Basic Games

Your games will depend a lot on what your theme is but there are some basics that can apply to just about any theme.
For the purpose of this section I am going to use 4 themes – planes, dinosaurs, princesses, and barnyard.


Pin/Tape Something on the Something –

You’ve all heard of pin the tail on the donkey. There is so much about it to love, a blindfold, turning in circles, an audience, and a prize to boot. Pin the tail on the donkey is a great generic game but what if you want something that fits better with your theme?

Just print out or draw a picture of anything that matches with your theme and make parts of it to “pin” on. Draw a dashed line over the part that will be put on. With notebook paper (or any other thin paper) trace over that part and you will have a template to cut out all the parts you need. You can cut them out of colored construction paper, cardstock, or just regualr printer paper. Put doublestick tape (or you can just roll over regular scotch tape) on the backs of them and line them up beside your picture.




Planes – Pin the tail on the Plane, Pin the Wing on the Plane, Pin the Propellor on the Plane (or Helicopter), Pin the Parachute on the Sky Diver



Dinosaurs – Pin the Tail on the T-Rex, Pin the Horn on the Triceratops, Pin the Dino Egg in the Nest, Pin the Wing on the Pteradactyl, Pin the Tusk on the Wooly Mammoth, Pin the Tooth on the Saber Tooth Tiger

Princess – Pin the Crown on the Princess, Pin the Jewel on the Crown, Pin the Shoe on Cinderealla, Pin the Ring on the Princess

Barnyard – Pin the Tail on The Pig, Pin the Udder on the Cow, Pin the Tail on the Horse, for this one you could even go with the classic Pin the Tail on the Donkey




Find Something –

Every child loves an Easter Egg Hunt so why not have the same fun more then once a year. You can do this one a few different ways. There is the standard find little eggs (or other themed containers) with treats in them. You can let them loose to find as many as they can or have them in a small area (in straw or sand for example) where they can each find one. You could also have non prize items to find and give a prize to whoever finds the most or whoever finds the one that is different from the rest. Another idea is to have teams in which they are only looking for a certain color that then needs to be placed in a designated area.

Planes –

Find the Paratroopers – You can find paratroopers at Oriental Trading Company


Find a Plane in the Straw – Either buy a small toy plane for each child or just cut out several paper ones and hide them in straw

Here is a great example of using what you already have. I have more pine straw then I could ever want so it is used in abundance

Put the Planes in the Airport – Divide your group into teams, have a decorated box in a different color for each team (just paint it that color cut out a small “doorway” and write airport on it) Each team finds all of their color planes and returns them to their airport


Dinosaurs –

Find the Dino Eggs – You can buy dino eggs or just buy small dinosaurs and put them in regular Easter eggs

Find the Fossils – Paint bone shapes on small rocks and bury them in your sandbox. You can also sometimes find candy bones on after Halloween clearance

Find the Baby Dinos – Scatter small dinosaurs around and have some of your child’s larger dinosaurs set out, then let the children return all the “baby” triceratops to the big “Mama” triceratops, etc


Princess –
Find the Jewels – Hide small stones that you have painted with shiny paint

Find the Royal Gold – Hide gold coins in sand, straw, colored macaroni, anything you have plenty of

Fix Your Crowns – Hide stick on earrings that they can attatch to a paper crown


Barnyard –
Find the Chicken’s Eggs – here’s another one where you can just use regular Easter Eggs

Find the Grapes in the Slop – this would be a delightfully messy game. Put chocolate pudding, water, oatmeal, crushed cookies, and little cut bits of cut up food (and grapes!) in a big tub and have them dig in to find the grapes

Put the Chicks in the Coop – you can either just use Easter Eggs or buy chenille chicks. Make little nests from straw or hay all in a row. You can make enough nests so that everyone (or every team) has one and say the first one that gets X amount of chicks in their nest wins.


Throw Something in Something –

This needs little explaining, throw a themed object into another themed object. You don’t have to build something special to throw your object into, just decorate a box and cut out a hole. It’s really that simple.

