"Still More"

Dinosaur Party
We had a dinosaur party at the State Park one year. There was a dino dig, and each kid had a turn digging in a large pail of dirt to get plastic dinosaurs. I also hid dino chalk eggs around camp for the kids to find. The best was later at night. All of the kids had flashlights that strapped onto their heads and we went with the park ranger on a nature hike in the dark. The kids looked like real explorers. - Thanks to Julie in Wisconsin.

Tye-Dye Party
For my daughter's pre-school birthday in June, we had a tye-dye party. It was very colorful and provided a hands-on activity with a great party favor. In the yard, I filled plastic buckets with Rit Dye colors. Each child received a white cotton Hanes-style t-shirt to dye (initials in marker on the size label). To create the swirl pattern on the t-shirt, each mother tightly twisted it lengthwise and then wrapped mini rubber bands along it. While the shirts were soaking in color, we helped the kids make colorful ice-cream sundaes with every imaginable topping, from strawberry sauce to mini M & M's. We had tye-dye swirled plates and napkins from a party store, and a tye-dye cake to match. The party was complete with a colorful pinata and bright balloons on a stick. - Thanks!

How the West Was Fun
I love birthday parties. My favorite was for my son's 3rd birthday. We chose a cowboy theme. We found plastic cowboy hats and sprayed them black for each child, made dough art silver badges with their names on them, and bandanas as well. Beforehand, I made picture frames with cereal boxes and old brown paper bags and as each child came and got into their gear, we took a polaroid picture to put in the frame to take home. Of course, each picture frame had "WANTED" and a silly name like "Pik Axe Patrick" and so on. We had fun games like panning for gold in the sand box, cattle rustling, which was getting a bunch of balloons under the picnic table, and calf roping. We have an old planter in the shape of a cow, so we used a hoola hoop on a rope to throw over it. For food, we had baked beans and hot dogs, but for the cake I made individual cakes in the shape of wagons and made a wagon train. The wheels on the cakes were actual wagon wheel cookies, and in the middle of the wagon train I took sugar cones, filled them with ice cream and refroze it until cake time and put them flat side down and they looked like teepees. We all had fun and we still talk about the fun we had that day. That was my favorite, but my daughter's Winnie the Pooh one comes very close too. Thanx for letting me share. - Thanks to you too, Donna in Manitoba.

Make Your Own Party
When I was eight, my mom had a "Make Your Own Party". When the guests came, they were each given some markers and the construction paper to make decorations. We then made our own movie. My mom filmed it with her video camera. For the cake my mom had made a small cake for each kid, cupcakes could also work, and we each decorated our own cake. We also made our own sun visors. It was really fun. - Thanks to Colleen.

Calling All Moms
At my daughter's 2nd B-day party we tried the "Mom Calling Contest" and it was a blast! We had other adults watching out for the kids, but one child did get tripped on. She was fine, and everyone had a great time anyway. We, the Moms, were all very surprised at how hard it was to recognize our own children. They did a good job of screaming loudly all at once, so it was tricky. It was more of a game for the moms than the kids, but they were all young enough not to care if we had a little fun too! Anyway, that was way back in October, but I wanted to be sure to say thank you for the great idea, it was very fun. I also gave "bear awards" for the best dressed bear, the biggest, the smallest, the softest, the funniest, etc. I made enough so that each child had one and two children had two. They seemed to really like that. Because some of the children were young, I put all the awards around the bear's neck, instead of the children. They all thought that was neat. Then we played musical chairs, but with everyone sitting on top of everyone else, instead of being out. I was worried that the older children (6 & 7) would think it was lame, but they had a great time. I didn't give any prizes for games, I believe they should play for the fun, not the prize. I did however give out a puzzle to each child, instead of cheap toys in a goodie bag. They all thought that was great, especially since they had to unwrap them. I spent $2 on each of them, and it was well worth it! I had found puzzles that were maps of Canada for the older children and adorable animals for the younger ones. I had made name tags for each child, but under the child's name, was their bear's name. They liked that. Anyway, I was feeling lost and planning late, but nobody had a clue thanks to your site! - Thanks to Kim.

