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Here are the themes that we are using this year.
Eventually I will add our previous party themes as well.

Western/Cowboy Party
Pirate Adventure
Water/Beach Theme
Art/Painting Party
Mexican Fiesta
Rubber Ducky Toddler's Party
Mad Science
Hot wheels/racing theme

Isaiah's Wild West Theme ~ 4yo boy
Invitations~ Wanted posters with a picture of my husband dressed in western gear. (I bribed him with the promise of new clothes!)
Inside it will read...
"There's a new sherriff in town and he's turning FOUR! But Wild Bill has stolen the goodie bags! Sherriff Isaiah is rounding up a posse to track him down. Meet us at the Rocking Horse Ranch corral(better known as the Aos house)at *TIME* on *DATE*. Send the Pony Express over with your RSVP (or call phone#)."

Decorations~ Red, white and blue
~ balloon arch over driveway
~ SIGN reading " Beware~Rattlesnake Gulch" and rubber snakes up the walkway.
~ cardboard jail at end of walkway and a box that reads "by order of Sherriff Isaiah no weapons past this point."
~ swinging doors leading to the deck with sign above reading "Rocking Horse Ranch"
~ On the deck will be a craft table for the opening activity, a galvanized washtub full of ice and drinks with yet another sign proclaiming "Watering hole"
~ Swinging doors leading to the kitchen with ~you guessed it~ a sign reading "the Cowpoke Cafe"
~ The yard will be set up with a sand box "Gold Mine", a lasso booth, bales of hay, plywood cactuses (cacti?), wagon wheels, and one bale of hay with broomstick horses stuck into it.
~ balloons and streamers, of course but instead of the ribbon that I normally use to hang from my balloon bouquets I will use raffia

Opening Activity~ paper bag vests for the kids to decorate and wear.
~ when they are done they will pan for gold at the gold mine. Each chid will need to find two peices of gold to "buy" their stick horses.

Games~ the children will be divided by age and the younger children will play the first game on each line.
~ Cactus Ring Toss and Lasso Booth- as each child has their turn they will recieve a cowboy hat.
~ Bit by a Rattlesnake (hot potatoe variation) and Horseshoes- children will earn bandannas.
~ Pin the badge on the Sherriff to earn their deputy badges.

We will then take pictures of the newly deputized guests and move on to...

Lunch~ While we eat I will play a Little Dogs on the Prairie video.
~ The kid-pleasing fare will be... chili dogs
wagon wheel pasta
haystacks-shoestring potatoes and stick pretzels
coleslaw

~ For the adults...
a chili bar
coleslaw
baked beans
corn on the cob
cornbread
~ to drink: Roy Rogers and frosty ale (root beer floats)

Table Settings~ a red and white checkered tablecloth
~ a centerpeice made from a cowboy boot and balloons
~ tin pie plates in straw paper plate holders
~ red and blue cutlery wrapped in a contrasting bandanna and tied with a leather thong will be in a basket lined with denim.
~ cowboy toys and confetti on the table with ribbon curls.
~ The food will be served in baskets lined with denim or bandanna fabric.

Cake and Ice Cream~ The chocolate cake will be a bull's head cut from a 9x13 sheet with cinnamon red hot eyes and silver tipped horns.
~ the white cake will be a cowboy hat cake with rolled buttercream frosting.
~ the icecream will be cut into individual servings with a star cookie cutter and have "DEPUTY" written on it in frosting.


After the cake we will be having pony rides. My husband will dress in his "Wild Bill" get-up and on my signal will run past the kids and up the road. The kids, having been reminded throughout the course of the day will (hopefully) chase him and put him in "Jail" where he will hand out the...

Goodie Bags~ For the kids: bandannas tied like sacks and filled with trail mix, harmonicas, plastic horses, rubber snakes, their gold nuggets from the gold mine, and licorice ropes.
~ For the adults: chili kits!

Thank You Notes~ will be triple fold cards with the guests picture in oval frame with Wanted printed underneath.
~ inside it will read: ...to thank you for making my party a rootin' tootin' good time!

