Kid's Theme Birthday Parties
I love throwing Original and Unique birthday parties for my children! I would actually call it a hobby. I really love doing it! I feel there are only so many bowling, gymnastics and Chuck-E-Cheese parties one can go to. No matter how many of these parties you attend, they are always the same old thing. No surpises. That is why I like to host custom parties to celebrate my kid's birthdays. Don't get me wrong. I am not completely against having parties outside the home. I have had a few myself. I just prefer to have them at home based on a theme chosen by my kids. They pick the theme and we go from there! From custom invitations, party favors, party games, cupcakes, etc.
My children are all unique so I feel there parties should be as well. Let's face it, celebrating birthdays are really for children anyway so why not make them more memorable?
In this lens, I will cover everything involved with creating a special theme-based party for your child. Where to get ideas and where to buy your supplies. I will also spotlight a few of my past parties to give you an idea of what you can do. The sky is the limit!
As one of my daughter's party guests said a few years ago at her 6th Birthday Party (its was a Dress Up/Tea Party), "This is the best birthday party EVER!" It is hearing things like that and seeing the smile on my daughter's face, that makes all the planning and running around so worth it!
The Theme & Party Packs
Getting Started!
You can create a party around ANY theme, so don't be alarmed if they chose a theme that is unusual.
Theme Party Packs are great! They are available in over 140 birthday themes! The standard pack comes with invitations, tableware, balloons & ribbon. There are many items you can add on including Pinatas, favors, theme related crafts, plus fun personalized birthday banners, stickers and buttons! I have ordered them before and have been extremely pleased.
The Latest Party Ideas from my Birthday Blog!
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byFeatured Birthday Party Themes
Baby Einstein ~ Spiderman ~ Superman ~ Cinderella ~ Trains
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Cinderella Birthday Party Favors and Supplies
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Walt Disney's animated feature, Cinderella, was first released to theaters on February 15, 1950. Since then it has been re-released numerous times and Cinderella still remains a very popular and favorite princess to many little girls. Cinderella is...
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Train Birthday Party Favors and Supplies
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Choo! Choo! It's time for a Train Birthday Party! This theme is so much fun for little boys (and girls!) who love to play with trains. It also works great for a 1st Birthday Party theme. This page highlights many fun and unique party favors includin...
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Baby Einstein Birthday Party Favors and Supplies
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Babies and young children love the Baby Einstein toys and characters. They are extremely engaging and even the youngest audience enjoy playing with and watching Baby Einstein videos and toys. My son loved to watch his Baby Einstein videos and when he...
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Spiderman Birthday Party Favors and Supplies
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Having a Spiderman theme birthday party? This lens will include a large assortment of Spiderman party favors including unique pinata favors, chocolate lollipops, personalized favor boxes and candy wrappers, gourment cookie favors, cookie pops and pre...
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Superman Birthday Party Favors and Supplies
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"It's a bird...It's a plane...It's Superman!" If you are planning a Superman birthday party for your child, you will find everything you need here. Party favors, personalized party supplies, partyware, custom birthday shirts, birthday cake & cupcake...
Recommended Birthday Party Idea Books
FamilyFun Parties: 100 Complete Party Plans for Birthdays, Holidays, and Every Day
What a fun and original book!
-A Satisfied Buyer
Avg. Customer Rating: 
Amazon Price: (as of 11/23/2009) 
That Was the Best Party Ever! How to Give Birthday Parties Kids Will Never Forget
The President of our Mother's Club recommended this book and it is wonderful!
-An Amazon Review
Avg. Customer Rating: 
Amazon Price: (as of 11/23/2009)
Planning The Party
First of all, one of the most important things you can do when planning the birthday party, is to have your child involved as much as you can. It will make the entire experience that much more fun for them! Here are just some ways they can help out: Write out the guest list (if they are old enough), Make suggestions for Food & Snacks, Fill Party Bags, Decorate the day of the Party, etc.
Secondly, a week before the party, once you have all the activities planned, take out a piece of paper and write down each activity and estimate how much time it will take to complete it.
Here is a sample plan for a 2 hour Party:
12:00-12:30- Decorate goodie bags and complete Craft Project.
12:30-12:45- Eat Pizza
12:45-1:15- Games
1:15-1:30- Cake
1:30-1:45- Open Presents
1:45-2:00- Pinata
I just leave the paper on the counter and glance at it occasionally to see how the party is progressing and if we are on time. If you see things are taking longer than expected, you can move things along faster by eliminating an activity or shortening one. If the party is moving slower than expected, you can make the activities longer. For instance, give each child two turns at a game that maybe you had only planned on giving one turn.
