8 Kids Birthday Party Ideas: Cake and Party Themes

1. Invitations - "Aged finish" paper that looks like old parchment paper, use Papyrus font, tear the edges (optional: burn a few edges carefully to get an ancient look, but will have black residue that comes off). You could also find hieroglyphics in my child's name on the internet. Wording on the invitation includes searching ancient Egypt as archaeologists to find the Pharoah's lost treasure. If you plan to hand deliver: Roll the paper into scrolls, tie them with a thin gold ribbon and loop a Scarab beetle bead around one end (or simply hot glue a flat fake jewel). If mailing just simply leave flat and folded to fit your envelopes.
2. Dress as archaeologists wearing khaki's and Indiana Jones type hats. Can get inexpensive gear from a military supply store. Kids can dress up as archaeologists or Cleopatra. As the kids arrive, they are greeted at the front door by a large blow up mummy/ or Tropical Palm Tree.
3. Games - Pin "X" on the map. Get large brown mailing paper, cut a large piece & draw a map with black marker. Draw pyramid, camels, sand dunes, Mummy & draw an X for the kids for pin to.
- Mummy wrap - Split kids into teams, tell them to pick an adult to wrap. Give them 3-5 minutes to wrap. Let someone judge who did the best wrap for a prize.
- Make 8-10 clues for kids to decipher and search for the lost treasure of Pharoah Tut & Queen Nefertiti. For the last clue you can have it be outside (if not raining). Use a string (yarn) to follow to a hill of rocks or bricks (whatever you have) that hides the treasure box. Just wrap that yarn up & down around things to make it fun. You could even create a large pyramid with tarps on a swingset.
5 Pinata Time - Treasure Chest at local party store. Or Palm Tree - Egypt related of course! If it's hot where you live don't use chocolate in your treasure box or pinata. Use gold wrapped hard candies and/or toy gold coins & favors.
6. Cake: Make a pyramid cake. Or get a professional to do it for you. It's not as easy as it sounds. DIY you'll need to make two 9x13 cakes. Cut both into a square, spread icing on one, put the other on top of it. Spread more icing on top use remaining pieces to add on top. Then cut your pyramid shape (not easy) with four slanted sides. Spread icing onto outsides. (Best if cake is cold or frozen.) Use one cream cheese, one milk chocolate. Save tiny bit white for later.
- Use the tiny bit white icing saved add blue food coloring to make a little oasis next to your pyramid. You might put tan icing around the blue so that your "sand" doesn't fall into the blue water. Then crush vanilla wafers (graham crackers) for your sand spread around pyramid. Print out a camel or two glue to something thick like foamcore or cardboard. Use icing to "glue" it to the board. You could print anything egypt related. You could take a darker color and make "bricks" on the pyramid for better look. Stick a number candle in top point. Also don't forget a cheap toy palm tree (dollar store).
7. Favor bags - Plain brown bags with toy coins, favors, candy from pinata, treasure related items, egypt related like mummies, camels, pharoah.

Pool party using all colors of rainbow. Easy to decorate with all colors.
1. For table decorations use beach towels for the table cloths and plastic beach watering cans with sand weights (Dollar Tree) inside for balloon bouquets to be tied to. Plates and napkins Happy Birthday design. Cups and silverware color blue (water) and yellow (sun).
2. Invitations: "Joe is turning a "Hot" 10 years old", and on the inside say "So come cool off with him." I asked each child to bring their swimsuits and towel...
3. First we got the kids in the pool since that was what the kids were excited about. I had a baby wading pool set up on the side for the two little babies that were coming with siblings.
4. Hot dogs with watermelon and chips. Put names on the cups along with a tiny umbrella. The cake can be an island cake. Bake two rectangular cakes and put them side by side to make almost a square. Frosted blue for water. Bake a cake in a round bowl to make the island. Put it in the middle of the "water" (the two rectangular cakes) and frosted it tan (a mix of chocolate and vanilla makes a good color). Find dollar store tropical decorations such as palm tree, fish, tiny shells, or barbie beach items like tiny chairs. (Another idea for cake, see picture below.)
5. Games - Sidewalk chalk station. Ask for the best beach scene or underwater scene they can make.
- Squirt gun station where there were several squirt guns on a table (with a bucket of water to refill the guns) and a target hanging on the fence.
- Nose-ball race. Little balls that float, each kid pushes one with his nose to the other end of pool.
- Pin the scale on the fish-pool style. Plastic tablecloth cut into a big fish. Put rocks on edges by good swimmers on the bottom of the pool. Each kid drops 8 quarters into the water to see how many landed on the fish. Count how many made it on the fish then the kids could dive in and collect the quarters. Poor swimmers can stand on the side and throw the money into the pool.
- Cold feet. Fill a bucket with ice and have the kids one at a time try to get as many ice cubes out of the bucket as possible in 20 seconds. Only using their feet.
- Bobbing for apples with a couple of bags of ice in the tub of water.
- Freeze water balloons with small prizes in them and the first one with their balloon off and the ice melted will win. The best part of that all the kids will be a "winner".
- Beach balls - see who can sit on the ball the longest in the water.
6. Favors - A seashell collection in little baskets, a lei.

