Crafts & Fun

Do you revel in the planning of your kids' birthday parties, or do you throw something together at the last minute? Whatever your method, we collected ideas on games, loot bags, crafts, themes and more from the TP.com community to help you plan the best birthday parties on the block! (Note: Text may have been edited for length or clarity)

Party Themes

Haunted House
For this party, set up your shed as a darkened haunted house. Have the kids go through a series of stations where they put their hands in pots of spaghetti (worms), peeled grapes in ice water (like eyeballs) and mushed up Jello (guts) while blindfolded. Throw macaroni noodles on the floor to make crunching sounds under their feet, and hang a string mop (cobwebs) from the ceiling. You could also dress up as a fortuneteller and predict goofy things for the kids.
- Leah

Bug Exploration
We had a bug theme one year. I took all of the kids on a bug-meeting adventure in our yard. I got super-cheap magnifying glasses at the dollar store and made each child a bug log. Each child had a crayon to draw the bugs they found and off we went.
- Alisa

Princess Party
For my daughter's fifth birthday we had a Princess Party. We printed up invitations asking her friends to wear dresses so they could all be princesses. We cut out crowns from poster board and had sparkle glue, stickers and stuff to decorate them with. Everyone then made a necklace with dollar store beads including the letter beads for their name. We set the table with our old china, and served iced tea (I did the serving of drinks) and one of my sons served the sandwich tray. On the computer, my husband made each girl a scroll stating "Hereby now known as Princess Amber" (it was very official looking and signed by the king and queen - us). Instead of a cake, we did cupcakes (pink of course) and served them with ice cream. The girls loved being addresses as "Princess."
- Danigirl BC

Hawaiian Hula Party
I'm making grass skirts and buying leis from the dollar store, maybe making flower headbands. I'll give out hula-hoops instead of treat bags and we'll make water bracelets (clear plastic tubing with water, beads, and glitter in them). The cake will be a Barbie cake, and I'm going to try to make it look like a grass skirt. For snacks, we'll have fruit kebobs on coffee stir sticks and fruit punch with little umbrellas and fruit garnishes. I'll also get a tape or CD with Hawaiian music to hula to.
- Leah J

Originally published in Todaysparent.com, July 2001