You will be amazed how a little piece of paper can prove to be so valuable. At the end of my daughter's Arts & Crafts party last month, I had so many mom's comment on how well the party was choreographed!
Invitations & Decorations
I usually do one of the following: Use the invitations that come in the Party Pack, Create my own invitations with Create & Print or order personalized invitations.
These can include balloons, wall hangings, streamers, etc. You can also use things you already have around the house. For instance, if your son is having a 'Cars & Trucks' themed party, gather all of his cars, trucks, car books, car games, etc. and place them around the party room. This costs nothing and is a great touch!
Fun Party Tablecloth Idea
make your own party tablecloth for hard to find themes!
A nice way to add some fun to your party table is to use a cotton fabric coordinating with your birthday theme.
I have done tihis a few times already and the results are great! I recently did this for my daughter's frog theme party. She had this theme for her 10th birthday sleepover. Since all of the party tablecloths I saw came with more of a boy's frogs/lizards theme as opposed to a girly froggy theme, I opted to use the frog fabric instead. It was pink and cute! (see Frog Party sample below.)
You can purchase fabric by the yard at your local fabric store (keep your eyes open for any sales!) or on Ebay. Depending on the size of your table, decide how much fabric you will need. If you are handy with a needle and thread, you can finish off the ends. If you are not (like me!), don't worry about the ends, nobody will notice. :)
If your table is wider than the standard fabric width of 44", or the if the fabric does not cover the shape of your table, that is not a problem. For instance, my table is wider. I just purchase an inexpensive coordinating solid tablecloth at the party store to put underneath the fabric cloth. And, overlaying the two cloths gives the table some nice dimension and just adds to the look. I just staple the the fabric to the tablecloth so it stays in place.
Frog Party with Fabric Tablecloth
Gourmet Birthday Cookie Bouquets!
These Hand Decorated Gourmet Cookie Bouquets are adorable! They would make such a wonderful unique Birthday gift for your child. You could also use these Cookie Bouquets to decorate the Party room or use as an awesome table centerpiece!
They come in many birthday designs including Smiley Faces, Divas Delights, Birthday Cakes, Dinosaurs, Dogs, Sports, Teddy Bears, Dress-Up, Trains, Sweet Sixteen, Plus Lots More!
How about Fortune Cookie Party Favors?
They also sell adorable Happy Birthday Take Out Pails! Each fun pail contains two gourmet hand-dipped & decorated Happy Birthday Fortune Cookies nestled inside among festive tinsel and shred. They are decorated with royal icing birthday cakes and/or confetti candy sprinkles and individually wrapped in clear cellophane bags.
Inside, they have Happy Birthday Fortunes messages with special sayings like "You'll be 'fortune'-ate for your Birthday!" and "Lady Fortune will smile upon you today and throughout the year. Happy Birthday!" They include a personalized happy birthday label for the outside of the Take Out Box and are finished with a matching ribbon! Very unique party favor!
Visit The Gourmet Cookie Bouquet Shop!
Fun Birthday Party Theme Attire
It is always a lot of fun to dress your child in their theme! There are lots of great shirts and outfits that will really add that special touch to your child's birthday celebration.
Cafepress and Ebay have many different birthday shirts and sets for every party theme. Many of the shirts can be personalized with your child's name and age.
Click here to view my Party Attire page organized by theme!
How Long Should the Party Be & How Many Guests?
Party Duration:
Preschool age- 1 hour
5-6 year olds - 1 1/2 to 2 hours
7-8 year olds - 2 1/2 hours
Over 8 - 3 hours
As far as the number of party guests go, experts say you should have about the same number of guests as the age of the birthday child. Ex. 6 guests for a 6 year old's Birthday Party.
Now, I always follow the party duration rule for my kids parties, however, I usually have many more guests than is suggested. I personally have never had a problem with doing it that way. You just have to do what you think is best for your child. If you think too many kids will be overwhelming for them, or for you, then certainly keep the party guest down to what is advised.
Birthday Cake and Party Ideas
FamilyFun Birthday Cakes: 50 Cute and Easy Party Treats
This book is terrific. It has wonderful cakes to make for
children's parties. I already had several basic cake
decorating books but this one had ideas that I had never seen before and which were easy but didn't look it.
-An Amazon Review
Avg. Customer Rating:
Amazon Price: (as of 11/23/2009)
Party Animal Cakes: 15 Fantastic Designs
The eye-catching animal cakes featured on the cover and back of PARTY ANIMAL CAKES may look difficult to make, but with Lindy Smith's step-by-step, color photo enhanced directions in hand, it's a piece of cake to produce them.