1. Invitations: Army Letterhead printed on flag paper. OFFICIAL RECRUITMENT NOTICE The President of the United States August 21st, 2006 TO: Greeting: You are hereby ordered for induction into the Armed Forces of the United States, Special Forces Unit, and to report at Headquarters: XXX (Your House) On: August 26th, 2006 at 1600 hours (that's 4pm for parents) for a special overnight mission. (Private First Class Brian's 8th Birthday!) Member, Executive Secretary (Brian's Mom) Come ready to RUMBLE! All in a manila envelope, with an Uncle Sam "I want You" poster on the front. - (Including much of the below on your invitations:)
- Special Uniform Required: camouflage, green or brown t-shirts (if you don't have one, it will be issued to you upon check-in.)
- Survival Gear: sleeping bag, pillow, change of clothes.
- Immediately upon arrival: check in at the inprocessing station where you will be greeted by MAJOR PAIN, issued combat gear, and receive further instructions.
- Mission: Rendevous with an elite force of young men to celebrate a special day!
- You will receive special training in wounded soldier rescue missions; target practice, strength training, night vision tag, and much more.
- Rest well the night before, as you will need all your strength to survive this mission!
- You MUST RSVP to Mission Control at XXX-XXXX. Otherwise, you will be reported AWOL and that's not GOOD!
- Departure Time the following morning: 0900!

2. Decorate with camo, black, and green streamers, and helium balloons. Paint a banner for the front yard on brown wrapping paper which says "Welcome to Private Brian's Ranger Camp!" Purchase 2 yards of camo material and cut one yard into strips for arm bands. Use left over for Centerpiece. Use Humvee from Big Lots $8. Print pics of tanks, army men, etc. and decorate the party area (or porch).
3. Borrow 2 or 3 huge camo nets from a friend at a military base, and decorate the back porch and the yard. It'll look like a real army camp.
4. "Army music" from the local library and played while they were coming in.
5. Upon arrival, each soldier was issued his gear: vest w/canteen; helmet; dog tags (gold label with each of their names "Private XXXX" on the back of the army tags); army sticker; camo face paint; toy gun, army hat.
6. March them around the yard or neighborhood singing jody calls (found on the internet.)
7. If your bold: Invite the local police K-9 unit to come to the party to demonstrate a drug find, and an enemy take-down. The kids will love watching the dog.
8. "Bombs Away". We divided the 12 boys into two teams, and each had 100 water balloons (black bombs) to throw. If you were hit, you were out. The winning team received a prize.
9. Obstacle course. Construct in your back yard. Start with a jump over the barbed wire (high string on posts); then a low crawl (while being shot at with water guns)(survival); then to a target practice (BB gun w/one shot at the target/supervised one-on-one)(ability to hit the enemy); then climb a ladder up a tree to blow the air horn (strength); down a tree and across a ladder (positioned on two saw horses)(stability); jump onto an innertube, swim a lap(endurance), and then you're done!
10. Army Tank cake. Airbrushed green, oreo cookies for wheels, black licorice, etc. Purchase some army men from Big Lots to decorate the cake,($2). Camo plates, cups, napkins. Or get green everything.
11. "Flashlight" tag. Each kid has a flashlight with either a red or blue lens. Divide into two teams and tag each other with the lights until all are out.
12. Make a fire and make smores.
13. Get the sleeping bags and go to the tent with glow sticks. Tell ghosts stories, and/or read a story from a book.
14. Bag of goodies: Army goods pens, pencils, stickers, etc. in an army bag, candy), with dog tags and a whistle.