Planes – Throw the Plane in the Hanger, Throw the Pilot in the Plane, Throw the Plane Through The Cloud

Dinosaurs – Throw the Pteradactyl in the Nest, Throw the Dino in The Cave, Throw the Food in the T-Rex’s Mouth (maybe other little dinosaurs, they are meat eaters after all)

Princess – Throw the Princess in the Castle, Throw the Crown in the Treasure Box, Throw the Fish in The Moat

Barnyard – Throw The Chicken (or any farm animal) in the Barn, Throw the Pig in the Mud, Throw the Apple in the Horse’s Mouth



Match Game –

This is another one that can be done many ways. You can spread your objects out in one area and have everyone run to see who gets a match first or the most matches. You can pass out one object to each child and spread out (or even hide) the matching objects. You can do a big memory game and let them take turns.

Planes – Matching Planes, Big Clouds with different patterns or words on one side

Dinosurs- Matching Dinosaurs, Dino Prints with differnt designs on one side

Princess – Matching Princesses, Matching Crowns, Princess hats with different designs on one side

Barnyard – Matching Farm Animals, Matching Garden Veggies, Eggs with different chicks on one side

Veggie Patch Match game for a Barnyard party


Musical Something -

We all know the game Musical Chairs. To make it themed get rid of the chairs and use mats on the floor.

Planes - Musical Clouds, Musical Pilots, Musical Planes

Dinosaurs - Musical Dino Prints, Musical Dino Eggs, Musical Dinosaurs

Princess - Musical Princesses, Musical Crowns, Musical Castles


There are of course many more games that would work for any theme but hopefully these basic ideas will get you started. Just remember any time you see or hear of a game that you think might be fun, you can probably rework it to fit your theme.

The Birthday Closet

Ok, you don't really have to have a whole closet, but the best way to save both time and money when it comes to birthday parties is your own personal birthday party stash. It's my opinion of course that the bigger the space the better but you can use anything from a small cardboard box up to a whole room. In case you're curious, my birthday party stash is indeed in a big hall closet...but it's currently sharing space with boxes of cds, my halloween stash, my easter stash, my Christmas stash (and tree) and my gift bag stash.

Alright, so lets say you've found your space, what do you put in it?


Leftovers -

Don't throw out those three leftover red cups, half roll of blue streamers, or whatever you may have from your last party. You may just be able to use them again. Even specific things may be reused. You may think what could I possibly do with just two Strawberry Shortcake cups? Well, depending on the design you might be able to glue another character over top of the one that's already on it. And then there's alwasy the possibility of a theme striking more then once. We have had two Thomas the Train parties and I'm currently planning our 2nd Super Mario party. On the occasion that you truly can't reparty some supplies you'll have them for regular home use. My kiddos think its a pretty big deal when for whatever reason we have to schedule their party much later then their actual birthday and they end up getting a themed mini party just for family at home before their party.


Trash/Junk/Recyclables -

Egg cartons, water bottles, margarine tubs, shoe boxes, cereal boxes ...just about any kind of containers you can think of all have the potential to become birthday party games, crafts, or favors. A favorite of mine are Crystal Light containers. I like to keep any container that just looks interesting or a container that I know I will end up with at least a dozen of (like yogurt containers). How much you keep really just depends on how much free space you have. I don't tend to keep things that I know will be in abundant supply except when there is a birthday coming up in the next couple of months. If you find yourself looking for something specific, put the word out. Call your friends and family or send out an email "Please save your Crystal Light containers for me".


Craft Supplies -

I actually have a seperate space for most of my craft supplies but I like to keep a couple extra gluesticks with my birthday supplies. Also if I get new supplies becasue I'm running low or just find a really good deal I put my old supply in with the birthday stash.


