When I plan birthday parties, and offer birthday party options, my one goal is for the kids to have fun. Yes, you can create amazing tablescapes, balloon arches, and add all the little details, but, let's be honest, those are the things that the parents recognize. My main goal, maybe it comes from years of teaching, is to plan a party that kids walk away from saying "Mom, that was so much fun."
Since opening my party planning business, my vision has been to offer an option to parents that allows kids to have fun, be kids, and play. There is a reason that places like Chuck-e-Cheese, roller rinks, and jump gyms offer packages for kids birthdays. It gives parents an option to host a party that will be FUN for their kids!
So, let's fast forward to L's fifth birthday. He has known since turning "4" that he wanted superheroes to be his next birthday. Something that has been done, A LOT, and every kid knows about. My goal was to figure out how L's friends could interact and have fun while here. I'll be honest, we did look into renting out a space, more for the kids to have space to run around, and less about the "drama" of the party. But... in the end, we hosted the party in our home... to save money.
I had to utilize every single square inch of space we had available. My kitchen was turned into a popcorn bar and food table. My dining room was set up with the dessert table. The living room is where we opened gifts. I rented tables and set them up in our playroom so kids could have an eating and crafting area. And then, we converted our unfinished basement into a superhero academy!
When kids arrived, they got to choose a cape and mask to wear, as well as adorn themselves with tattoos. Then, my husband actually facilitated a game of Superhero Bingo as kids were arriving! It was so nice to see him involved directly with the kiddos. I set up centers throughout the house as activities for kids: there was an agility course, hulk smash, spidey web fling, villain knockdown, flight training, a superhero bracelet craft, and a villain popper craft. We had so much fun, and the party was over before we knew it!
I don't think I would've changed a single thing... except maybe to have hosted outside if it were warmer (#winterbirthdays). The party was set up with a retro theme all in red, blue, and yellow. We used a lot of "pop," "bang," and "boom!" And, I got to add some customized details with my cricut. Take a peek at some pictures below!
Party Type: Children's Birthday Party
Party Theme: Superheroes
Total Guests: 50
Number of Kids: 18
Activities: agility course, hulk smash, villain poppers, villain knock-down, spidey web fling, superhero bracelet, superhero Bingo, flight training photobooth
Food: superhero power fruits and veggies, popcorn bar, pizza
Dessert: superhero cake (made by me!), cupcakes from Brown's Orchards
Favors: superhero cape and mask
#childrensbirthdayparty #yorkpaparty #superherobirthday #birthdayparty #eventplanner #februarybirthday #ericaleighevents
Children arrived and picked out a cape and mask! I had this image in my head as soon as I started planning the party. I had to special order the capes very early on, and these became the kids' party favors that they got to take home!
I actually found this superhero bingo online as a free download! It was amazing and the kids loved the pictures! Oh, and can we talk about how excited I was to find superhero themed graham crackers at the grocery store!?!
Our "flight training" was a plastic tablecloth laid out with some buildings made from construction paper. I stood above the kids and took pictures of them in our photobooth.
Spidey Webs was a station where kids got to take silly string and shoot it at a giant spiderweb I painted on the wall. This one was way more popular than I thought!
At our Arch Enemy Knockdown, I took printed pictures of famous villains and placed them on milk jugs. Then, kids used bean bags to try and knock them down.
Hulk Smash! I searched and searched for Hulk gloves and found them at a Totswap I went to. Can you believe how hard it is to find these things when the movies aren't in theaters? Add to them weeks' worth of collected Amazon boxes, painted with my son to look like bricks, and we have quite the party game!
I added this one in there for the girls! Kids got to use pony beads to make their own bracelets in the superhero colors of their choice. In the end, most just made bracelets in ANY color, but hey, it's the thought that counts!
This station was way more popular than I ever imagined. Combine a piece of a pool noodle, a balloon, and some duct tape and you get an instant marshmallow shooter. Add a bag of mini marshmallows, and the next thing you know, marshmallows will be flying EVERYWHERE! The kids had so much fun with this activity... and I am still finding marshmallows in my playroom!
I am in so in love with how our dessert table turned out. I wrapped boxes in solid colored wrapping paper, added some black windows, and voila, a tablescape that didn't break the bank! Add in some superheroes, candy, cupcakes, and a cake, and it was a sugar-y success!
I special ordered candy in the colors of red, blue, and yellow (and also some green Kryptonite rock candy).
I also used this party to become further acquainted with my Cricut. I made cute cutouts and labels for the bottoms of the Hershey kisses!
And can we just say, I MADE A CAKE! I don't bake. I should've started with that. But this one was so much fun! Lots of food coloring and fondant. And, I also used my Cricut to design and make the custom cake topper!
There was a POPcorn bar for kids and adults! Loved these seasonings by Kernel Seasons.
Other custom Cricut touches: custom designed and printed shirts for all three of my kids, a custom banner that hung over my fireplace (capes with superhero letters), and lots of 3D word bubbles "BANG!"
That's another birthday in the books! I can't believe my baby is five! I can't wait to see what the next year has in store for him!
Comments