Superman never goes out of style. Give your little superhero the best birthday ever with Superman Party ideas from TheBestBirthday.com.
Superman Costume
Superman Party Invitations
To make your own Superman invitations, the iconic “S” is easy to do. Or try a silhouette of skyscrapers for Metropolis.
For text, try “Superman has returned to save the world and celebrate [child’s name]’s birthday party!”
Superman Balloon
Superman Party Decorations
Super Colors
To decorate for your Superman parties, use yellow, red and blue decorations. They are easy to recognize as the traditional colors of Superman.
Metropolis
Turn your party room into Metropolis for your party. You can make your own skyscrapers silhouettes on paper and hang them on the wall, or you can buy a skyline wall decal to put up.
Invite Superman to the Party
You can have Superman in your party room with a Superman giant wall decal. Your birthday super hero will love having it in his or her room after the party, too.
Superman Inflatable
Superman Tableware
Get Superman plates, or, if you prefer, choose solid colors. Red plates, yellow napkins and blue forks make for a festive and fun party, and are instantly recognizable as Superman’s colors.
Superman Decorating Kit
Superman Party Food and Snacks
Turn ordinary snack food into Superman party food. Try Clark Kent carrot sticks, or Lois Lane Lemonade. Serve green Jello as Kryptonite. And don’t forget to have Superman ice cream with your cake!
Superman Ice Cubes
Superman Birthday Cakes
Superman “S” Cake
Looking for ideas for a Superman cake you can make yourself? The Superman logo is easy to put on a cake.
There are a couple of options for making the Superman “S” cake:
You can bake a cake (whatever size you like), frost it blue, and frost the “S” in the middle.
You can bake a 9×13 cake and cut it to the diamond shape around the “S”, then frost in red and yellow to make the design.
This shows the approximate proportions for cutting the Superman “S” emblem out of a 9×13″ cake.
If you choose to make the cutout cake, keep in mind that it will be small. If you need more cake and want to keep the cutout shape, you can either cut the shape out of two 9×13 cakes laid together, or you can frost a 9×13 cake in blue, then put the cutout diamond shape with the “S” on top for a cool 3D cake.
If you are making the cutout version, be sure to add a crumb layer of icing first, otherwise the cut edges will add a lot of crumbs to your frosting. Get directions for the icing crumb layer.
Superman Cake Topper
An easy option is to buy a Superman cake topper and place it on top of your cake.
Set up a training course for your superheros. Outdoors can be on and around a play structure. You can set up 2X4’s to cross, tires to run through, hang a rope from a tree and let the kids swing across – whatever you can come up with.
For indoor superhero training, set blankets over chairs to make tunnels, add a mini-trampoline and cardboard boxes and you’ve got a great training course.
Print out superhero certificates for the party guests – showing that they completed their superhero training.
Pin the “S” on Superman
Create a Superman version of “pin the tail on the donkey” out of posterboard.
Find the Kryptonite
This fun party game works well indoors or outside. Paint golf balls or ping pong balls bright green – they will be your Kryptonite. Hide them before the party.
At the party, equip kids with oven mitts and tongs and send them to find the Kryptonite. They wear the oven mitts and pick up the balls with tongs, then return the ‘Kryptonite’ to a bucket at a central location. Don’t have enough mitts and tongs to go around? Divide kids into two teams. One child from each team hunts for a ball, brings it back, then passes the mitts and tongs to the next person on their team.
Pass the Kryptonite
“Hot Potato’ is a great party game that can be modified for just about any birthday party. For this version, the ‘potato’ (kryptonite) can be a green ball or a glow stick. When the music stops, the one holding the ‘kryptonite’ is out.
Another option for this game is to play it when it is time to open presents. Whoever is left holding the item is out, and gives their present to the party child to open. This puts an end to the “Open mine first!” chaos of present time.
Superman Movies
Superman Party Favors
Superman Lanyards
Kids love lanyards – they always find something to hang on them – and these Superman lanyards make great party favors.
There now three Madagascar movies – not to mention all the spinoffs – and kids love them all. Madagascar parties are a blast because there’s so much you can do with them. You can go with a zoo theme, a jungle theme, or a circus theme all while sticking to the overall Madagascar theme.
Madagascar Party Invitations
Breaking Out – Madagascar 1
You can make your own invitations by using images from the movie, or try wooden crates – the kind the animals were shipped in – on the front.
Sample text:
We’re breaking out for birthday fun at [Child’s Name] 3rd birthday party!
Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted
Madagascar Party Decorations
Animal Prints
In your driveway or on the sidewalk leading up to your house, use sidewalk chalk to add various animal footprints. Kids will know they are coming to an extraordinary party when they see the prints outside.
Go Jungle
For the inside of your home, go wild! Vines are easy to make out of green paper streamers. Just twist them up and hang them from the ceiling, and over doors and windows.
If you have house plants, move them all into one area to give the room a lush, green look. Or buy silk greenery to hang up and turn your home into a jungle.
Go Circus
If you’re planning a Madagascar 3 party, a circus look is fun. Streamers and bright colors make for fun and easy circus decor. Add a circus canopy tent for a fun and festive addition to your decorations.
Tableware
Madagascar Party Food and Snacks
Trail Mix
Tropical fruit, nuts, all kinds of wild things… Trail mix is a great snack for a Madagascar Party. Try putting it in paper lunch bags – enough for each guest to have one – and marking it ‘Zebra Chow – For Zoo Animals Only’.
Fruit
Another great jungle food! Try chopping bananas in half (the short way). It makes good serving sizes, and also makes it easier for kids to peel them on their own – which they love to do!
Try some exotic fruits – kiwi is fairly easy to get, but most kids don’t eat them all that often which, of course, makes them fun! Or try starfruit. They taste a bit like apples, and when sliced, the pieces are shaped like stars. Fresh pineapple is usually a hit with kids, too. If you don’t think they’ll eat it, you can use them as decorations for the party.
Jungle Punch
Fruit Punch makes great “Jungle Punch”, just make sure the kids know they do swallow it, not spit it out!
Fish
Fish? At a kids’ party?? While Alex decided fish was better than steak, most kids won’t enjoy sushi at a birthday party. Try tuna salad on crackers with a small piece of lettuce on top to make ‘Alex’s Favorite Sushi’! Still too fishy for you? Go for goldfish crackers!
Other Party Snacks
Animal crackers and animal-shaped fruit snacks are always popular with kids, and go great with a Madagascar theme party. Or, for a Madagascar 3 party, try traditional circus food – popcorn and peanuts.
Madagascar 3 Movie Soundtrack
Madagascar Birthday Cakes
Madagascar 1 Jungle Cake
This is a super easy cake you can make yourself. You need an 8×13 cake and one cupcake, preferably chocolate.
Frost an inch or so of one of the narrow ends of the cake blue (water). Add a couple inches of light brown (sand) above the blue. Frost the remainder in green (jungle).
Peel the paper off the cupcake and frost the top green. If it is not a chocolate cupcake, cover the sides with chocolate frosting. This is the big tree where the lemurs hung out in the first movie. Place it at the other end of the cake(away from the sand and water).
Add a few plastic palm trees to the cake along with some plastic jungle animals (check your local dollar store). To finish it off, get a small plastic airplane (again – check your area dollar stores) and stick it in the cupcake tree, and you have an adorable birthday cake!
Circus Tent Cake
This circus tent cake is perfect for a Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted birthday party – just add some Madagascar figurines around the edges.
Supplies
9 inch round cake pan
Wonder mold cake pan(the same one that makes those Barbie doll cakes)
White fondant
Colored fondant (or use icing if you prefer)
1/4″ dowel rods – you can use wooden dowel rods or plastic dowel rods
Directions
Make four 9-inch cake rounds for the base. Make the wonder mold cake for the roof. Stack two of the 9 inch rounds on top of each other. Cut the dowel rods to the height of the stack and place four of them in a circle about midway out of the center. Place the other two 9 inch rounds on top of the stack. Add dowel rods to these two rounds as you did the first two. The dowel rods support the weight of the tiers. Place the wonder mold dome on top of the four rounds, and cover with fondant or icing.
Party Games and Activities
Paper Plate Lion Mask, inspired by Alex the Lion
This Madagascar-inspired lion mask is a great startup activity (for when your party is just starting up). Kids can join in easily as they arrive, as everyone makes their own. You can offer this along with the penguin mask below if you like.
You need a paper plate (I used 9″ plain paper plates) for each child, crayons, and elastic to hold the mask on. Note: some kids hate to wear masks… consider gluing a popsicle stick to the side of the mask so kids can hold it up instead of wearing it.
I created a template for the mask, so the hard part is already done!
Step 1: Print the template
Print the mask template on plain paper and print it out
Step 2: Transfer the template to paper plates
There are a few different ways to do this:
Carbon Paper
Use carbon paper to trace and transfer the design, then draw over the lines with a black marker
Fake Carbon Paper
For those too cheap to buy carbon paper (no offense, I’ve done it this way:) )… color the back of the template in with pencil. You don’t have to do the white areas, just wherever there are lines to transfer. Then place the template on the paper plate and trace over the lines. The pencil marks will transfer to the plate, then you can draw over them with a black marker.
