Princess Party

Kaylee wanted a Princess Party for her 5th birthday. I made invitations by printing the following on pretty pink cardstock: Hear Ye, Hear Ye, By order of the King and Queen, Princess (Name) is cordially invited to the (Last Name) Castle to celebrate Princess Kaylee's 5th birthday. The royal celebration will begin at (time) on (date). Princess Kaylee asked that you come dressed as your favourite princess in your most royal attire. The festivities will include the royal limbo, crafts, games and fun for all! Have your carriage arrive for you at (time party ends) when the celebration comes to a close. Please RSVP with the Queen Mom at (phone number) if you are able to attend this royal gala...the castle needs to plan for your arrival. We hope you can join us. I rolled the invitations up and tied them with a pretty pink ribbon and we hand delivered them to the guests.On the day of the party I became the Queen Mom!! What fun to get to dress up for your daughters party!!

We had the Princess Party sign on the door when the guests arrived and had coloring pictures for them to color until everyone arrived. We also took pictures of them in front of the Happy Birthday Princess sign with Kaylee.

We had princesses on the wall that I had found at the store. We also put tulle type fabric on the ceiling with balloons hanging down to make everything look princessy.

When everyone arrived, we went to the table and the girls decorated princess crowns I had made out of cardstock and tulle. I had alot of stickers, felts and stick on gems they could use to make them their own.

After the girls decorated their crowns, and believe me, this took quite awhile for some girls, they played Help the Bird find Cinderella. We blindfolded the girls and spun them around and then gave them their bird to put on Cinderella. They were all giggling alot during this game!!

After that we played Princess Limbo. I made a Limbo stick and held it while the girls danced around to Princess Music and ran under the Limbo stick. The next game was the Princess Walk. I had princess pictures laminated and put them on the floor. The girls had to walk around them while the music played and when the music stopped, they had to step on a Princess. Whoever wasn't on a Princess was out and got to pick a prize (different princess little things I had - erasers, rulers, stickers etc.). The last girl standing on a Princess was the winner and got to pick 2 prizes.

The girls then got to decorate cookie wands I had made. All of the girls got a container with icing and a container with candies and were told to go for it!
Here's what one girl came up with. I put them into baggies and tied a pretty ribbon around it for them to take home.

Next on the agenda was cake and gifts. I made a pink cake and put a princess crown on the top. YUM!

For the gift opening I had my daughter sit on a chair and had an empty chair next to her for the girl whose gift she was opening. The other girls sat in a circle in front of the chairs so they could all see. This worked great, although the circle did keep getting smaller and closer to the birthday girl:)

After gifts, I read the Cinderella story and had the girls sit in a circle and pass a glass slipper everytime I read the word "Cinderella". The girl who ended up with the slipper at the end received a prize. It was then time for the goody bags and for everyone to go home! What a great time getting to play princesses!