1. Invitations need a pasted Fear Factor logo and yellow and black colors on them.
2. Printed and handed to at the party:
"Welcome to Jason's Fear Factor Birthday party. You will compete in different challenges in honor of Jason's tenth birthday. Each winner of the challenges will receive a reward and prove that fear is not a factor for them."
3. Decorations: Black & yellow balloons & streamers, Yellow plates cups & napkins. Yellow plastic tablecloth. Make Fear Factor stickers (or cut and glue). Put these on all of the cups plates and table cloth.
4. Favor bags: plain paper bags with F.F. logo. Extra stickers to put in the bags as well for favors, eyeball bouncy balls, plastic bugs, gummy worms, etc.
5. Optional: Make Fear Factor t-shirts for each kid using transfer paper printed from the printer. On each shirt I put "I survived Jason's 10th Fear Factor Birthday Party!
6. Cake: Slab cake with gummy worms in the middle iced in chocolate icing then made a thin green icing to pour over top of the cake so it looks like it's oozing down the sides. Add a Fear Factor logo put on top of the cake. Can add plastic bugs with some pushed halfway into the cake so it looks like they are crawling in & out of the cake!
7. Challenges: Worms in slug snot: They have to eat gummy worms (Pulled out of a sand pail full of chocolate cookie crumbs) from pistachio green pudding with their faces only! They are timed on who finishes first etc.
- Tub of water full of eyeballs balls. Must remove as many as possible in 1 minute. Most eyeballs wins. (can tint water with coke not food color.)
- Spaghetti & bugs: Cook 2-4lbs of spaghetti, put it in a big pot with food coloring ketchup and olives. Add plastic bugs and have them pull out as many plastic bugs as they can in 2 minutes!
- Make a long tunnel in a room using extra chairs. Run a string across all chairs then drape blankets over top creating a tunnel underneath. Use clothes pins to pin Fear Factor flags (yellow) to the sting. Then put a bunch of plastc bugs and stuffed animals in the way so they have 'obstacles'. Put a flashlight halfway through so it's dimly lit. Turn out the lights, crawl through, and be awarded points for who can get all 10 flags and who could go through the fastest.
- Final challenge: Transfer 6 dog biscuits from a table to a pail using their mouths, then run to a bucket of gross water (Such as old leaves tissue paper & lettuce scraps) where they reach in & find the right container which holds a key. (easter eggs) Once they get the key they run into another room & unlock whatever was tied up (such as Dad)!

What kid hasn't fantasized about skimming across the ocean waves in a fast clipper, a Pirate Flag snapping in the breeze off the mast as they sharpen their cutlasses and dream of chests laden with jewels, dubloons, and golden treasure? Even the adults enjoy swaggering about for an afternoon, growling "ye' scurvy dog!" and "arrr, matey!"

1. Make honorary pirate names for all the guests. Scarface Billy, One-Eyed Jake, Cutlass Sandy, Mark the Black, Bobby Bones, Dirty Dog Dad... writing them on their pirate hats and "swag bags", and using them in all the subsequent games.
2. Make a Red-draped table with a treasure chest (decorated shoebox) overflowing with foil-wrapped bubble-gum "dubloons," ready for awarding. Red, white & black helium-filled balloons to just about everything.
3. "Swag bags" (gift bags). These contained eyepatches, pirate swords, red handkerchiefs, and pirate hats. Everyone put on their Pirate Gear. Keep bags for prizes awarded throughout party.
4. Games, split guests into two teams, with two captains. - "Walk the Plank." For this game, 2" x 4" x 8' boards were laid out on the floor, end to end. Blindfolded guests were then challenged to walk the length of the "plank" without falling off.
- "Swab the Decks." This hilarious relay race contest challenged crews to herd 5 ping pong balls across an expanse of floor using brooms. The captains split their respective crews onto opposite sides of the room. After one crewmate successfully shepherded the balls across the room, he turned the broom over to the next crewmate, whose job was to shepherd them back. First crew to swab their ping pong balls across the finish line won.
- "Sea Battle," in which each crew earned points by hitting "targets" (clipart from the internet) with beanbags. The targets were ships (5pts each), islands (2pts) and seamonsters (deduct 3pts - it's never good policy to tick off a sea monster!). The catch is that the crews must launch the beanbags from catapults! (Catapult kits at a cub scout supplies store or online.)
5. Pirate themed plates, cups & napkins from the party store. Or just buy Red, Black & White for a pirate color theme.
6. "Sorting the booty" (opening presents) and birthday cake - a sheet cake iced in parchment-colored swirls of brown (different shades) and then decorated to look like a treasure map. (See picture below for a pirate cake idea).
7. While waiting on their parents, play an on-going game of "tug of war," another useful pirate skill.