-A Review
Avg. Customer Rating: 
Amazon Price: (as of 11/23/2009)
Party Cakes for Children: Over 20 Fun Cakes
This book is wonderful. Includes step by step instructions to make the cakes illustrated in the book or you can simply take ideas from it and design your own.
-From Amazon
Avg. Customer Rating: 
Amazon Price: (as of 11/23/2009)
Classic Party Games
Character Mascot Costumes for Your Theme Party
many popular characters available!
Your child would absolutely love a visit from their favorite character at their birthday party! This is a great activity to have at the parties for younger children between the ages of one and five. You could purchase or rent the costume yourself or hire a paid entertainer to come to the birthday party wearing the costume.If you prefer to purchase the mascot costume, there are many characters available including Mickey, Minnie, Elmo, Dora, Diego, Spongebob, Super Mario, Backyardigans, Wubbzy, Yo Gabba Gabba, Pooh, Curious George, Hello Kitty, Strawberry Shortcake, Thomas the Tank Engine, Transformers, plus many more!
Click here to view all of the Character Mascot Costumes available!
Printable Birthday Party Games
Personalized!
Custom Crossward Puzzle Game
*Two designs for boys & girls*
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Recommended Site
Birthday Party Ideas is a fantastic site for childrens birthday party ideas! It breaks down each theme party by age. Each of the party ideas are judged and some of them are awarded Honorable Mention, Special Mention, Runner Up and there are also monthly Winners.These are actual parties submitted by visitors. The sites contains hundreds of parties to read through and it can be time consuming, but you can really get some great tips! So, grab a cup of coffee and have fun exploring lots of fun and unique ideas for YOUR next party!
Craft Project & Decorating Goodie Bags
Purchase plain white paper bags
Prepare a craft based on your party theme.
Party Favors
Lollipops ~ Cookies ~ Candy Wrappers
Party favors are so much fun! There are many different things you can do to create a favor that will thrill your child's party guests. Here are some general favor ideas:
Fun Chocolate Lollipop Favors
Chocolate lollipops make a wonderful party favor! You can purchase lollipops in almost every party theme and they come individually wrapped with your choice of ribbon and chocolate colors.
For more fun, display these lollipops in a Wilton Lollipop holder (see below) and they will serve as a great table centerpiece as well!
*There are lots more party themes to choose from. Simply click on one of the links below to visit this Ebay sellers store.
How to Make Chocolate Lollipops
Chocolate Lollipop Favors
Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand byWilton Lollipop Holder
Wilton Swirly Lollipop Holder
Show off fun chocolate lollipops and other treats for the whole party to see with this lively looping stand which neatly serves up to 18 treats for the ideal celebration centerpiece. It's also great for marshmallows, jelly candies, and caramels; just insert on 4" sticks. Use the top slot to add a fun message.
Amazon Price: $10.99 (as of 11/23/2009)
Pinatas
I have pinatas
is the string that will burst the pinata open!
I would personally suggest not purchasing those pinata filler bags. They usually come with junky candy nobody likes and plastic toys nobody will play with. :) I go to my local party store and get a large bag of candy with the better candy in it: Hersey Chocolates, Starbursts, Jolly Ranchers, Tootsie Roll Pops, etc. Then, I add in some small theme related toys. (small figures, keychains, tattoos, jewelry, bubbles, etc.)
Very, very important note!
Always keep a small stash of pinata goodies aside. Since there will always be a child or two that just can't get to any of the candy and you really don't want anyone upset. Once all the goodies are picked up, you can them give some of the reserved candy & toys to any of the children who did not get any or as much. That way everyone is happy! Trust me, I learned this the hard way.
Birthday Cake and Cupcake Ideas
I usually make cupcakes for my parties since I am not very good at baking. Plus cupcakes are fun and easy to decorate with theme-related cupcake picks and liners. If you do like to bake, there are a large number of novelty cake pans to chose from as well as some great birthday cake idea books on the market(see below). You could also purchase a cake from your local bakery and have a theme-related photo placed on it. For instance, if your child is having a 'Soccer' birthday party, include a photo of him/her playing at a soccer game.
Click here to see Cake Ideas for the 50 Most Popular Kids Birthday Themes!
Cupcake Decorating Ideas
Cupcakes: From the Cake Mix Doctor
I don't often give cookbooks a 5 star, just because many of them have only a few new recipes that I would try, or because the format is poor. Oftentimes, I check out cookbooks from my local library, pick out the recipes that I want to try, and jot them down. When I started to do that with this book, however, I noticed that I was marking several pages in a row, and pretty soon had most of the pages bookmarked! I stopped marking, returned the book to the library, and purchased my own copy.
