knight" us and shower us with gold (chocolate coins)

[Melbel]

I was thinking more and I really like the idea of the pretend sleepover. Arrive in PJs, watch a movie, play some silly games, go home for bedtime.

Beth

We did a "faux" sleepover for DD1's 6th birthday that was a huge hit with all of the girls. I had rock star status with all the girls that year! We had four stations with facials (including cut cucumbers for their eyes), decorate your own cupcake, manicures and a craft (decorate flip flops with jewels). The girls also loved playing freeze dance. At the end of the party, we had some wind down time with a movie.

My favorite boy parties included DS firetruck party, complete with games and a ride through the neighborhood and his pony party at a farm with pony and hay rides.

[Tondi G]

we had a carnival themed party for our little guy last year. Rented snow cone machine, popcorn machine and a few carnival games ..... ring toss, tin can toss. Got those red fortune teller fish for the fortune teller table LOL. It turned out great! I painted a few posters (got some inspiration from PBK and Martha Stewart). We made hot dogs and a big pot of chili in the crock pot etc. The kids had a lot of fun! Oh and we had a bouncer too. I bought a bunch of party favor type items and thats what the kids won for playing games.... kazoo, bouncy balls, twisty straws. It was a lot of work and preparation but fun.

[sewarsh]

Firetruck theme. they got all the kids firemen hats and a paperback Tonka firetruck book for favors. they had the local fire company bring the truck by and the kids got to go inside it, walk trhough, then spray the hose! it was really cool. it was also free (they just made donation to fire dept).

[almostamom]

We did a constuction party for DS. Everyone got a Home Depot apron, hard hat and tool set from the dollar store. I had activity stations. Design was the colouring in table and construction sticker sheets; Digging with the sand box; Paving was chalk on the driveway; building was builidng a wall of cardboard blocks; Hammering was hammering golf tees into styrofoam - this activity was the hit of the party.

We did a similar construction party. The same Home Depot aprons and hard hats. ;) We also did centers:

Wrapped the playhouse in butcher paper and painted it
Made stepping stones from cement
Diggers and dozers in the rubber mulch pit
Building with the cardboard blocks
Bulldozer Pinata
I found straw cups in the shape of orange construction cones
I covered the tables with black tablecloths and put white tape down the centers so they looked like roads. Goody bags were "toolboxes" (pencil boxes with school supplies)

The construction party was my favorite of all DS' birthday parties. It was so much fun to put together. Our other parties were at the train park, bubble party (got the idea here), at the zoo, and at Ridemakerz. We alternate a location party with an at home party. This year will be an at home party. I found a real firetruck that will come to the house. We'll see if DS is still into firetrucks in a few months.

Linda