Glue
This is by far the easiest way. Print as many copies of the template as you need, then cut them out and glue them onto paper plates. This works fine, just make sure you glue all the edges well so they don’t peel up as kids are coloring. Also, make sure you give the glue plenty of time to dry as crayons don’t work well if the paper is damp from glue. Also note – the glue may show through when the picture is colored.
Step 3: Cut out the eyeholes on the lines.
Step 4: Have plates and crayons ready for when kids arrive.
For colors, I used brown for the face, black for nose, inside ears, and eyebrows, red for mouth, and brown, gold, and yellow for the mane. Most kids are more creative than I am, and may want a larger choice of colors:)
Step 5: Add a mane (optional) If you want to do a little something extra with the Madagascar lion mask, use a hole punch to put a few holes along the forehead, and let kids tie yarn through the holes. You could actually add yarn all the way around, but it can be quite time consuming, and young kids will need help tying the yarn.
Step 6: Add elastic.
You can punch a small hole on each side of the mask level with the eyes, push the elastic through and knot it, or you can staple it on. Or attach a popsicle stick along one edge of the mask so kids can hold it up instead of wearing it.
That’s it – project done. Don’t forget to allow a little time to let the kids run around and roar!
Paper Plate Penguins of Madagascar Mask
Kids can’t get enough of Skipper and the other penguins. They can bring the characters to life with these Madagascar-inspired do-it-yourself penguin masks.
This penguin mask is a great startup activity (for when your party is just starting up). Kids can join in easily as they arrive, as everyone makes their own. You can offer this mask along with the lion mask above, if you like.
You need a paper plate (I used 9″ plain paper plates) for each child, black and orange crayons (or use orange construction paper), and elastic to hold the mask on. Note: some kids hate to wear masks. Consider gluing a popsicle stick to the side of the mask so kids can hold it up instead of wearing it.
I have created a template for the mask and beak, which you can download below:
Step 1: Print the template
Print both the penguin and the beak. Each penguin requires 2 beak pieces and each beak template page has 4 beaks, enough for 2 penguins
Step 2: Cut out the penguin mask template.
Step 3: Trace the penguin template onto paper plates.
Step 4:Trim
Trim the edges of the plate to match the template (where the neck curves in)
Step 5: Cut out eyeholes.
Step 6: Cut beak template
Cut the beak template page in half so there are two beaks (one square) on a page. It is easier for kids to color them if they are still on the page, not pre-cut. Note: You could put the beaks onto orange colored construction paper, then precut them.
Step 7: Color
Let the kids color the penguins and the beaks.
Step 8: Cut out beaks
Cut out colored beaks, or let kids cut them. Note: For the beaks, cut out the square, then cut the diagonal line in the middle, so you have 2 triangle shapes.
Step 9: Assemble beaks
Fold under 1/4″ at lower edge (longest edge) of beak pieces. Glue one beak piece on top of the other, so one folded edge is on top of other folded edge, and the two folded edges are inside the mouth. Glue beak onto Penguin.
Step 10: Add elastic.
You can punch a small hole on each side of the mask level with the eyes, push the elastic through and knot it, or you can staple it on. Or attach a popsicle stick along one edge of the mask so kids can hold it up instead of wearing it.
Binoculars
If you’re going to be on the lookout for any animals that may have escaped from the zoo, you’ll need a good pair of ‘binoculars’. This is a super easy craft that kids love!
Each guest needs 2 empty toilet paper rolls, plus you need heavy tape (I like electrical tape for this) and yarn to hang them with.
You can paint the rolls ahead of time if you like, or give the kids markers, stickers, etc. to decorate them with. Then simply tape the two tubes next to each other, and attach the yarn at the end so kids can wear them around their necks. I use a hole punch to make the holes for the yarn.
Just that easy you have a fun party craft activity that kids will enjoy throughout the party and afterwards.
Party Favors
Jungle Animals
You can get a tub of plastic jungle animals for a low price and send them home with party guests.
Zoo Animal Finger Puppets
These zoo animal finger puppets are adorable, affordable, and make great gifts for your party goodie bag.
Whether it’s fairy princesses, Disney princesses, a favorite fairytale, or celebrating a royal wedding, girls love to put on their finest and be princess for a day. Give your special princess a birthday she’ll never forget by throwing her a princess party where all her dreams come true.
Princess Party Invitations
Royal Announcement Invitations
Try using calligraphy (or a script-type font) on parchment paper, then rolling it up to make a scroll. Tie it with a satin ribbon. For an added touch, tie it to a tiara and hand deliver to invited guests.
If you prefer not to use scrolls, seal your invitations with wax seals for an added touch of sophistication.
Pretty Princess Invitations
Another do-it-yourself option is to add your child’s face to a princesses body. You can do this easily at faceinhole.com. Search for “princess” to see the options available. Print your photo creation and use it for the invitations. You can also take pictures of party guests and do the same for them, sending the finished photo along with the thank you note.
Princess Party Decorations
Decorating for a princess party means going over-the-top – princesses expect nothing less! Guests will know right away this is a fancy affair when you roll out a red carpet for them.
Pink is a traditional theme color for princess parties, but if you’re looking for something different, try royal reds and purples for a sumptuous royal look. Or, go with gold and silver for rich elegance and glamour.
Princess Castle
Turn your home into a princess castle for the party. With a roll of roll of flagstone paper, you can turn an entire room into a castle. It looks amazing, and doesn’t cost very much.
Tableware
Pink is always a popular color for princess parties. Pair purple plates with pink flatware for a regal touch.
Princess Party Food and Snacks
These dainty snacks and tasty treats are sure to be a hit at your princess party!
Sandwiches
Use cookie cutters to trim sandwiches into fun shapes. You can make them stars, hearts, tiaras – whatever you can come up with and find the cookie cutters for.
Fruit Platters
Fruit platters are easy, elegant, and healthy options for your party. Put clusters of fresh flowers around the tray for a beautiful centerpiece. Make sure the flowers don’t get eaten by little ones, though!
Magic Wand Treats
Dip pretzel rods in white chocolate, then roll in star-shaped sprinkles or colored sugar. You can also top with a Rice Krispie treat shaped like a star.
Magic Wand Fruit Treats
Slide pieces of fruit (strawberries, grapes – whatever you like) onto a wooden skewer. Slice a starfruit to give you star shapes and place one at the top of the skewer. You may want to remove skewer tips for younger children.
Party Drinks
Pink lemonade is an easy drink that’s perfect for a princess party. Or you can make punch and serve it in pretty plastic goblets.
Disney Princess Figurines
Princess Birthday Cakes
There are a lot of options for beautiful princess birthday cakes that you can make yourself.
Castle Cake
This Wilton romantic castle cake set makes an amazing castle cake that party guests will be talking about for a long time to come. It takes planning and patience to make it, but chances are you’ll find the end result was well worth it.
Be sure to check out the reviews on Amazon for helpful tips on making this cake.
Princess Cupcake Wrappers
Princess Party Games and Activities
Coloring Castle
This makes a royally fun arrival activity. As party guests arrive, let them help decorate this cardboard coloring castle. The birthday princess can have it as a nice keepsake after the party.
The castle measures 32H, with open-air “courtyard” so kids can stand up in the middle. Markers are not included, so make sure you have some on hand.
Pin the Crown on the Princess
Draw up a princess, draw up and cut out a crown, and make your own party game. Another variation is pin the kiss (a cut out set of lips) on the frog.
This is a fun party activity that party guests can wear at the party, and take home to play with when the party is over. The tiara craft kit comes with foil tiaras, glue stick, stickers, and pom poms. Your little princesses will love making their own tiaras.
Make Your Own Wands
Set out dowel rods, craft foam cut out in heart or star shapes, sequins, glitter, ribbon, and other craft items. Let party guests use their imaginations to create beautiful wands they can play with at the party and have as keepsakes after the party is over.
Princess Castle Play Tent
Princess Party Favors
Jewelry
Princesses love beautiful jewels and things that sparkle. Give them rhinestone rings or other fun jewelry.
Tiaras
Elegant tiaras are always in fashion with princesses!
Feather Boas
Girls love to play dress up with feather boas. They make for creative make-believe play, and your party guests will love trying them on at the party. Be sure to have a mirror nearby so they can see how beautiful they look!
Magic Wands
Every good fairy tale needs a little magic. You can buy them or have party guests make their own. (Instructions are farther up, in the Games & Activities section).
Give your special princess a birthday she’ll never forget by throwing her a princess party where all her dreams come true.
Cars is a great family movie about a racecar who learns that the winner isn’t always the one who crosses the finish line first. Disney and Pixar created an instant classic with the first Cars movie, and the Cars sequel is just as much fun than the first!
A fun family movie with a great message also makes for a great birthday party. Look below to read through these great ideas for a Cars the movie Birthday Party!
Cars Birthday Party Invitations
Want to make your own cars themed birthday invitations? (Free is always good!) Try a checkered flag, a trophy, or even a Route 66 Highway sign!
Clicking on this sign will open up a larger version. Save it, print it on card stock, cut it out if you like, and add party details to the back. You can use basic details – who, what, when, etc – or be creative. Try “Join us for a journey on the Mother Road to scenic Radiator Springs…”
Cars Birthday Party Decorations
There are a couple of directions you can go when decorating for a Cars movie themed birthday party. You can go with a Route 66 / Radiator Springs theme decor, or try racecar party decorations – or maybe some of both!