Store discards -

This is one I have recently become crazy about. Many stores throw their boxes out. Now I know boxes aren't that exciting but you'd be surprised.
Let me just tell you what made me start seeking out store boxes. My middle son has a birthday coming up in which games will be played, coins will be earned, and then finally coins will be spent...in a candy store.

The store will be in a shed that we have outside. The only question was how to display the candy. I didn't want to buy a lot of containers and yes I could just use empty sour cream, cottage cheese, and such containers but I'd want to paint them all. I had a lot of clear glass containers but I definitely didn't want a bunch of glass out there. I came up with a few ideas but none that I really liked.

Then I was at Target one night and one of the workers was emptying out display boxes for wii and Nintendo DS games. Each box was red, said either wii or Nintendo DS and was divided into sections. Did I mention that this is a Mario Party themed party? I asked the man if I could possibly have one of them and he said I could have them all, I was saving him a trip to the trash.

Those boxes are what set me off. Now every time I go to a store I keep my eyes open for interesting containers. I recently aquired an empty light globe toy container at Walmart. That combined with an empty insert from Pop Rocks Easter eggs at Dollar General, some construction paper, paint, tape,thumb tacks and glue (all of which I already had in my birthday stash) became this game - Bob-omb's Away.




Garage Sale Goods –
Keep an eye out at garage sales and thrift stores. You may find anything from someone else’s leftover party decorations to the perfect containers for a game, craft supplies,or little toys that match your theme. Fast food toys are in abundance at many garage sales and can make for great favors or even cake decorations.
My most recent find was this stack of 30 little plastic cups for 10 cents -




It is a good idea to keep a list with you of all birthday party supplies you are currently looking for as well as games you have in mind. You may not realize until you see a stack of chopsticks for a quarter that they would be perfect for a game you want to do. You may even see something that inspires a totally new game. I had no intention of playing fishing for pumpkins at a party until I spied a ziploc bag full of pumpkin magnets for a dime and remembered the little magnetic fishing pole we had in one of our board games.


Just one last thing, your birthday closet is a great starting point but don’t limit yourself. When you’re looking for game inspiration take a walk through your house. Open up those cupboards that you rarely ever look in. That set of toy golf clubs in the playroom can inspire a whole putt putt course. That old crockpot you have could be filled with a great witch’s brew game. That old sheet would make a great backdrop for cowboy photos. Just take a good look around and who knows what you’ll find!

Arrival Activities

One thing that you can count on is that your guests will not all arrive at the same time. That is why you'll want to have something for those arriving first to do while you wait.


Here are some ideas -

Something that will work for any theme are coloring sheets. Google is your friend. Type in (Your Theme) coloring pages and print them out.

For some of the more popular themes you might also find mazes, crosswords, word searches, etc. by typing in (Your Theme) activity sheets into Google.

You can also find many themed crafts by typing in (Your Theme) crafts. A good site for themed crafts is - www.dltk-kids.com


Crafts are always fun but children really enjoy the ones that will actually be used at the party.

If your party involves collecting favors or tokens along the way a good idea is to minimize the coloring sheets and glue them onto plain or colored sacks to act as your goody bags.

Some more crafty ideas are things that they could make and/or decorate, for instance - their own suitcases for a travel themed party, bug catchers for a bug party, planes for a plane party, cars for a racing party, tea cups for a tea party, goggles for a science party....are you getting some ideas? There are many crafts you can make with things you just have lying around the house or that you can have your friends and family save from the trash (paper plates, egg cartons, empty plastic containers, water bottles, 2 liter bottles, etc.) There are also a lot of great craft sets you can purchase at one of my favorite sites - .Oriental Trading Company.

Planes (that will be judged later) for a Plane Party

Completed Science Goggle Craft

Place Settings

There are a lot of great paper products out there, themed cups, plates, napkins, etc.

You can find lots of them at these sites -

.www.orientaltrading.com

www.birthdayinabox.com

If you want to save money though or if you just don't want everything totally matching then your gluestick is your best friend. I personally set a goal for each party to buy no more than one printed product. If you want to do the same it can be as simple as just buying a coordinating color of the other products. If you want to get more personalized, pull out your gluestick...