1. An Invitations to Tea: Compose a little rhyme for your 'mad' tea party invitation. Don't Be Late! For a Very Important Date. If you're feeling quite mad, We'll make you right glad.
2. Costumes: When inviting guests to your 'mad' tea party, be sure the invitations says, Please wear your 'maddest' hat." If someone forgets to bring one make sure to have a few extras on hand. Guest might also come dressed as Tweedledee and Tweedledum the Cheshire Cat Alice or the notorious Queen of Hearts. As host/hostess you dress as the Mad Hatter. Your invitation could read: Come in foolish attire For all to admire.
3. Decorations: Make large playing cards on poster board to set around the room. Make paper hearts spades and diamonds. Tape these on walls and on the backs of chairs. Toss hats and cards everywhere. Fill them with flowers. Line straw hats with napkins and use them as serving dishes. Use dolls hats for nut cups.
4. Cake & Menu: - Sandwiches, cookies, tarts and tea.
- Make a hat cake. Bake a two-tier round cake. Ice and add sugar flowers and a bow made from licorice strings. Instead serve individual cupcakes with the words EAT ME piped across the tops. Serve your tea from wine glasses. Tie tags around the stems of the glasses that say DRINK ME. Use mismatched china and serveware. Use everyday dishes and line then with fancy paper doilies. Under each plate put a floral place mat. Optional: Light some candles, place in safe places - blow out when pictures are done.
- Use enlarged clip art of bread and butterflies and hung those above the table.
5. Games & Fun: Play a game of croquet. (Indoor sets are available at toy stores.) You can make your own by using golf balls and dowel rods with empty soup cans wired at one end. For goals cut wire coat hangers shape and tape them to the floor.
- "Who is the Queen of Hearts?" Take a deck of cards and place them in a hat. Ask guests to draw one card at a time until someone draws the Queen of Hearts. Winner gets a red rose of course.
- "Maddest Hat." Ask all the guests to vote for who has the maddest hat of the tea party. The one who wins can be the honorary Mad Hatter. Make up categories - most creative most beautiful silliest...
6. Decorations for Alice in Wonderland theme:
Make things bigger than life! Also from BirthdayPartyIdeas:
"...The door leading to the club house was pathed with bunny foot print tracks. I lay down a 15'x25' green tarp and bought garden fencing (Home Depot). I placed a long line of Banquet tables down the middle of the tarp covered in one roll of pink table cloth so as to look like one EXTREMLY long table. I bought Tea pots and cups to line all down the middle of the four tables and the tea cups I filled with water. In the tea cups I placed a red floating rose candle. I found miniature topiaries (about 2" high) and placed one at each setting. Around the green tarp I placed three 2'x15' garden fences in a circle creating 3 entry ways to the tea party area. I used white picket fences. To stand them up I used rectangular floral foam every 3 feet by pressing the bottom of the stake into the middle of the foam. Silk flowers to cover the foam up. Above the party banquet tables I used paper lanterns. 12 Large round ones that were filled with a string a piece of 25 light battery powered Christmas lights. I created pathways leading up to each entry way between the fences by taping green table cloth (from a roll) on the floor from one end to the entry way. I cut out animated furniture pieces out of colored poster board and hung them right ways, side ways and upside down representing Alice falling down the rabbit hole. There was even a large book cut out readin Alice in Wonderland. Created the Tulgey Wood. I bought four classroom size tree's off of a classroom supply website ($10 per tree). On the trunks taped different color signs... See much more Alice in Wonderland Decoration Ideas Here

1. Invitations "We'll pick you up at (whatever time)!" Telling them to dress up and be hungry.
2. Pick up all invited guests in a rented limo. Very unexpected. Have camera ready.
2. Restaurant reservations at a nice place!
3. Arriving home have a red carpet rolled out with flashing lights and pretend photographers!
4. Interview each guest!
5. Hold an award ceremony and give out awards like: Craziest friend, etc.!
6. Take pictures like real stars!
7. Optional: Sleepover. Stars need beauty sleep!

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