Rescue Heroes Birthday Party

For my son's 4th birthday, he wanted a Rescue Heroes theme. I searched the web and found some ideas on the Fisher Price Rescue Heroes website as well as birthdaypartyideas.com. I went to the local fire department and told them that I was planning a Rescue Heroes party for my son's birthday and asked if they had anything I could use for goody bags. They gave me colouring pages, growth charts, stickers, balloons, suckers and plastic fire hats. They were really wonderful at the fire department. They even let me take the kids to see the fire trucks while we were there! I printed out rescue hero badges from the fisher price website on sticker paper and put them on the plastic fire hats. I also printed out a different badge onto cardstock that I used as nametags for the guests. I made a sign for our front door with the rescue heroes logo welcoming the guests to "Training Camp". I printed out rescue hero coloring pages for the guests to color while everyone arrived.When everyone had arrived, I told them that they were in Rescue Hero training camp today and that they needed to be ready to help in any disaster. I told them that they would get a sticker for their name tag when they completed each mission. When they got all their stickers, they would get to become a Rescue Hero. Their first mission was to rescue a cat from a tree. I had made a poster of a cat stuck in a tree and had printed off some colored pictures of Billy Blazes and Wendy Waters (2 popular Rescue Heroes). The kids were blindfolded and they had to see who could get their Rescue Hero closest to the cat in the tree. They loved seeing the Rescue Heroes floating around in the air, especially the one that the birthday boys dad did that didn't even make it onto the tree poster! They all got a sticker for completing the mission.The second mission was to rescue people and cars from a village at the base of a volcano that was about to explode. I put a black sheet over my loveseat and said that was the volcano. I put a red tablecloth on top of the volcano to look like lava. I set up my "Little People" house and farm and garage at the base of the couch and had people and cars all around them. The kids had to put on their fire hat, hop in a pillowcase across the living room, get a person or car, go down my small slide, and crawl through a tunnel to get their person or car to safety. They thought this was hilarious and everyone was laughing and having a great time! They all got a sticker for completing this mission as well. We were all thirsty and hungry after this mission, so it was time for cake and drinks. I made the Rescue Hero symbol by using plastic wrap over top of the design I wanted and piping icing onto the plastic wrap. I then put a layer of plastic wrap over top and gently pushed out all the lines. I then froze it. When it was frozen, I peeled off the plastic wrap and put it on top of the cake. After we had cake we went outside for the third mission.
The third mission was a meteor shower. The kids had to stop meteors (purple balloons) from hitting the earth. I stood on my deck and threw off the balloons to the kids who had to try to keep them in the air. There was a lot of screaming and laughing going on during this mission. All the kids got a sticker for their badge after this mission was complete (they ended up stomping on all the meteors).

The fourth and final mission was also outside. The kids had to rescue animals from an animal hospital that was close to a forest fire. I set up our little outside playhouse by a large piece of cardboard that I painted to look like a forest fire. One at a time, the kids had to walk across a piece of wood that we laid across our hard plastic kiddie pool, ride on a yellow ride on car (fire truck), get a water balloon and throw it at the fire.Then they had to go into the playhouse and rescue an animal, climb the slide on our swingset and slide down, and bring the animal to Ariel Flyer (rescue hero who is a veterinarian). After everyone had a turn, the kids wanted to go again, so we let them have a free for all with the water balloons. They threw them all at the fire to make sure it was out!!The kids all got a sticker for completing this mission as well. I then handed out diplomas to all the kids that I printed off from the Rescue Heroes website. They said that "This is to certify that "guest" has shown compassion and courage by not giving up and finishing the job. We're glad to have a hero like you on the Rescue Heroes team!" The kids thought it was cool to be real rescue heroes! I now told them that since they were Rescue Heroes, we had to go inside and make Rescue Hero walkie talkies, just like real Rescue Heroes have. I had cut foam into small brick shapes and covered them in aluminum foil. I had stickers, pipecleaners, crayons, felts and scissors for the kids to create their very own walkie talkies. My husband took a real walkie talkie and hid it behind one that my son had made and made it sound like it was real. The kids were so excited, but later a little disappointed when they found out that he had tricked them! They still really loved making this craft.We had gift time next. I had everyone sit in a circle and asked who knew a safety rule. When someone told a safety rule, they got to give their present to my son. After gift time, the parents were all arriving. For their goody bags, they all got their fire hats, walkie talkies, certificates, and all the fun stuff from the fire department along with a few extra candies. This was my first big party that I threw and it went over great! Everyone had a great time and I couldn't wait to plan the next one!!