Billboards
For Radiator Springs, the effect is in the details! The first Cars movie was loaded with great retro billboards, and you can recreate the effect using posters you can make yourself.
Remember the great “Welcome to Radiator Springs” billboard? Make one with posterboard and markers and stick it at the end of your driveway. You can modify it to say ‘Gateway to [child’s name]’s Birthday Party’!
How about the simple ‘Here It Is’ billboard that was located next to the souvenir shop? Let all your party guests know where the fun is – Put one of these on your front door, or outside of the party room!
Route 66
Let everyone know they’ve found the Mother Road with Route 66 signs. There’s a printable one up in the “invitations” section.
Leaning Tower of Tires
Use Luigi’s Tower of Tires from the first movie as a centerpiece. You can make it out of chocolate mini doughnuts held together with skewers.
Cars Party Theme Tableware
Cars Party Food and Snacks
Race Day Foods
For your Cars Theme Birthday Party, you can serve ‘Race Day’ foods if you’re serving a meal. Try hotdogs, popcorn – the sort of food you would get at the races. These are easy to prepare for a large group, and most kids will enjoy them.
Fun Foods
Serve round crackers (like Ritz) and call them wheels.
Grape Kool-Aid or chocolate milk both make great ‘oil’ to drink.
Carrot sticks and celery sticks with vegetable dip make great ‘dipsticks’.
Try pistachio ice cream for dessert. Not wasabe like in Cars 2, but actual pistachio ice cream!
Cars Party Birthday Cakes
Looking to make your own cake for a birthday party based on the Disney Pixar Cars movies? There are a lot of great options for a Cars cake that are easy to do yourself.
Tire Cake
One super-easy cake option for your Cars Party is to make a tire – either racing or whitewall! Just make a round cake – 2 layers for added depth – and add chocolate frosting. For racing wheels, add the rim in the center, and use white icing to write the tire brand – ‘Lightyear’ – around the outside. (A little nod to another Disney Pixar character?)
If you prefer the classic whitewall look, add a frosting hubcap to the center, and use white frosting to add the white stripe around your wheel.
Racecar Cake Pan
3D Racecar Cake
If you’re feeling ambitious, you can make a 3D racecar cake. To do this, you need to bake (2) 9×13 cakes. When cooled, stack the two cakes on top of each other. Cut several inches off of one end of both cakes, so your main part is a good car length. Put the pieces you cut off onto the top of the cake to build up what is the windshield/roof area of the car. You can use a knife to angle any edges of the car you like and add an angle to the windshield.
Frost the cake to look like Lightning McQueen, or the car of your choice! You can use chocolate mini doughnuts for the wheels – add whitewalls if you like!
Cake Toppers
You can get a Disney Cars 2 Cake Topper that comes with Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater. Your birthday child can play with them long after the party is over.
Cars Party Games and Activities
Make License Plates
This is fun and easy craft activity for all ages. Give each party guest a piece of craft foam (construction paper works fine, too) cut into the shape of a license plate. Set out a number of craft items to decorate them with. Some ideas for decorations:
Sticker numbers and letters (mailbox number stickers works
Pipe cleaners (these bend nicely into numbers)
Stickers
Craft foam cutout shapes
Sequins
Kids will turn their license plates into glorious works of art that they can keep long after the party is over.
Obstacle Course
Kids love obstacle courses, and it’s a great way to burn off some excess energy. Use your imagination to set up a Cars theme obstacle course. Use construction cones, send them around trees, through tunnels, whatever you like. Let them practice their moves and see how they handle the course. If your course doesn’t involve any crawling, you can cut out steering wheels from cardboard and let them ‘drive’ their way through the course.
Scavenger hunts are an easy and fun way to keep party guests engaged. With this Cars scavenger hunt kit, you hide the character cards and let the party guests go to work finding them. They pick a card to see which four cards they get to collect, then race to find the matching cards as fast as they can.
Balloon Racecars
These balloon powered racecars are a lot of fun! Give one to each guest and let them race each other. Then they can take the cars home as a party favor.
Sticker Activity Books
These Disney Cars Activity Books with Stickers include games and space to put the included stickers. These make great startup activities for when the guests are arriving. Hand each guest a book as they come in and they can play with it until everyone has arrived.
Give party guests their own Piston Cup! Plastic trophies are cheap enough to get them for everyone. You can put candy in them and set them out on the table as decorations, you can use them as prizes for a party game, or send them home in loot bags.
Keychains
Kids will love these Cars 2 Lightning McQueen keychains and they’re so affordable that you can send one home with each party guest. After the party they can clip them on backpacks, hang them in their rooms, or maybe even use them for keys!
Tow Mater Hats
Turn your guests into Tow Mater with these wacky and fun Cars Tow Mater hats.
Favor Boxes
Send party favors home in this die cut Cars Party Favor Box that assembles into a lunch box shape.
Racetrack Runner
Decorate your house for a Cars party with this super cool Racetrack Runner.
The Cars movie was an instant classic when it came out, and Cars 2 is just as much fun as the first!
Summer or winter – it’s always a great time for a beach party!
Luaus are popular parties in the summer months when the weather beckons us outside, yet they’re also perfect for winter when you need a bit of summer to get you through! Whether your child likes hula and limbo or prefers sipping tropical smoothies, this is a great party for all seasons.
Check out our great party ideas to have a luau or beach party for your child’s birthday!
Luau Invitations
Unique invitations you can make for your luau or tropical beach party. Read through the great ideas below to find the one that’s perfect for your party!
DIY paper invitations
All you need is to find an image you like, then add your party details and print it. You can either it print it as a square or rectangle shape, or cut it out so your invitation is the shape of the image. Here are a few possibilities that may great beach party invitations:
Palm tree
Surfboard
Aloha Shirt
Postcards
These make super easy and unique invitations to your luau! Just get some Hawaii postcards, add your party details to the back, and mail them to party guests.
Airline Ticket Invitations
These are so easy to do! Use a rectangular piece of paper and add “airline” information:
Passenger: (Guest’s name here)
Destination: (Party address here), just outside Waikiki (or paradise, or whatever you like)
Arrival: (Party date and start time)
Departure: (Party end time)
Flight number: 010414 (Child’s birth date)
You will need text explaining that this is a luau or Hawaiian party, which you can put on the back.
Sample invitation text:
Aloha! Join us for a tropical luau celebrating the birthday of (child’s name). There will be hula, limbo and pupus. Be sure to wear your island attire!
Beach Party Decorations
Try these great luau decorations for your party:
Surfboards cut from cardboard and painted
Tropical Posters on the windows
Use Beach Towels (especially tropical print) as wall hangings
Make a ‘Tiki Bar’ or ‘Snack Shack’ –Use raffia to decorate an area of your house (this is great for a deck outside, or maybe your kitchen or a breakfast nook for an indoor party) to look like a grass hut. Make a ‘Tiki Bar’ or ‘Snack Shack’ sign. Serve fruit smoothies, or set out the snacks here.
Luau Party Tableware
Bright Colors
Think bright and bold for your luau tableware. Mix it up a little – red plates, yellow napkins – all the colors of the flowers of Hawaii. And don’t forget the drink umbrellas!
Luau Party Food & Snacks
Serve food fit for your King Kalakaua or Queen Liliukolani.
Pineapple
You can’t have a luau without pineapple! Here’s how to cut and serve a fresh pineapple:
Remove the top by twisting it until it pulls off
Cut the pineapple down the middle, starting at the top and slicing the long way down
Cut each pineapple half in half again, still the long way
The center or core area of the pineapple is tough. Cut out the center by slicing it off the long way
Cut slices into the pineapple by starting from what was the core and slicing down close to the rind
Start at an end of the pineapple and cut along the rind under the cuts you made
Serve the pineapple in the rind
Goldfish Crackers
Kids love these, and the fun fish shapes are a perfect fit for a luau or beach party.
Tropical Fruit Smoothies
Pick your favorite tropical fruit, mix in some fruit juice and ice, and blend until smooth
Fruit Kabobs
Put chunks of fruit on skewers – bananas, pineapple, whatever you like. Top them off with a maraschino cherry.
Luau and Beach Party Cakes
This great pool party birthday cake was sent in by Tracy S. in Florida. It has blue Jello in the pool, and has Teddy Grahams sitting in gummy Life Saver life rings.
Luau and Beach Party Games and Activities
Lei Making
Cut flowers from colored paper. Use a paper punch to put holes in the center. Cut colored straws into 1 inch pieces. Let kids string the flowers and straws into a length of yarn.
Hula Hoop Contest
Make sure you have enough space! Give kids a hula hoop and let them test their skills.
Pineapple Bowling
Set up three pineapples and use a heavy ball – like a basketball or bowling ball – to knock them over. Or you can buy this island bowling kit that comes with ten plastic pineapple bowling pins and two plastic coconut balls.
Limbo
How low can you go? Set up a limbo set and see who’s the most flexible.
Pin the Monkey on the Palm Tree
Try a tropical variation on the classic party game.
Pass the Coconut
Play a game of hot potato using a coconut.