-An Amazon Review
Avg. Customer Rating:
Amazon Price: $10.76 (as of 11/23/2009)
Cupcakes
This book has some really cute pictures and some very good recipes. Nicely written.
-A Satisfied Buyer
Avg. Customer Rating:
Amazon Price: $10.36 (as of 11/23/2009)
Super-Duper Cupcakes: Kids' Creations from the Cupcake Caboose
These cupcakes are the yummiest and best looking ever! They come in sweet chocolate or creamy vanilla, dyed and decorated with dazzling designs. Best of all, every kid can make one. Ambitious little bakers will enlist a parent's help and start from scratch, using the well-illustrated recipes for both cupcakes and frosting.
Avg. Customer Rating:
Amazon Price: $9.95 (as of 11/23/2009)
Crazy About Cupcakes
Go cupcake crazy! With nearly 300 awesome, mouthwatering ideas to choose from, home bakers will find the right recipe for any occasion and every palate.
Avg. Customer Rating:
Amazon Price: $12.21 (as of 11/23/2009)
Hey There, Cupcake! 35 Yummy Fun Cupcake Recipes for All Occasions
Cute, accessible, and colorful, this cookbook contains 35 wildly inventive recipes.
Avg. Customer Rating:
Amazon Price: $11.53 (as of 11/23/2009)
Looking for the Perfect Gift for the Birthday Child?
The Novelty Gift Shop carries a great selection of unique gifts for the Birthday Child!-
The Novelty Gift Shop
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Are looking for a Unique gift for that Special someone or Searching for a Fun Item to Accent your Own Home Decor? Are You a Collector of Old Television or Movie Memorbilia? You have Come to the Right Place! At the Novelty Gift...
Food/Snacks, Music, The Parents & Extra Activities
If you can find a food or snack that goes with your theme, that is great. If not, pizza and chips are always a big hit!
Music! You could purchase a party CD or make one of your own! You can download songs to to play during the party. I do that all the time. I use Napster. They currently have a free 7-day trial if you are interested in giving them a try.
Depending on the age of the birthday child, parents may or may not stay during the party. However, always be prepared for a few of them to stay. Put out some appetizers and set up a drink table so they can help themselves since you won't have too much time to play host.
It is a good idea to always have a few extra activities on hand incase there is any downtime.
My Kid's Birthday Parties
Here are some of the parites I have hosted for my children. :)
Puppy Dog Party
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My Kids Birthday Parties: Horse Theme
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I had a Horse Theme Birthday party for my daughter's 8th Birthday. It was great! This page will all include all of the party details, photos and supplies to throw a Horse Party for your child. Party Favors * Partyware * Games * Craft...
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Kid's Birthdays: Maurice Sendak Little Bear Party Theme
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My son had a Little Bear party theme for his 3rd birthday! He loves watching Little Bear. It is one of his favorite shows, so he chose to have this theme for his birthday. It was a tough decision between Little Bear or Franklin, but he finally decide...
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My Kids Birthday Parties: Hop on over to a TOADally Awesome Frog Theme Party
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My daughter decided on a Frog theme for her 10th sleepover birthday party. Not a boys frogs & lizards type of party, but a pink and girly froggie theme party. :) It was a lot of fun! This page will highlight lots of the ideas and supplies we used for...
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My Kids Birthday Parties: Arts & Crafts Crayon Theme
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I had an Arts & Crafts theme birthday party for my daughter's 6th birthday. The kids loved it! This page will include Party details, Photos and Supplies to help you host a great Arts & Crafts theme party for your child. Party...
Have a Birthday Party Story to Share or Just want to Say 'Hi'?
Post it here!
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Reply
- lakern26 lakern26 Jul 11, 2009 @ 1:36 pm
- There are some really great ideas here and tons of useful information. Thanks so much for sharing your experience with us!
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- EagleScoutMom EagleScoutMom Apr 22, 2009 @ 5:25 pm
- Great lens and great party ideas !!! I love to throw fun parties like this too. Kids Love it and what great memories!
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- 77611 77611 Apr 3, 2009 @ 9:54 am
- WOW what a great lens!!!!
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- CatharinaE CatharinaE Feb 28, 2009 @ 12:52 am
- I love your lens, great info, cute ideas, thanks!
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- 2Eklectik 2Eklectik Jan 6, 2009 @ 12:37 pm
- Thanks for the great ideas!!
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