Dora Birthday Party

For my youngest daughter's 3rd birthday we decided to have a Dora theme. She absolutely loved Dora at the time. We took ideas from lots of the parties on http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/. We printed an invitation from Nick Jr. and photocopied it for everyone. We planned to have a Dora Adventure with our goal being to find the cupcakes for my daughter's birthday. I made a sign for the front door welcoming everyone to the party. When the kids first arrived, I had them all come to our basement where they got to make binoculars out of toilet paper rolls. I had all sorts of Dora stickers and felts for them to decorate them with. When everyone had arrived, I told the kids that I wanted to show them my daughter's cupcakes. I had a large bin in our basement that I told them they were in. Inside the bin, I had made a poster size picture of Swiper that we taped to the lid of the bin. I had my husband outside of the basement with a walkie talkie and the other walkie talkie was in the bin. When I went to open the bin to show the kids the cupcakes, Swiper was in the bin and there were no cupcakes!! The kids all screamed when they saw Swiper and I asked them what they were supposed to say when they saw him. They all started to yell "Swiper, No Swiping", but my husband interupted over the walkie talkie saying "You're too late, I've swiped the cupcakes and taken them to my secret hiding place. You'll never find them now!" The kids all thought that it was Swiper talking. I told them we had to find the cupcakes and asked if they knew where Swiper's hiding place was. They said no, so I asked "Who do we ask for help when we don't know which way to go?". They all yelled out "MAP". I then handed them all a map I had drawn and laminated with mactac.
I told them that the map says we need to go through the Fiesta Forest, over Rainbow Bridge and then we'll find Swiper's secret hiding place where he has the cupcakes. I told them we needed to look for stars along the way. I had bought the Dora CD with all the theme songs, so we played the songs as they left on their adventure. I had separated off parts of the house so they couldn't always see what was coming next. When they left our basement, they had to go up the stairs which I had decorated with green balloons, streamers and trees out of butcher paper with construction paper leaves. I had hidden stars so that they could all find one as they went up the stairs.Leaving the basement... FIESTA FOREST - Senior Toucan, tree with balloons as leaves, green balloons as vinesMy Palm treeI had streamers blocking off the living room so that they wouldn't go in there when they got to the top of the stairs. I asked them where does Dora usually put the stars she finds. In her star pocket of course. I drew a Dora with a Star pocket on her backpack on posterboard. We then played "Stick the Star in the StarPocket". I blindfolded the kids and had them do this.After this game, map showed that we had to go find Rainbow Bridge. This was in my living room. I had a blue sheet that I layed on the floor for the lake and I made the bridge out of poster board. I cut different colour strips and taped them together. But hold on, we couldn't just cross Rainbow Bridge - it had pieces missing. We needed to fix the bridge first. I had blacked out different shapes - hearts, stars, squares, rectangles, triangles etc. on the bridge and had the corresponding pieces cut out. I gave each child a shape and they had to find it on the bridge and tape it on. When everyone had put their shape in place we crossed the bridge and saw a tunnel (made out of a large box) with a Swiper sign on it. We had the kids climb through the tunnel and they arrived in my kitchen where they found the cupcakes on the table! They had done it!!!! They were all so excited to have found Swiper's hiding place!
It was time for cupcakes and juice. I made cupcakes and found Dora and Diego ring toppers at Scoop n Save. This was very simple and easy after all the other preparations I had done. After cake time, we had gifts and then it was time for the kids to go home. For their goody bags, they all got to take home their map (they could use it as a place mat), their binoculars, their ring from the cupcakes, Dora fruit snack, a coloring book I made with different Dora coloring pages and some other candy. This was such a fun party to plan and the kids had such a great time!

"Under the Sea" Party

For J's 7th birthday, she picked "Under the Sea" (Ariel) for her theme. We hung lots of blue balloons everywhere and had blue tulle hanging from the ceiling to make it look like we were under the sea. I bought some fish net and colorful starfish from Oriental Trading to use for decorations as well. Also on the ceiling, I attached some brown butcher paper to look like the bottom of a boat and made a brown paper chain with an anchor attached to it coming down to the ground. I hung blue fringe to divide the rooms up and to give it more of an under the sea feeling. We had a poster of Ariel for the wall as well.

I had also found a blow up whale and shark that we hung on the ceiling. The kids thought these were so fun.

My daughter had coloured some Ariel posters that we had and she wanted to use them for wall decorations as well.

When the girls arrived, we had some coloring pages printed off for them to color. When everyone arrived, we went to the kitchen table and had craft time. I purchased wooden treasure boxes for the girls to decorate. I painted them all white and had chocolate coins and shell bracelets inside as treasure for the girls. They were able to decorate their boxes any way they wanted. We had shells, Ariel stickers, felts to draw with, and glitter glue with blue dolphins in it for them to use. When they were done, we put them aside to dry.
We played pin the flower on Ariel. I had a large poster of Ariel that my daughter had colored. On the poster, Ariel had a flower in her hair. We made extra copies of the flower and had the girls blindfolded and they had to see how close they could get Ariel's flower to the real flower in her hair. This gave the girls fits of the giggles to see how close their friends were NOT getting it!