Decorate Coconuts
Give each guest a coconut and set out markers or paint, googly eyes, and other craft items. Let guests decorate their coconuts. You can take a group picture of all the kids with their coconuts, and send it in the thank you card.
Hula Dancing
Get a hula dancing DVD. Play it for party guests and let them follow along.
Sand Castles
You need a kiddie sandbox and sand for this. Put some sand toys in the sandbox, add a little water, and let the kids build sandcastles.
Luau and Beach Party Favors
Leis
Greet guests island-style with a Hawaiian lei! If you’re planning to make paper flower leis as one of your activities, greet guests with a shell lei.
Everyone loves Curious George! The lovable little monkey has captured children’s hearts and imaginations for generations. If your child loves monkey business, this is the party for you!
With so many Curious George books, you can take this theme anywhere you want to… Curious George Visits the Zoo, the Circus, Takes a Train, Goes to the Beach... you can do so much with a Curious George birthday party!
Curious George Party Invitations
The Houghton Mifflin site has an invitation you can download or print, as well as activity and coloring sheets, printable Curious George nametags and more! You can see them at:
Bold primary colors – red, yellow, and blue – are great for a Curious George Birthday Party.
Monkey Business
Hang a sign at the end of the driveway, over the front door, or over the party room that says “Enter Here for Monkey Business”. Make signs that say “Caution, Monkeys at Play” and hang them outside.
Don’t Get Carried Away
Buy a stuffed Curious George toy, and tie a balloon bouquet to him. Send every guest home with a balloon at the end of the party.
At the Circus
Make your party room look like a circus tent! Tie streamers to the center of the ceiling so they start from central point, then drape them down and out to the sides – just like the top of a circus tent. Red, yellow & blue streamers look great for a Curious George party.
Inflatable Monkey
Curious George Tableware
Bright, bold primary colors are the way to go for your Curious George theme Birthday Party! Try red plates, blue cups, and yellow forks & spoons for great contrast.
Curious George Party Food and Snacks
Go Bananas!
Bananas make great snacks, or try banana bread. Finish your party off with banana splits.
Monkey Tails
Monkey tails can be anything that, well, looks like a monkey tail. Have hot dogs and call them monkey tails.
You can make monkey tails out of breadstick dough (the kind that comes in a tube). Just roll them in cinnamon & sugar and bake according to package directions.
Big pretzel sticks can be monkey tails – just use your imagination.
Monkey Chow
Trail mix makes great ‘monkey chow’ – especially if it has dried bananas in it.
Go with the Theme
If you have based your party on a particular Curious George book, get food ideas from the story. Curious George goes to the Circus – offer circus snacks – cotton candy, peanuts etc. Curious George Makes Pancakes too.
If you went with more of a jungle theme, choose tropical fruit – pineapple, bananas, etc. Just look to the books for inspiration.
Bake the round cake according to your recipe directions. Remove it from the pan when done.
For the ball pan, you only need 1/2 of the ball cake – just one of the two pans. Follow the pan directions to bake this cake.
After the cakes have cooled, place the 1/2 ball cake, flat side down, onto the round cake, near the bottom. This is the mouth/nose are of the monkey face. Frost with chocolate frosting. You can add white frosting to chocolate frosting to make lighter shades of brown. Add eyes, nostrils, etc. to make Curious George’s face, and you have the perfect Curious George birthday cake that was oh-so-easy to make!
King Kong Cake
This is an example of a cake made with this technique. This one is decorated as King Kong, but the idea is the same.
Curious George Party Games and Activities
Go Bananas
Have a ‘Banana’ Scavenger Hunt. Cut matching banana shapes out of yellow construction paper. Staple two together, leaving the top end open so you can put a prize (candy or small toy) inside. Hide these in a room or around the yard, and tell each child to find one banana.
Pin the Tail on the Monkey
You know how this one works:)
Monkey Business
For outdoor parties, a play structure makes for a great place for monkey business – you know, a jungle gym! For indoor parties, trying putting a bunch of soft balls in a room, and just let the kids run and play, Curious George style.
Books
Why not read a Curious George book to your party guests? Maybe Curious George and the Birthday Surprise. If you are having a lot of young children who will be accompanied by parents, you can set out a variety of Curious George books, and the young guests can choose one for their parents to read to them.
Play Like Curious George
Party Favors
Beach Balls
Beach Balls are fun for playing like Curious George. Kids can play with them at the party – if you have the space – and take them home as party favors.
Jungle/Zoo Animals
Plastic zoo animal toys make great party favors, and are affordable, too.
Barrel of Monkeys
You remember this classic childhood favorite! They make a great party favor for a Curious George party.
This lovable little monkey has captured children’s hearts and imaginations for generations.
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Howdy pardners! It’s time to round up all the cowboys and cowgirls for a western theme birthday party. Whether your child is into rodeo, horses, or the wild west, this is a fun party for everyone. So saddle up and put on your favorite hat, we’ve got a party to plan.
Western Birthday Party Invitations
There are lots of fun option for western birthday party invitations.
Make Your Own Wanted Poster Invitations
These are so easy to make yourself! Pick a western font, add a photo of the birthday child in western gear to the center, type your text and you’ve got your personalized Wanted Poster Birthday Party invitations.
Print them on parchment paper, then tear and burn the edges for an authentic old-west look.
Brand Your Envelopes
Seal envelopes with your own wax-seal ‘brand’. You can create a brand (as in for branding cows) and use it to seal envelopes. Create one using one of your child’s initials, or whatever you like.
Create the seal out of Sculpey – just shape a handle and a flat round bottom and carve your brand in the bottom with a toothpick. Remember to do it in reverse so it stamps the right way.
For the wax, try glue gun sealing wax. It fits in your mini glue gun so there is no burning or melting, and it is softer than traditional wax so it mails better. Comes in a variety of colors, too!
Note: If you make your own seal out of Sculpey, spray it with cooking spray before each use and let it sit on ice between uses. This will make the wax release from the Sculpey easier.
Western Party Decorations
There are so many decorations that look great at a Western Party! You can use southwestern decorations, ‘cowboy’ decorations, ranch decorations, and more!
Hay Bales
Set hay bales around for decorations. Have a saddle (or know someone who has one you can borrow)? Set it on a hay bale and let kids go for a ‘ride’.
Take pictures and send them to guests with a thank you note!
Wanted Posters
Make your own Wanted Posters – easy to do on your computer. You can use a picture of the birthday child or other family members, too. Give them a fun name (‘Lucky Luke’ or whatever). For crimes, you can go with traditional wild west crimes like Cattle Rustlin’, Horse Thievin’ or Gun Slingin’ or make up fun crimes such as Cookie Stealin’ or Horsin’ Around.
You can make these on paper bags for an aged look. Cut paper bags to a proper size for your printer, and print right on the bags. Make sure the bags aren’t too wrinkled, though, or they may become stuck in the printer.
Bandanas are a traditional western look, and these bandana print plates will look great on your party table.
Party Food and Snacks
Food for a western party can be easy! Serve beans and franks or hot dogs and chips. You can pair it with corn on the cob or sweet cornbread (see recipe below).
Serve food in pie tins – just like eating ‘out on the range’! Hang a sign that says ‘Chuck Wagon’ over your dining area. Label the area where your drinks are ‘Saloon’.
Drinks
Sasparilla – old fashioned root beer in brown bottles
Cactus Juice – Green Kool Aid or juice and lemon lime soda. Add lime sherbet if you like.
Serve chips, peanuts or popcorn in straw cowboy hats lined with napkins
Set out chocolate no-bake cookies and label them ‘cow pies’.
Ono-Licious Cornbread Recipe
This is a recipe for sweet cornbread that kids love! ‘Ono’ is the Hawaiian word for ‘good’, and this recipe came from someone in Hawaii. Yes, they have cowboys in Hawaii, where they are called paniolo.
8″x8″ pan 3/4 cup butter 1 1/2 cups Bisquick 3/4 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 3 tablespoons corn meal 3/4 cup milk 2 eggs, slightly beaten
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease pan. Melt butter and gradually add to dry ingredients. Stir in milk and eggs. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes.
Western Cowboy/Cowgirl Birthday Cakes
Cowboy Cake
For a Birthday Cake for your Cowboy or Cowgirl, you can add plastic cowboy figures to a cake. Build a fence out of pretzel sticks stuck together with icing.
Instead of piping a frosting border around the edge, make a ‘barbed wire’ border out of black rope licorice. Take a piece long enough to lay around the outside edge of the cake. Take another piece and tie around the long piece. Trim to make the barb. Keep adding barbs every couple of inches unitl they go all the way around. Lay the ‘wire’ around the outside edge of the cake.
Pony Cake
The Wilton Pony Cake Pan is an easy way to make an amazing cake that your birthday child will love. Pour the cake in the pan, bake it, then decorate as you like giving you lots of style options.
Party Games and Activities
Pan for Gold
This is a fun activity for kids of all ages! It requires a sandbox or a large tub of sand (Kiddie pools filled with sand work great for this too). You need to buy ‘treasures’ to put in the sand, such as marbles, beads, colorful stones, jewels, etc.