Flower Party
Great website! I came on looking for game ideas for my daughter's 5th birthday. Since she has an April birthday, we are having a "flower party". After games we are going to do a spring project: each child will get a 4" clay flower pot and the table will have cut-outs of different shapes, plastic "jewels" and glitter sticks for them to decorate the flower pots with. Each "goodie bag", along with a few treats, will have a baggie of potting soil and a package of flower seeds. In case you want to pass the idea on, my plans are: light lunch - then games - then the project - then cupcakes that look like flowers (chocolate cupcakes with white icing using the decorator's gel to draw petals with a gumdrop in the middle) - distribute goodie bags. Thanks for the game ideas. - Thanks to Kim in Williamsburg, Virginia

Round 'Em Up
For my son's 5th birthday, we went the Western route. We had rented a "real" pony for pony rides. I bought a cowboy boot pinata and purchased cowboy hats, red and blue bandanas and plastic sheriff badges for each child. I made "loot" bags out of burlap fabric for their pinata treats. We played horseshoes (with a children's plastic set). We had a beanbag toss, where they threw the bean bag (made out of bandana fabric) into an upside down cowboy hat. We played ring toss, where we stuck wooden dowels in the ground and we made the rings out of a heavy jute rope and taped the ends together with black electrical tape to form the stiff ring shape. The cake was decorated with a cowboy (traced from a coloring book onto rice paper, cut-out and then colored with food coloring gels) and the sides of the cake were decorated with cacti and brown piping to look like rope. I even found cowboy boot candles, denim-looking cake plates and napkins! It was a lot of fun and a memorable birthday party for everyone. - Thanks to Cindy in Warren, Michigan.

Barney Party
Our greatest party to date (well, honestly we love them all) was our daughter's second birthday. We went into Edmonton to visit Grandma, and while I was there I rented a Barney cake and decorated it. It took four hours and was gone in 20 minutes, but it was so worth the squeals of delight from my little girl. We also had a real "Barney" hired to come and sing and dance with her. There was a room full of people and she could have cared less. For six months after, she talked about her party - "We had a Barney cake, and chips, and ice cream and Barney!" To top it off, an aunt had ordered a video that starred her and Barney, so she could watch herself with Barney on screen. She has never forgotten that day and neither have I. I pledged to celebrate every single birthday all out from that day forward. My husband always laughs remembering that day, as he said he couldn't tell who was more excited, me or our daughter. But, really, that's what memories are made of. - Thanks to Nicole in Athabasca, Alberta.

Clifford Party
In November, I did a Clifford the Big Red Dog themed party. It was fun to do. I had helium-filled at a party store red balloons with ears and a dog face drawn on by black permanent marker. I bought red painter hats at the craft store. They were white, I dyed them red. I sewed big movable eyes on the front of each cap. I painted a nose on the rim of the cap and sewed red felt ears. I also made a cool recipe using chex cereal, powdered sugar and chocolate chips that you melt. It turns out looking like dog treat and I put it in a huge blue dog dish, with the name Clifford painted on it. I served the kids meal in a dog dish in the shape of a dog and each dish had the kid's name painted on it. I had pin the tail on Clifford, and doggy bags that included hand Clifford puppets I made. I used red felt, small movable eyes, and a permanent marker for the rest of the face and I sewed it together. They turned out great. And I also brought my daughter's Clifford book and read it to the kids. The older kids, 4-6, seemed to enjoy while my son, 1 and a half, Brittany, 2, and Caleb, 2, did not stay interested too long. I had this at a park. Because my family lives pretty much close to each other in one area, but I live a lot farther from all of them, we drove about an hour and a half and had it in the guests' hometown.

Hungry Caterpillar
The first party I gave for my oldest daughter was centered around the book, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". When the guests arrived, I gave them each a set of antennae which I made from headbands, pipe cleaners and painted styrofoam balls. I read the book to them so they'd understand the theme, then sent them on a caterpillar hunt in the yard. We had printed 30 neon colored caterpillars on the computer and hid them in obvious places. This was so much fun, we did it several times. For a craft, I had the kids decorate coffee filters with markers, pinched them in the middle, and clasped a colored clothes pin on each one. I then added a bent pipe cleaner with curled ends (so the kids wouldn't poke themselves or each other) to the clothes pin. For a cake, I decorated 9 cupcakes with green frosting and string licorice for legs. I decorated one cupcake with red frosting and placed gumdrops for the eyes and nose, and red Twizzlers for the antennae. Though not as elaborate as our parties since then, this party was just enough for 3 year olds. - Thanks to Deborah in North Augusta, South Carolina.

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