Cups -
If you want to decorate your own cups just print or draw an item related to your theme (a crown for a princess party for instance), cut it out, and gluestick it to a color coordinating cup. Just make sure you let them dry before you stack them back up. An alternative is to purchase individual drinks and just make and glue on themed labels.


Plane party cups - the text above the plane says Happy Birthday Josey and below it says Pilot______ It is always a good idea to write the guests names on their cups (By the way, those are themed without being themed napkins underneath, little clouds)


Silverware -
More often then not I just use coordinating colors. That's not to say it's impossible to get the silverware in on the themed action. I have glued feathers to the ends to make Captain Feathersword's, ants for a buggy party, and written Railroad on the fork and Crossing on the spoon and placed them crossed over each other for a Thomas party. If you use your imagination who knows what you might come up with. If you do end up just going with coordinating colors though, no problem, just wrap them up in your themed napkins!


Shown here are pig tail spoons (with barn napkin rings and pig out cups)


Napkins -
Napkins instantly become themed when you slip them into a homemade napkin ring. It's easy. Just cut out strips of colored construction paper. Shape them into a ring and glue the ends together. Glue a themed picture (for example a wheel for a car theme) over the spot where the ends are glued. That's it. Wrap your silverware up inside, slip on the napkin ring, and you're all set.


Super Mario 1 up napkin rings


Plates -
Plates are a tricky one. This is normally my one themed purchase if I make one.
Plastic plates are mostly what will help you out if you want to decorate your own. I discovered after purchasing gold plastic plates for a Dora pirate party (for gold coins of course) that you can etch designs into plastic plates. Just turn them upside down and draw whatever design you want onto the back. It will show up on the front! Remember though, if you do any words or numbers you need to write backwards, the mirror image will be on front.

Another nifty plate tool is the clear plate. The problem with plates is that you can't really draw on them or glue things onto them (not the front at least) but the clear plate solves that. You can decorate plates solid color plates any way you like and just glue the clear plate on top to be eaten off of. The only issue with this is that you are then buying twice as many plates as you need. The solution to that would be if you find a great deal on either the clear plates or the plates you use beneath them. You may just end up cheaper still.
Now you can't glue onto the plates but you can certainly glue around the edge on the underside (flower petals, sun rays, spider legs). If you plan to do this it helps to just think about circles and then try to decide what goes with your theme that could be drawn starting with a circle.

By far the most difficult strategy is cutouts. I have to admit though, cutting is not my strong point. I find it hard to cut a straight line so this may be easier then I think. You can make cut outs on one colored plate and attatch to another plate so that the color of that plate shows through. A good example of this is the alien plates I made for a space party. I cut out two eyes and a mouth from lime green plates and attatched them onto a black plate.


Dora Pirate Adventure themed plates (notice the backwards 3, this is what happens if you don't write the mirror image of what you want)

The Theme is the Thing

Parties are always easier (and more fun!) to plan when you have a basic theme.

Your theme can be absolutely anything that your child is interested in. Their favorite show, book, toy, their favorite anything can be turned into a theme.

The best way to pick your theme is very simple...ask your child.

If they need some help with ideas there is a BIG list of party themes here -

http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/html/party_ideas.html

build-a-birthday Beginnings

Welcome to build-a-birthday!

I'm Lisa. I'm a 29 year old, married, stay-at-home mom to 3 boys (3,6,and 8), and I love to plan birthday parties. People keep telling me I should plan birthday parties for a living and my reply is always "that's what I want to be when I grow up!". So here I am at the ripe old age of 29, all grown up. It's not technically a living, but it's certainly something right? Right!

My main goal is to create birthdays that are fun, unique, and special for every child (and to save money in the process!). The title of this blog - build-a-birthday says it all. Thanks to my favorite sister-in-law Meghan for thinking of it!

Ok...Ready...Set...Happy Birthday!