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Colton's Pirate Adventure Theme ~ 9yo boy
Invitations~ Printed on cardstock and crumpled then tea-stained, rolled up and tied with a peice of raffia and inserted into an empty water bottle with a handful of sand.
~ Reads "Ye be invited for birthday fun at Cap'n Colton's buccaneer bash! Chart yer course for the port of the Aos house on *DATE* at *TIME* fer some swachbuckling fun and piratey grub! Wave yer flag if ye be attending or have yer mum call(phone#). If yer gots one wear a striped tee-shirt and don't fergit yer swimming garb or ye'll walk the plank! Sees yer thar!

Decorations~ Black, white, gold, silver, and a little bit of green
~ Black and white balloon arch
~ Beware signs
~ Milk jug skeleton pointing the way up to the deck
~ sign reads "Pirate Cove...enter if you dare"
~ Black and white streamers, black and gold balloons, and gold and silver ribbons
~ On deck: craft table, trunk of clothes, a fish net hanging on rail of deck, and green crepe "seaweed"
~ in the yard I will have two huge ships made from furniture boxes and a pool with a slide full of toy sharks
~ in the house a sign will be posted on the stairs to our basement saying "lower deck closed for repairs"

Opening Activity~ Treasure Boxes
~ paper mache boxes spray painted gold
~ the kids can decorate them with glitter and jewels,etc.

Games~Pirate tag- the birthday boy is "it" and as he catches each guest they get dressed as pirates in earrings, facial hair, tattoos, scarves and bandannas. Once they look the part they will be back in the game as Pirates.
~ Next we divide into two teams and enter the ships for the cannonball battle with black water balloons. Last ship standing wins.
~ The balloon sword fight! As each person's sword pops they have to walk the plank into the shark infested water!
~ Musical Islands
~ Biting Crab (hot potatoe variation)
~ Pin the eyepatch on the Pirate

Table settings~ black plastic tablecloth
~ silver charger plates (or pie plates)
~ disposable plastic stemware with "jewels" glued on
~ black or white cutlery in contrasting napkins
~ Treasure chest jewelry boxes as the centrepeices
~ green "seaweed" and chocolate coins on the table

Menu~ While we eat I will play the Veggie Tales movie: Jonah sing-along songs and more
~ for the kids...
oceans (blue jello with fish)
cannonballs (purple grapes)
Pineapple fish and cheese skewered on little plastic swords
goldfish crackers
Pirate ship hot dogs with skewer masts and paper sails

~ for the adults...
veggie coins
french bread pizza decorated to look like a pirate ship
breadstick swords
Grapes and cheese on plastic swords

~ for beverages we will be having frosty ale (root beer floats) and blue kool-aide with fish embedded ice cubes

Cake and Ice cream~ The chocolate cake will be a treasure chest
~ we will also be serving white cupcakes decorated to look like pirate heads
~ Ice cream Treasure mountain: ice cream scoops on a platter covered in chocolate syrup and sprinkled with candy jewels

While the kids are eating I will be reading a pirate story to them and a map will "accidently" fall out of the book touching off a wild treasure hunt that ends at a chest shaped pinata full of the...

Goodie Bags~ Paper bags filled and folded over to make a rounded top and then decorated with a black marker to look like a treasure chest
~ inside: tattoos, seashells, jewel stickers, candy and real jewelry, chocolate coins, telescopes, snakes and lizards, bone candy, and beanie parrots.
~ adults get Hershey's Nuggets in little mesh sacks.

Thank you notes~ crumpled, tea-stained card reads "thanks... friends like you are a real treasure"

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Eliza'sUnder the Sea theme
Invitations~ I will trace a flip-flop onto cardstock and use my date/time/place stamp to put the info on it and then use eyelets and brightly colored shoe laces to turn it into a realistic looking flip-flop.

Decorations~ Blue, green and purple
~ balloon arch
~ signs proclaiming "no lifeguard on duty", "hang ten" and "surf's up" will be lining the walkway
~ on the deck: I will be pulling out that trusty fish net, the ever present craft table and carboard surf boards
~ in the yard I will have several pools, a slip and slide and a couple of sprinklers set up. There will be a huge sun wearing sunglasses hanging up and beach balls everywhere
~ the inside of the house is going to be made up to look as if you have gone under the sea. The entire ceiling will be covered in different shades of blue streamers, big silver circles will look like bubbles rising up the walls, and all of the balloon bouquets will be of silver balloons to represent more bubbles, I am going to make big colorful pictures of sea life to adorn the walls and hang foam fish from the ceiling with silver ribbon
~ I will be wearing a grass skirt and as the guests arrive they will receive leis before they do the...