Mix the treasures around in the sand, then give each child a cup (one or two at a time is probably best, based on the size of your sandbox). Keep some extra treasures aside so you can replenish the sandbox. You don’t want to end up with the first few gold miners getting all the treasure!
Let them scoop one cupful of sand and pour it into a strainer. For strainers, you can use beach toy sand strainers, flour sifters, or a pie pan with holes punched in the bottom.
They shake the sand from the strainer, leaving them with their treasures. You can make your own loot bags to give the kids to hold their treasure, or use paper lunch bags decorated with cowboy stickers or designs. You can let them decorate their own bags as a party activity.
Rope ’em Cowboy
This requires a rope and something to be roped. You can use a large stuffed animal, kid’s rocking horse, or build something yourself. Use the rope as a lasso and let each guest try to rope your horse or steer.
Snake Drop
Set out a cowboy boot. Have each child try to drop a rubber snake (also works with a bean bag or a clothespin ) in the boot. For older kids, have them stand farther back and try to toss it in. For very young children, use a cowboy hat instead of a boot and they’ll have an easier time making it in.
Hay Search
Spread out a couple of bales of hay, mix in a large quantity of wrapped candy or small toys, and let the kids search through it to find the treasure.
Note: This makes a good outdoor activity. If you don’t want to rake up the hay or leave it in your yard, put it on a tarp to make for easier cleanup.
Pin the Tail on the Donkey
You can go with the traditional donkey or try a variation on this classic party game. Try ‘Pin the Badge on the Sheriff’ or ‘Pin the Mustache on the Outlaw’!
Tin Can Shoot ’em Up
This game requires squirt guns and targets. For targets, try empty cans or soda bottles – something fairly easy to tip over. Set up a few targets and have party guests take turns trying to knock over the targets with the squirt guns.
Another variation of this is to make targets out of crepe paper – whatever shape you like – and have the kids all fire at their targets at once. First one to put a hole in the target wins.
Horseshoes
This is an easy-to-play outdoor game. You can use kids horseshoe sets with non-metal horseshoes so no one gets hurt.
Rodeo Ridin’
Play this with hobby horses. You can buy a hobby horse, make your own with brooms, or just use plain brooms and imagination. Have kids run through an obstacle course with their ‘horses’. Use bales of hay for obstacles to jump over or run around for added western flair.
Cattle Roundup
Use your hobby horses from the Rodeo Ridin’ activity (above) and balloons. Split guests into two teams, and give a hobby horse to the first person on each team. Put a balloon (the steer) in front of each of them, and have them maneuver the balloon through a course (or across a room) while staying on their ‘horse’. They go through the course and back, giving the horse and steer (balloon) to the next person in line.
Western Cowboy Vests
Make these out of paper grocery bags. Cut a slit up the front, round the neck, then cut out arm holes and you have a free cowboy vest! You can let the kids rip fring on the bottom, or decorate as they like.
Tin Cups
These “tin” drinking cups will make party guests feel like real cowboys and cowgirls!
Western Party Favors
Squirt Guns
You can use these for party games or send them home in loot bags.
Kids love pirates, and a pirate theme party is always a big hit. Whether your child loves Jake and the Never Land Pirates, Pirates of the Caribbean, Goonies, or all kinds of pirates, there are so many fun things you can do with a pirate theme that your child may want a pirate birthday party every year!
Pirate Party Invitations
Treasure Map Invitations
For text, try pirate lingo… “Ahoy Matey! Ye be invited to Captain [Child’s Name here] Pirate Party. Chart your course fer [address], we’ll be settin sail the [6th of June] at [time]. Wave yer flag if ye be attendin, or call by phone [phone number].
Change the text to fit your party as you like.
For a Pirates of the Caribbean Party, you can say “Join us as we sail across the Caribbean in search of Aztec Gold”!
Instead of cutting your invitations neatly, try tearing them apart to give them rougher edges, or used fancy edged scissors. You can also slightly burn the edges.
To age your paper and give it that authentic treasure map look, follow these steps:
Crinkle them a little (not too much, they need to be legible)
Make some strong tea – it should be nice and dark
Put the tea in a spray bottle
Lightly spray the invitations with the tea
Dry in the sun, with a hairdryer, or with an iron
If you don’t want to bother with the tea, just use parchment paper (available at office supply stores) which already has an aged look to it. Finish them off with parchment paper envelopes, sealed with glue gun sealing wax. (This stuff is great – looks like a wax seal, but it comes in sticks which fit in your mini glue gun – It is more pliable than regular wax, so it mails better!)
Party Decorations
Treasure Chest
>A treasure chest makes a great decoration for a pirate party. You can decorate a cardboard box, or buy a plastic treasure chest. You can use it as a toy box after the party.
Skeletons and Scary Things
For a Pirates of the Caribbean Party, raid your Halloween decorations. Skeletons look great hanging around the house. Add an eye patch, bandana, pirate hat and coat to a large plastic skeleton for an authentic-looking skeleton pirate.
Take the Wheel
Cut a ship’s wheel out of cardboard and hang it on the wall for an easy (and free!) pirate party decoration.
Aw, Coconuts
Place some coconuts around for a tropical island look. For extra fun, you can open them up and let the kids try some of the coconut milk inside.
Tableware
Pirate Colors
For a pirate party, black tableware looks great, or black with red accents. You can also go with gold tableware to go with all your pirate treasure.
Party Food and Snacks
Fruit Kabobs
To a kid, anything on a spear is cool. I like to cut the tips off the skewers just to be safe. Add pineapple, grapes, whatever you think your group will eat. Call them fruit spears and top them off with a maraschino cherry cannonball.
Tropical Fruit
Fresh tropical fruits are popular with hungry pirates. Try some of these:
Pineapple
Bananas
Kiwi
Starfruit
Chicken Peg Legs
Chicken wings make great ‘peg legs’ that kids will eat up!
Walk the Plank
Have granola bars or graham crackers as snacks and call them planks.
Ants on a Plank
Turn the traditional “ants on a log” (peanut butter on celery sticks, topped with raisins) into a fun pirate treat by calling it ants on a plank.
Birthday Cakes
Treasure Island Cake
This cake is super easy to make, and will serve a large group of kids.
Make an 9 x 13″ cake and frost it light blue (water). Make a round cake and frost it light brown (sand). To get light brown frosting, you can buy the paste food coloring in brown and mix it with white frosting. You can also sprinkle graham cracker crumbs in the frosting to give it an authentic ‘sandy’ look.
Put the round cake (island) on top of the ‘water’ cake. Add some plastic palm trees, and a couple of toy pirates. Root beer barrels make great edible props on this cake. Use mini candy bars stacked on top of each other for a treasure chest, then add a few Skittles around it as jewels.
Party Games and Activities
Pirate Names
This is not really a game or activity, but is a lot of fun anyway. You can assign each child a pirate name, and put it on a nametag. For pirate names, there is a really fun pirate book called Everything I Know About Pirates by Tom Lichtenheld. It has a chart you can use to make up great pirate names.
You may want to work in the child’s real name like ‘Long Tooth Tim’ or something along those lines. Another alternative is to let kids come up with their own pirate names (better for older kids).
Pin the Parrot on the Pirate
Play a pirate variation of this classic party game. You can make your own pirate and parrot, or purchase a paper one.
Walk the Plank
There are a lot of ways to do this. A long board on the ground can serve as a plank, and you can have the kids try to balance on it. You can blindfold older kids, to make it a little more difficult (and fun) for them.
Another variation is to place the plank (tightly secured) over a kiddie pool. Add some toy sharks for fun. You can also do this with an ironing board, which is wider and therefore easier for younger kids. Note: If you do this activity, supervise at all times, and never leave a pool of water where little kids may fall into it!
Party Favors
Pirate Treasure Chests
Use plastic pirate chests as an alternative to loot bags. They hold lots of stuff, kids love to get them, and they find so many creative uses for them after the party. It’s a great toy for a kid’s imagination.
Pirate Treasure
Get plastic pirate jewels and use them to decorate your cake, scatter them across as table as added decoration, give them as prizes for party games, or send them home in pirate loot bags or treasure chests.
Pirate Coins
Put toy coins in the goodie bags or treasure chests, or use them as prizes for party games.
Eye Patches
Pirate eye patches are an easy and affordable way to turn your party guests into pirates. Kids can wear them at the party and take them home for more make-believe pirate fun.
There are so many fun things to do with a pirate theme, your child may want a pirate party every year.
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Whether you are celebrating your child’s birthday or the birthday of the boy wizard himself (July 31), there are all kinds of reasons to have a Harry Potter party. There are so many great ‘props’ available for a Harry Potter party, kids of all ages (even the adult ones) can’t help but have fun with it!
There are a lot of fun ways to create your own clever invitations for a Harry Potter party. Pick up some parchment paper, available at your local office supply store to give your invitations an authentic Hogwarts look. For the invitation wording, look to the first Harry Potter book (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone aka Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone) to see Harry’s first letter from Hogwarts. It was written in green ink with a purple wax seal on the outside. A sample invitation based on this letter is shown to the right.