We also played Limbo. I had an empty roll of wrapping paper that I covered in colorful paper and put streamers on the end. We had downloaded Ariel music of the Limbo and played that over and over while the girls did the Limbo. They loved dancing to this music. We then also played freeze dance.

It was time for cake. I went to Scoop N Save and copied one of their ideas. They had a beautiful Ariel cake. I bought the Ariel topper and palm trees and some under the sea candies and made this creation. Next was gift time. We had the girls sit in a circle and play spin the bottle to see whose gift was going to be first. We had to keep reminding the girls to move the circle out, since they kept wanting to crowd in to see what the gifts were!

After this, it was time for the treasure hunt to find the treasure chest with the goody bags! I used my trusty "Riddle Me" program to create a treasure hunt and the girls followed the clues around the house until they found the treasure chest. I made this from a cardboard box and put black cardstock around the edges to make it look like a chest. I drew a lock on the front to make it look more realistic. Inside they found their goody bags with a mini Ariel coloring book, Ariel stickers, mini Ritz crackers, and a candy necklace. They also got to take home their wooden treasure boxes and their shell necklaces. My daughter loved this party!!

"Cars" Birthday Party

For my son's 5th birthday party, we decided on the theme "Cars". We found lots of neat ideas online and came up with a great party. The weather was perfect for an outdoor party so we decorated our backyard. We had a sign on the gate to our backyard welcoming our guests to "Radiator Springs".







We planned alot of activities to keep all the kids
we invited busy! Our first activity was to have all
of the kids paint a wooden car at Ramone's House of Body Art. I bought the cars from the Oriental Trading Company (online). I made a sign similar to the one on top of Ramone's in the movie. I asked all of the kids to bring a paint shirt and had a table set up with lots of paint and paintbrushes where they could create their own work of art. We made sure to have a big bucket of warm soapy water close by for easy clean up!



Our next activity was the Piston Cup Championship. We have a slide outside and so I put a start line with tape at the top of the slide and a finish line at the bottom of the slide. I made a big sign that said Piston Cup and attached it to the side of the slide. 2 kids at a time took a turn racing Lightning and The King down the slide.

Our next activity was at Casa Della Tires. We told the kids that they needed to help Luigi move some tires around his shop. I went to a tire store and they gave me two black inner tubes for free. We used these as the tires. I had the kids split up into two teams and they had a relay race. They had to roll the innertube down to a cone and come back to their team, where the next player would do the same thing until everyone had a turn. We had parents help out along the way - it was a little tough for some of the kids to roll the tubes.

Next on our list was Guido's Pit Row Race. I asked the kids what Guido does - change tires, of course! It was their turn to see if they could change tires as fast as Guido. I kept them in their two teams. I had made 2 cars out of apple boxes and painted one green and one red. I made tires and headlights out of cardstock and put mactac on them so they wouldn't rip. These were then velcroed onto the car. The kids had to get into their car and run down to a cone where the pit stop sign was and take off one set of tires and headlights and put another set on, then race back to their team and change places with the next person. They had so much fun with this race!

Our next activity was Pin the Headlight on Mater. I drew a big picture of Mater on Poster board and of course, he is missing a headlight. I made yellow round headlights out of paper. The kids were blindfolded and they had to see if they could get Mater's headlight in the right spot.

We had birthday cake next. I went to Scoop n Save in Langley where they have special cakes displayed. I copied one of their designs and made this cool Lighning McQueen cake.

We ate our cake and had snacks at Flo's V-8 Cafe. I made a sign for this snack stop also. We had other decorations around the back yard also. I had found some large plastic signs with the cars from the movie and we hung these up along with black and red balloons and streamers. I also downloaded some pictures of the different cars from the movie, printed them off and hung them up on our shed so that the kids could see all the different characters.

For goody bags, I found Cars puzzles, Cars airhead candy, 2 chocolate racing cars, 2 racing flags, Cars stickers, and I made an activity book of different Cars coloring pages and a maze with a cover on it that said "Thank you for coming to my party". The kids also got to pick one prize from a bucket of assorted Cars pencils, erasers, bouncy balls and notebooks.

This was such a fun party to plan - the kids had such a great time!