Opening Activity~ Wave bottles

Games~ In this case it will be pretty unstructured as I think the kids will stay busy in the "water park" but I will try to get them interested in...
~ Pass the water balloon and Water balloon toss
~ a foam or silly string fight
~ water limbo(with a hose)
~ I will also have a bubble station set up in case anyone wants some downtime
~ If the adults who aren't supervising can sneak away I will have a volleyball net set-up in another area of the yard

~ I will be sure to get candid shots of each guest having fun to enclose in the Thank You notes

Table Settings~ Purple and Blue checked table cloth
~ goldfish bowl centerpeice
~ Purple and blue cutlery in contrasting napkins
~ fish shaped placemats cut from fun foam
~ sugar "sand" and seashells on the table
~ blue dishes
~ all the food will be served in pails with shovels

Menu~ During the meal we will watch the Veggie Tales movie God wants me to forgive them where they get marooned on a deserted island
~ for the kids...
beach snack mix
octopus dogs (cut the dogs halfway up in eight strips before cooking)
PB and Jelly-fish sandwiches
life savers (provided for your safety)

~ For the adults...
fish and chips
crinkle cut veggie tray
~ we will have a smoothie bar and we will serve all drinks garnished with an orange slice, a cherry and a little umbrella

Cake and Icecream~ The chocolate cake will be a Fun in the pool cake
~ we will also serve white and chocolate cupcakes decorated with blue frosting and graham crumbs to make a beach scene. A cocktail umbrella, fruit by the foot beach towel and teddy graham floating in a gummy saver will complete the picture
~ the icecream will be served as a sandcastle with 1 brick laying flat and the other cut in half and placed beside it as uprights, a few frosted ice cream cone turrets complete with paper flags and the whole thing will be coated with a layer of graham crumbs to make it look like sand

Goodie Bags~ we will have a fish pond and each child will hook their goodie bags
~ in a pail and shovel
~ Bubble foam or paint, salt water taffy, water tubes, beanie fish, squirt toys, and gummy fish

Thank You notes~ will have an oval cut out in the front which will have a blue vellum wave over it

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Ginny's Paint the town theme ~ 6yo girl
Invitations~ white poster board cut in the shape of an artist's pallette with multi-colored round stickers to simulate blobs of paint.
~ the invitation will be hand lettered to say "You're invited..." on the front and "to paint the town with Ginny for her 6th birthday" on the back
~Thank you to my sister-in-law for the idea!
Decorations~ Red, yellow and blue.
~ balloon arch
~ a clothesline in the backyard will display the children's art work
~ Ginny's artwork will be hanging on the walls in poster board frames with hand made plaques below them
Opening Activity as the guests arrive they will recieve an artist's smock, have their faces painted and decorate a file folder to hold their art work.
Instead of games we will have art stations~ handprint station- each chilwill add their name and handprint to a poster for Ginny to keep as a momento of the occasion
~ other stations will include: playdough, spray paint with squirt bottles, spin art, bubble painting, and water color butterflies
~ the kids will also play "crayon drop" a variation of the clothespin drop, later on
Tablesettings~ a spatter painted tablecloth
~ colorful dishes, cutlery, and napkins
~ crayon contetti and curl ribbon on the table.
Menu~ we will start by building our own pizzas
~ while they bake the children will be playing crayon drop
~ I will play a taped episode of Art Attack while we eat pizza and drink sprite with multicolored ice cubes in it
Cake and Ice cream~ Both the chocolate and the white cake will be a crayon cake
~ the ice cream will be in the shape of an artist's pallette complete with paintbrush
Goodie Bags Awards ceremony ~ everyone wins! categories will be made up as we go. Most colorful, best use of..., etc.
~ each person will be called forward with much ceremony and presented with a blue ribbon and their goodie bags
~ new paint cans with thier names on them with bright stickers, filled with: mini paint sets, sketch pads, paint brush candies, crayola figurines, and little baggies of primary colored M and M's
~ for the adults a hand painted heart-shaped plaque
Thank You notes ~ Hand painted acrylic frames with their picture in it