Sample Text for Hogwart’s Invitation
This is the wording I used for a Harry Potter party invitation. For those who don’t know, Muggles are non-magical people, Ollivanders is the name of the store that sells magic wands, and in the world of wizards, owls deliver the mail. Over 20 children were invited to this party, so we chose to not have them bring gifts. I left in the line asking them not to bring gifts. Change it as it fits your needs – be creative! The Hogwarts crest was at the top of the page. This is the wording of the rest of the invitation:
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE (Order of Merlin First Class Grand Sorc. Chf. Warlock Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Mr. (or Miss) [Child’s Name Here]:
We are pleased to inform you that you have been invited to a celebration at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in honor of [birthday child’s name here] [age here] birthday. You can wear wizard attire, or, if you prefer, dress in the Muggle manner. Magic wands will be provided by Ollivanders. The celebration will take place on [party date] from [party start time] to [party end time]. Snacks will be available. This opportunity for [birthday child’s first name] to share a magical time with friends is his birthday present so please, no gifts. We await your own by no later than [RSVP date]. If you are unable to reply by owl, you can RSVP to [email address here, if you like] or by Muggle phone at [phone number].
Yours Sincerely,
[parent name signed] [parent name typed] Deputy Headmistress (or Deputy Headmaster)
Wax Seal
If you want a wax seal on your invitations, I recommend glue gun sealing wax. It works like wax, but you put it in your mini glue gun. This means there is no smoke or flame, and it is softer than traditional wax, so it goes through the mail better.
For the seal itself, you can buy a Hogwarts wax seal. If you’d rather customize one of your own, you can make one out of Sculpey. The Hogwarts crest with an ‘H’ in the middle isn’t hard to do – just remember to create it backwards so it stamps properly! Be sure to chill the seal before you use it – you can set it on top of ice to keep it chilled while you work. The Sealing Wax sets up better that way.
Party Map
Want to include a map to the party location? Try printing an internet map on parchment paper and cut it into a small square (this way you can get four to a page). You can add the following words from the Marauder’s Map at the top:
Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers are proud to present The Marauder’s Map
You can also add this to your map: Look for Platform 9 3/4 to get to Hogwarts! Platform 9 3/4 is where the magical kids catch the train to Hogwarts. Put helium balloons on the mailbox or somewhere outside your house, and write 9 3/4 on them to make it easier for parents to find the house.
Delivering the Invitations
Since it’s unlikely you can get an owl to deliver the invitations, you’ll have to find some other way! If you are hand-delivering invitations, you could roll them up like a scroll and tie them with a ribbon. If you are mailing the party invitations, get parchment paper envelopes. Try printing them on a computer with green ink. Underneath the child’s name, add: The Cupboard Under the Stairs above the address. (This is how Harry’s first letter was addressed.) Since they can’t come by owl post, try printing a picture of an owl on the outside.
Harry Potter Decorations
Turn Your Home Into Hogwarts
When it comes to decorations for a Harry Potter party, I say go Hogwarts! You can turn your home into a castle, and it’s easier than you may think.
Castle Walls
With a roll of flagstone paper, you can turn an entire room into a castle. It looks amazing, and doesn’t cost very much.
Hogwarts Crest See the picture of the boy with the Hogwarts Crest behind him? That was made on poster board (the kind with the grid which is very helpful for non-artistic types) and painted. If you’re not feeling confident in your artistic abilities, you can also buy a Hogwarts crest decal.
Platform 9 3/4
If you have half a trolley laying around, you can build your own Platform 9 3/4 like this one inside King’s Cross Station in London. If not, you can buy a Platform 9 3/4 Poster that’s the same idea without needing an actual brick wall.
Another option is the awesome Platform 9 3/4 shower curtain. Hang it in a doorway and cut a slit up the middle. Kids cross through it to enter the party room.
Invite Harry Potter to the Party
Party guests will love having their photo taken with this Harry Potter standup When you use these kinds of props, you create the perfect opportunity for a photo. Snap a picture of each partygoer in front of your fabulous backdrop, and send it to them with your thank you note. Photos make a great souvenir from an unforgettable party!
Tableware
House Colors
For your Harry Potter party tableware, you can choose colors from the Houses of Hogwarts. Gryffindor’s colors are scarlet and gold, Hufflepuff’s are yellow and black, Ravenclaw’s are blue and bronze (blue and gray in the movies), and Slytherin’s colors are green and silver.
Another option is to use solid gold colored plates, just like they use at Hogwarts. For cups, kids love plastic goblets. You can purchase them inexpensively from most party supply stores.
Harry Potter Party Food and Snacks
Pretzel Wands
Dip long pretzel sticks into frosting, then roll them in the sprinkles of your choice. Put them in a cup to serve.
Cauldron Punch
Mixing Kool-Aid and 7-Up makes a great drinkable potion. If you really want to have fun with it, get an Erlenmeyer Flask (scientific flask). Add a packet of Kool-Aid to your newly acquired flask. Then, in front of the kids, pour in some 7-Up. Don’t overdo it, because it is going to bubble and fizz right up to the top! Then pour the mixture into your punch bowl. Add a 2 liter of 7-Up, sugar (yes, you still need sugar even though you are mixing with 7-Up – I suggest 1/2 cup), stir and serve in plastic goblets. To really have fun with this, get a big plastic cauldron, put your punch bowl inside of it, then serve from the cauldron.
Pumpkin Juice
In Harry Potter, the kids at Hogwarts drink pumpkin juice. I have never tried real pumpkin juice, but if you serve orange Kool-Aid and call it pumpkin juice, the kids will most likely prefer that to the real thing! Another option is to make pumpkin smoothies. Blend canned pumpkin with milk and crushed ice, some sugar and a little cinnamon and nutmeg for a pumpkin-pie flavored treat.
Harry Potter Cakes
There are so many amazing options for a Harry Potter birthday cake. Whether you choose to get one from a bakery or make your own cake, you can make it amazing!
Castle Cake
Make 2 cakes in regular cake pans. Stack one on top of the other. For the towers, cut 2 ice cream cones in half the long way. Place one of the halves upside down at the base of each corner. Place a whole ice cream cone on top of each half, facing upright. You can add upside down sugar cones to the top if you want pointed rooftops.
If you want a gray castle, make gray frosting by adding black paste food coloring to white frosting. Frost the cake and the towers. If you are using the sugar cones, you can make dress them up a little by making a paste of powdered sugar & water, painting it on them, and rolling them (while still wet) in black sprinkles.
The cake you see here was made for a “Knight” birthday party, but works well for a Harry Potter party.
Castle Cake from a Bakery
Don’t want to make your own Castle Cake? If you give the above information to your local bakery, they should be able to do it for you! This is a Harry Potter Hogwarts castle cake made by a bakery.
Quidditch Cake
Make a cake that looks like a Quidditch field! Using either a regular cake pan or a sheet cake pan, bake your choice of cake. Frost the top green, and add three sticks with hoops (varying lengths) at each end. You could make these with Sculpey or use stir sticks with the plastic rings that seal the lids on gallons of milk, or use bubble wands. Use graham crackers to create the towers, and frost them in the colors of the school houses.
The Harry Potter Quidditch Cake pictured here was made by Kerry M. of Georgia. It’s a six-layer cake (4 yellow and 2 chocolate) with a layer of buttercream icing and covered in fondant.
The top of the cake is iced with green glitter icing and sprinkled with green sugar crystals for ‘grass..’ Angel food cake slices with fondant and painted with food coloring make the stands.
The house animal (red-gryffindor-lion, yellow-hufflepuff-badger, blue-ravenclaw-raven, green-slytherin-snake) is painted on the front of each house stand. The flags are strips of fruit rollup.
The base of the cake is meant to be ‘rock’ and is made from coco krispie treats (made with chocolate marshmallow) and have candy ‘grass’ tufts. The goal posts are made from spaghetti and lifesavers, secured with icing.
The people are made out of fondant and wrapped in fruit rollups (except Madame Hooch, who is wearing a fondant robe) and riding pretzel brooms with fruit rollup bristles. Two of the players have the bludger bats and one has the quaffle. Two bludgers and the golden snitch are coming off the cake via wire. Madame Hooch is standing by the trunk the balls/bats go in when not in play. It’s made from chocolate, chocolate marshmallows and cinnamon graham crackers.
Harry Potter Quidditch CakeTop viewGryffindor Quidditch TeamMadame HoochSide view
Wizard Hat Cake
Make a cake in an 9 x 13 ” cake pan. Turn the cake out. Trim the sides so the cake is shaped like a triangle with a point at the top (see photo below left). You can use the pieces you cut off to make an identical cake – trim the bottom straight if you don’t like the point. (see photo below right)
Note: If you are using store-bought frosting, you can get by with one can for both cakes if you are very frugal, but I recommend buying two cans.
Frost and decorate as you wish – use star-shaped sprinkles, or trim fruit leather into stars and moons if you wish! Frost black for a more traditional Harry Potter look.
This cake is very easy to make and decorate – the birthday child can help decorate too!
Golden Snitch Cake
Have you read the last Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows? Harry’s birthday cake (courtesy of Mrs. Weasley) is shaped like a golden snitch. Now you can have your very own golden snitch birthday cake – and it’s very easy to do. All you need is a ball cake pan.
Bake the cake according to the pan directions, then add your golden frosting (yellow food coloring to white frosting). Use icing and a decorating tip to add the wings, and then you have your Harry Potter golden snitch cake.