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Caitlin's Mexican Fiesta Theme
Invitations~ Cards handstamped by Caitlin with red, yellow, and green jalapeno peppers.
Decorations ~ Red, white and green
~ Balloon arch
~ Sign on the door will say "Welcome Friends" in English and Spanish.
~ chili pepper garlands
~ crepe paper flowers
~ hay bales and serapes
~ Sombrero hanging on the wall
~ cardboard catus cut-outs
Opening Activity~ Paint paper mache maracas as the kids assemble
Trail Ride~ in lieu of games the older children will be going on a trail ride
~ the little ones at home will play pin the tail on the donkey and break a pinata full of activities and candy to keep them busy until we return.
~ when we get back we will play Mexican Jumping Beans, a variation on Statues to "Habanero" by Charlotte Church.
Table Settings~ a mexican blanket will be the table cloth
~ the table settings will be red and green
~ a mexican flag at each place
~ pinatas will be the centerpeices
~ crepe paper and curl ribbon on the table
~ while we eat anyone who says birthday will have to wear a sombrero until the catch someone else saying it.
Menufruit tray
taco bar
enchiladas
7-layer Dip
tortilla chips

Roy Rogers
Lime milkshakes
Cake and Ice cream~ Prancing Pony cake
~ the ice cream will be tinted green and molded into a cactus shape with toothpick spines
Goodie Bags~ After the cake the kids will be given jalapeno stamped gift bags with a beanie horse and a little sombrero keychain.
~ they will break the pinats and fill their bags with goodies.
~ the adults will recieve cactus plants.
The Thank You notes will be made the same way as the invitations.

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Madelynn's Rubber Ducky theme ~ 2 yo girl
Invitations~ several blue vellum "bubbles" sandwiched in between two layers of glassine
~ On the front will be two round stickers, one will say "Maddie's 2nd Birthday" and the other will give the time and date specifics
Decorations~ yellow , blue, and white
~ balloon arch
~ duck prints will run up the walkway and a sign will proclaim "Duck Crossing"
~ in addition to the usual balloons, ribbons and streamers the house will be decorated with lots of rubber ducks and blue and yellow #2's
~ a bubble machine will be running throughout the party
Opening Activity~ due to the age of the birthday girl the opening activity will be bubble popping. As the adults blow bubbles the children will be able to chase and pop them.
Games~ Duck, duck, goose
~ Pin the ducky in the tub.
Table settings~ blue tablecloth
~ yellow tableware
~ the centerpeice will be a little tin wash tub filled with clear ball floral picks to simulate bubbles and a rubber duck in the middle.
Menu~ the movie playing during the meal will be the Veggie Tales movie King George and the Ducky
duck-shaped tea sandwiches
duck ponds(blue jello with a marshmallow peep floating on it)
goldfish crackers
lemonade
Cake and Ice cream~ the chocolate cake will be a bubble cake that I saw in Martha Stewart's Baby magazine.
~ we will also be serving white rubber ducky cupcakes
~ the ice cream will be tinted yellow and scooped into individual cups. a little scoop to form the head and a bigger scoop for the body chocolate chip eyes, almond beaks and whipped cream bubbles piped around it.
Goodie Bags~ in blue and yellow tin pails
~bubbles, bubble bath, wash cloth, oreo cookies dipped in blue candy coating, and handmade rubber duck soap
~ the adults will recieve little baskets lined with duck fabric and filled with a candle, bubble bath and blue-coated oreos
The thank you notes will be a rubber duck with a thank you note tag tied around it's neck with a ribbon