Castle Cake Pan
Harry Potter Party Games and Activities
Sort Students
Students at Hogwarts are sorted into four different houses – Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw & Slytherin – by an old hat known as the Sorting Hat. When you place it upon your head, it decides which house you belong in.
You can sort students into houses as well. You need an old-looking witches hat (or buy a Hogwarts Sorting Hat. Put the various house names on slips of paper and have each child draw one out to see which house they will belong to.
Note: Some kids – especially younger ones – will just want to be in Gryffindor House (like Harry, Ron & Hermione). Sorting into different houses is more fun for older kids – I suggest they be at least upper elementary!
Scavenger Hunt
Scavenger Hunts are a great party activity for all ages – they can easily be altered to make easier for young children or more difficult for older ones.
For a Scavenger Hunt at a Harry Potter party, there are a lot of great props available that are inexpensive:
Basilisks (plastic snakes)
Plastic frogs (Trevor, like Neville Longbottom’s frog)
Gold galleons (Use shiny toy coins for wizard money)
Sorcerer’s stones (decorative stones)
Golden snitch (ping pong balls spray painted gold with wings glued on)
Give the kids a list of what item to look for. If you have young children playing, add a picture of each item next to it to help them locate items without reading.
I have done this before as a ‘Gryffindor Common Room Lost & Found’ list. If you are making Goodie Bags (see below under Party Favors), kids can put items in their bags as they find them. If you made Broomstick Pencils (also under Party Favors, below), they can check off items with the pencil.
Magic Wands
Dowel Rods make great magic wands, and they’re cheap! You can get them at Hobby Lobby if you have one around you, and other craft/hobby stores.
As an activity you can let the kids decorate them. Put glue in one cup, and sequins or glitter in another. Let the kids dunk the ends to decorate.
Bertie Bott Bean Tasting
This is a simple activity that usually gets a lot of laughs. In the books, Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans are jelly beans that come in every flavor (even flavors such as ear wax!) There are some great flavors – like buttered popcorn – and some really terrible ones like dirt, pepper, sardines, and the very worst… vomit.
They come with a flavor chart so you can identify what you are getting. Let each child choose one, and see if they can guess the flavor. Keep a garbage can handy! Kids usually enjoy this – and get a lot of laughs from watching other kids faces as they taste these ‘treats’.
LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts
Harry Potter Party Favors
Harry Potter Glasses
Everyone knows Harry Potter by his glasses. Party guests will have a blast with their very own pair of Harry Potter glasses.
Broomstick Pencils
To make these you need pencils and natural raffia. Put a small piece of tape sticky side out around the top of the pencil on the metal area near the eraser. Cut several pieces of raffia and lay them on the tape all the way around the pencil. Take another piece of raffia and wrap it around the taped area, tying down the other pieces of raffia. Tie it off and you have a broomstick pencil.
Chocolate Frogs
You can buy chocolate frogs that come with wizard cards (just like in the Harry Potter books), but it is more cost effective to make them. You need a frog candy mold They are easy to make – follow the directions on the package of chocloate candy melts.
In the Harry Potter books, the chocolate frogs come with ‘Famous Witches & Wizards’ trading cards. You can substitute the Harry Potter trading cards, or make your own witches & wizards cards.
Put them in baggies, tie them with a ribbon. Consider adding a ‘Honeydukes Sweet Shop’ tag (that’s the candy store in the wizarding world).
Make Your Own Goodie Bags
Cloth bags are easy to make, inexpensive, and a keepsake for party guests. Use a length of felt (how long depends on how many you need to make), and trace around something round – like a dinner plate. Cut out the felt circle, then punch a series of holes around the top.
There may be a tool that will do this easier, but I used a paper hole punch – a little tiring on the hands, but it worked fine. Thread some yarn through the holes, leaving the ends long enough to tie together. Put knots on the ends, so they don’t come unthreaded.
The bags can be used to carry party favors, or put scavenger hunt items in if you are having a scavenger hunt.
Lightning Bolt Tattoos
Harry Potter was always recognized by the distinctive lightning bolt scar on his tattoo. Give your party guests their own Harry Potter “scar” with lightning bolt temporary tattoos.
Magic Wands
Kids can make these themselves with dowel rods (see instructions for this in the Games & Activities section) or you can use glow sticks or even sticks you find outside.
Whether you are celebrating your child’s birthday or the birthday of the boy wizard himself (July 31), there are all kinds of reasons to have a Harry Potter party.
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Your mission: Throw your child a great spy-themed birthday party. Secret codes, high security, everyone knows the password to fun is ‘spy party’!
If your child is a fan of Phineas & Ferb, Spy Kids, Agent Cody Banks, Mission Impossible, James Bond or Totally Spies, a spy party is sure to make your Secret Agent’s special day be the best birthday ever.
Secret Agent Birthday Party Invitations
Secret Code Invitations
Secret Code Cipher Card
These are cool party invitations that are easy to make yourself. First, you need to create a secret code. The easiest way to do this is with a font like Wingdings. Type every letter of the alphabet, then change the font to Wingdings or another symbol font. Type the regular alphabet underneath your “coded” alphabet. This gives you a “Cipher Card” that you can use to read or write in code.
The next step is to create the invitation, putting certain words into code – just use the Wingdings font to type them. Send each guest the invitation and a cipher card so they can translate the coded words. The cipher cards can also be used for the Secret Code party game (see below in the Games & Activities section).
Try out this text for your invitations, putting the words in [brackets] into your font code:
Attention all secret agents: Your presence is requested for a top secret mission. There is a [birthday party] for Agent 0025. Password for entry is [password]. Use the cipher card to decode secret words. See full mission details on the other side of this document.
Print the party details on the reverse side – child’s name, party date, location, etc. Add an official looking seal or logo to finish it off. The example below shows the CIA seal. You can learn more about the CIA seal it on the CIA website.
Set up the party room as “Headquarters” or “Top Secret Base” – post a sign on the door. Be sure to add some “Authorized Personnel Only” signs, too.
Retina Scan
Get a small cardboard box. Cut a hole – about eye-size – on one side. Place a mini-flashlight inside, pointing up so it illuminates the hole without blinding anyone. Set up the box child-level outside the party room, with a sign that says “Retina Scanner”. Partygoers have to pass the eye scan before entering. You can add a small pad for a pretend thumbprint scan, too.
Add a chalk-outlined victim to the sidewalk or driveway outside if you’re having the party at home. If you don’t want “bodies” laying around, try chalk shoeprints leading up to the door instead.
Police lights make great party decorations and are reasonably priced, too.
Secret Agent Music
Create a playlist of all the best secret agent music and play it during the party.
Spy Party Tableware
Black tableware is a great choice for your spy party – mysterious and sophisticated, just like all the best secret agents! Try black plates with silver cups and napkins for a hi-tech look.
Party Food and Snacks
For those sophisticated kids who prefer their party beverages shaken, not stirred, try serving Shirley Temples in plastic martini glasses. For those who don’t know, Shirley Temples are non-alcoholic drinks made with either ginger ale or lemon lime soda like 7 Up, and grenadine. You don’t have to call them Shirley Temples – not a terribly cool name for a secret agent drink! Call them whatever you like, add a couple of cherries to a plastic sword, and you’ll have the most sophisticated spies around.
Spy Gear
Secret Agent Birthday Cakes
Bomb Cake
For your spy-themed birthday party, bake a cake that’s really ‘the bomb!’ This cake is easy to do; you just need a sports ball cake pan.
Follow the directions for the pan, then frost black. You can add black paste food coloring to chocolate frosting for a good, true black. If you don’t want to have black frosting – it does color your teeth – you can also frost with chocolate frosting.
The cake in the picture has black licorice added to the top to make the base for the fuse. Tall, slender candles make the fuse. You can also use a sparkler for a fuse, but be safe and keep in mind that you can’t blow it out like you can candles.
Make an ID card with space for important information – name, code name, specialties, etc which you can print up for each child. Let them fill in the blanks when they get there. You can leave space for a photo, then take one with a digital camera as the guests arrive, print them off, and put them on the cards. An easy way to do this is to print the pictures on sticker paper, then just cut them out and stick them to the card. If you create business card-sized ID cards, you can print them on business card paper, which separates easily – no cutting!
Fingerprinting
Have your Secret Agents take turns fingerprinting each other. Just for fun, do it on an FBI fingerprint card, which you can get here:
Be aware that fingerprinting can be messy! Use inkless fingerprint pads which are much less messy than traditional ink pads, and require a lot less clean up. Practice fingerprinting before the party, so you know how much ink to use and how to roll the fingers to get a nice, clear print.
Defuse the Bomb
Take either the goody bags or prizes and tie a long piece of yarn to each one. String the pieces of yarn across the room, going over, under, and around the other pieces of yarn – as well as any furniture you’d like to include in this crazy maze. Leave the ends of the yarn available for the party guests.
Each guest takes an end and has to follow their ‘wire’ all the way to the other end to ‘defuse the bomb’ and collect their prize. This game can get a little crazy, but kids love it. It also works well as an outdoor game.
Secret Mission
All spies need a mission! Send partygoers on a quest to locate their goody bags or other prizes. Give each guest a pencil and paper and a Cipher Card. Instructions for the Cipher Cards & Secret Code are in the Invitation area of this page.