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Savana's Mad Science theme ~ 10 yo girl
Invitations~ all the info will be written on a small peice of paper and inserted into a test tube labelled "Secret Formula for Birthday Fun"
Decorations~ Black, silver and slime green
~ balloon arch
~ I will be placing dry ice in styrofoam coolers labelled "specimens" that have holes punched in the side to allow the fog to escape.
~ signs will read "Scientists at work" and "LAB"
~ the house will be decorated with a clutter of science paraphenalia
~ I will be dressed the part in lab coat and false teeth, etc.
Opening activity~ as the kids arrive they will be given a lab coat and color-coded bow ties indicating which lab team they are on
~ Writing secret messages on coffee filters with lemon juice which we will decode later using red cabbage juice.
Games~ instead of games we will have lab stations
1. egg in a bottle
2. Red cabbage juice experiment
3. Making silly putty and slime
~ finally the teams will have to work together to build a tower out of gumdrops and toothpicks.
~ at each activity we will discuss the why's and how's of each experiment so that the children will learn something as well as having a lot of fun
Table settings~ the table will be covered with a black cloth
~ the dishes will all be slime green
~ the centerpeice will be more science paraphenalia
Menu~ during the meal we will watch an episode of Bill Nye the Science Guy
~ for the meal we will have an "invent your own pizza and pop" bar for the children to experiment with.
Cake and Ice cream~ will be two Erupting Volcano Cakes topped with sparklers
~ we will have an "invent your own ice cream sundae" bar
Goodie Bags~ after the cake we will break open the Lightbulb Pinata
~ the goodie bags inside will be in black plastic sacks
~ filled with the slime and silly putty that they made, science activity books, glow in the dark toys, pop rocks candy, a personalized journal and pen, magnifying glass, magnets, capsules that explode in water to become animals, etc., and fizzing bath tablets
Thank you notes ~ cards decorated with question marks will read "What was the secret ingredient that made my party so special?" on the front and inside it will say "AH-HAH! It was YOU!"

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Calvin's Hot Wheels theme ~ 5yo boy
Here is a party that I planned for the little guy that I daycare. He is the biggest HotWheels fanI know!

Invitations ~Black paper cut into a tire shape, slightly flattened at top and bottom. A silver circle in the center will be decorated with black marker to look like a hubcap.
~ In white opaque writer the front reads..."Announcing the 5th annual (*last name of birthday boy*) Speedway Birthday Extravaganza... the Calvin 500!"
~ Inside it will read race on over to... and give the party info.

Decorations ~Black and white with a little bit of yellow
~ Checkered flags and brightly colored arrows and 5's will lead the way to the party site.
~ the driveway will have a black and white balloon arch over it and will be lined with homemade orange traffic cones and checkered flags
~ The house will be decorated with black and white balloons, streamers and ribbons, homemade street signs, more checkered flags and car posters
~ some clean tires will be placed around the party area to play on or in.

Opening Activity ~ Vanity license plates
~ the 'license plates' will be made from fun foam and will read "Calvin's 5th Birthday" across the top and the date at the bottom. Where the license number goes it will have the child's name followed by their age... eg "Maddie1"
~ the kids will decorate the plates with foam shapes and glitter glue

Games ~ cars and car mat station for free play
~ car painting (dip car in paint and drive on the paper)
~ Match car races on a board tilted on an angle
~ Hot "ROD"- a hot potatoe variation
~ match car drop instead of clothespin drop
~ Red Light/ Green Light
~ Pit Crew (pin the tire on the racecar)

Table Settings ~ the table will be covered in paper from a roll of newsprint with a strip of black paper down the middle. Yellow stripes will make it look like a road.
~ the table will be decorated with white and yellow curl ribbon, matchbox cars and a centerpeice of checkered flags.
~ each table setting will have a little checkered flag, white cup and plate, yellow utensils and checkered napkins

Menu ~ during the meal the children will watch the Adventures in Odyssey video Flight to the Finish

Checkered Flag Sandwich tray (on dark and white bread with crusts cut off and arranged in a checkered pattern)
Oreo cookie "tires"
Rev-it-up Punch with Hot Wheels fruit snacks frozen in the ice cubes
~ Pit crew snack mix (chex snack mix)
cucumber/carrot tires
Rice Krispie stop lights

Cake ~ a Racetrack cake, half white and half chocolate

Goddie Bags ~ in checkered sacks or large plastic cars
~ matchbox cars, whistles, key chains, fruit snacks, erasers, pencils, mini-tools, medals, tattooes
~ for the adults, chocolate tools.

Thank You notes ~ Pit passes with the child's picture and the words Pit Crew on the front and the thank you note on the back in baseball card slips, punched and threaded on a ribbon



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