Before the party, you need to create a series of small cards with instructions written in code. The instructions are actually the names of locations where you have hidden other instruction cards with additional locations.
The first card gives a location to look for the hidden items (under a chair, on the bookcase, etc). They have to decode the message using the cipher cards to find the location.
When they arrive at the location, there is another card waiting for them. The second card has further instructions (under the couch, or whatever you like).
Send them to 4 or 5 places – how many you choose should depend on the age/attention span of party guests. Eventually the clues lead them to the final location of the prize.
Obstacle Course
Everyone knows that Secret Agents must be in top physical condition. Send your junior spies on a mission that will test their strength and stamina with an obstacle course.
Outdoor obstacle courses can include balance beams (2×4 laid on the ground), water hazards (wading pools) – whatever you can think of. Keep them safe, and consider the age of party guests when creating obstacles.
Indoor obstacle courses are fun, too. A blanket laid over two chairs has amused kids for generations! You can include a mini trampoline, tunnels of cardboard boxes – whatever you can fit into the space available.
Consider giving certificates after completing the obstacle course, saying they completed their spy training.
Pinata
For a great spy party pinata, get a bomb. Not a real bomb, of course, but a pinata that looks like one of those old cartoon bombs. Bomb pinatas are not easy to find, so what you need is a round pinata – like a baseball pinata – and spray paint it black. For a little added flair, you can glue a piece of string or a wire to the top for a fuse, and paint a nuclear symbol on the side. Now let your secret agents put it out of commission!
Your little spies will be nearly unrecognizable when they’re wearing fake mustaches! The really great thing about fake mustaches – other than how they make you look amazing – is that everyone loves them: boys, girls, kids and adults. Be sure to get extras!
Evidence Bags
Forgo the usual goody bags; instead put party favors into a big manila office envelope or forensics evidence bags and mark the outside ‘Top Secret’, ‘Confidential’, or ‘For Your Eyes Only’.
Squirt Guns
Kids will have a blast playing with squirt guns at an outdoor party. Have an indoor party? Put them in favor bags so kids can play with them at home.
Magnifying Glasses
Junior detectives will have no problem finding clues with a magnifying glass.
Toy Binoculars
Let your spies track down the bad guys with their own set of binoculars.
Secret codes, high security, everyone knows the password to fun is ‘spy party’!
Camping is a favorite tradition of many families. Make camping out even more fun with a camping themed birthday party. You can set up a tent in the yard or have a camp-in the the living room. Either way, your child will love a camping birthday party with friends!
Camping party supplies
Get everything you need for a fun camping party with this camping party kit.
Camping Party Invitations
Fill-in-the-blank invitations are quick and easy, and Amazon has some great choices for camping party invitations.
Make your own party invitations
Looking for a party invitation you can make yourself? Download this free camping party invitation, then print it on colored paper. Add your party details to the inside and you have a super easy and free camping party invitation.
Camping Party Decorations
Turn your home into the great outdoors! Move any house plants you have into the party room. Decorate with vines (made by twisting green streamers) along with plastic bugs and toy snakes. Use stuffed animals to for wildlife.
You can also set camping gear out in the room – backpacks, sleeping bags, lanterns, etc. Set the mood with a campfire in your living room (see below).
Arrange sticks or logs in a teepee shape over the fan and the lights
Tape the rest of the flames to the underside of the logs
Turn on the lights to make your fire glow
Turn on the fan to make your flames flicker
Camping Party Food and Snacks
Camping-style food is easy to make for a party. Go with hot dogs, chips and dip, potato salad, baked beans and lemonade. These are really easy to make up for a large group.
As a special treat, let the kids have smores. They’re easy to make in the microwave if you’re having an indoor party.
Indoor/Outdoor S’mores Maker
Camping Birthday Cakes
Camping in the Woods Cake
Bake a regular sheet cake, then decorate it with camping items for a 3 dimensional look:
Tent
Put 2 graham crackers together to make a tent. Frost them if you like. Or, use Hershey bars for this.
Sleeping bags
Fruit rollups rolled up make great sleeping bags. You can also roll one out inside your “tent”
Campfire
Use pretzel sticks or Tootsie Rolls for logs and candy corn for flames. You can also use the birthday candles for real flames.
Pine trees
Upside down sugar cones coated in green frosting
Rocks
Add a few jellybean rocks around the campsite
Hide & Seek
This is a fun outdoor game if you’ve got the space. You can play it indoors, but it can be chaotic during a party.
Frisbee
Fun at outdoor parties. Make sure you have enough space and keep the throwing area clear of passersby!
Bubbles
Kids love bubbles. They are easy, affordable, and fun!
Scavenger Hunt
Hide items around the house or outside and have kids find them. For younger kids or a party with guests of all ages, this works best if you give them a list of what to find. You can incude a picture of the item, too. Then each person finds one of each item, ensuring that younger guests aren’t left out.
For camping party scavenger hunts, hide plastic bugs and toy snakes, or other fun items that represent the great outdoors.
Obstacle Course
This is best for an outdoor party, though you can do a mini version inside. Be creative – use boxes, create tunnels, give them things to run around while they explore the “wilderness”.
Find the Wild Animals
This game works outside or indoors. Set stuffed animals around the area where they may not be easy to notice, but can be spotted. Give each guest a list of the animals (include a picture for small children), a pencil to mark items off, and a pair of binoculars. Let them try to find – but not disturb – each animal.
Camping Party Favors
Uno
Uno is a favorite game on many family campouts. Send camping party guests home with their own mini deck of Uno cards.
Flashlights
All campers need flashlights. Give them as party favors that guests can enjoy during the party.
Creepy Crawlies
Plastic bugs and toy snakes are always fun for kids, and they are affordable for you!
Binoculars
You can use toy binoculars in party games, then send them home with guests after the party.
Compasses
Small compasses on a carabiner clip are a fun party favor for a camping party. Kids can clip them to backpacks or beltloops before they head out on their next adventure.
Looking for ideas for a Superman cake you can make yourself? The Superman logo is easy to put on a cake.
This circus tent cake is perfect for a Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted birthday party – just add some Madagascar figurines around the edges.
This Madagascar-inspired lion mask is a great startup activity (for when your party is just starting up). Kids can join in easily as they arrive, as everyone makes their own. You can offer this along with the penguin mask below if you like.
Kids can’t get enough of Skipper and the other penguins. They can bring the characters to life with these Madagascar-inspired do-it-yourself penguin masks.
for a low price and send them home with party guests.
are adorable, affordable, and make great gifts for your party goodie bag.
These 
for an added touch of sophistication.
, you can turn an entire room into a castle. It looks amazing, and doesn’t cost very much.
These dainty snacks and tasty treats are sure to be a hit at your princess party!
for helpful tips on making this cake.
Billboards
How about the simple ‘Here It Is’ billboard that was located next to the souvenir shop? Let all your party guests know where the fun is – Put one of these on your front door, or outside of the party room!
!
Get a 
.
in place of goodie bags, putting smaller party favors inside of them.
for party games, or send them home in a goodie bag.
– just shape a handle and a flat round bottom and carve your brand in the bottom with a toothpick. Remember to do it in reverse so it stamps the right way.
. It fits in your mini glue gun so there is no burning or melting, and it is softer than traditional wax so it mails better. Comes in a variety of colors, too!
by Tom Lichtenheld. It has a chart you can use to make up great pirate names.
. It works like wax, but you put it in your mini glue gun. This means there is no smoke or flame, and it is softer than traditional wax, so it goes through the mail better.
, you can turn an entire room into a castle. It looks amazing, and doesn’t cost very much.
If not, you can buy a 
(scientific flask). Add a packet of Kool-Aid to your newly acquired flask. Then, in front of the kids, pour in some 7-Up. Don’t overdo it, because it is going to bubble and fizz right up to the top! Then pour the mixture into your punch bowl. Add a 2 liter of 7-Up, sugar (yes, you still need sugar even though you are mixing with 7-Up – I suggest 1/2 cup), stir and serve in 
To really have fun with this, get a big plastic cauldron
, put your punch bowl inside of it, then serve from the cauldron.
Castle Cake from a Bakery
are jelly beans that come in every flavor (even flavors such as ear wax!) There are some great flavors – like buttered popcorn – and some really terrible ones like dirt, pepper, sardines, and the very worst… vomit.
They are easy to make – follow the directions on the package of 
.
. For delivery, you can put the invitations in 
strategically around the party area.
make great party decorations and are reasonably priced, too.
and play it during the party.
.
which are much less messy than traditional ink pads, and require a lot less clean up. Practice fingerprinting before the party, so you know how much ink to use and how to roll the fingers to get a nice, clear print.
– and spray paint it black. For a little added flair, you can glue a piece of string or a wire to the top for a fuse, and paint a nuclear symbol on the side. Now let your secret agents put it out of commission!
Your secret agents will love carrying around a badge. These
Make catching the bad guys easy with these 
or try these 
that let you see behind you.
Your little spies will be nearly unrecognizable when they’re wearing 
or 
and 
. Use stuffed animals to for wildlife.
(this one is battery operated)
or other lights
.
Uno
. Give them as party favors that guests can enjoy during the party.
come in fun camping shapes.