Carnival of Fun

Alternate Names: "child's name"'s Carnival

Invitations:Use your imagination

• Large Colorful Ticket to the Carnival - *include 1 per child* Entitles bearer to fun, food, and a great time +20 tickets
  
• Clown Faces (use Paper Plates to make a mask - all party info on the backside)
  
• Popcorn Buckets w/the info on the inside
  
• Animal Crackers w/the info printed & glued to one side
  

Decorations: Think bold

• use bright colors red/white, blue/yellow, multi-colors
  
• Set up multiple game stations with banners "Face Painting HERE!!" "Pop any balloon - win a PRIZE" "Fortunes told Here" - Use card board boxes painted in bright colors
  
• Paint a large cut out face for pictures
  
• Ticket Booth
  
• Balloons & Streamers all over
  
• Popcorn Boxes - red/white striped "boxes" w/balloons stapled to the top
  
• Attach a helium balloon to each child's chair - write their names on it with permanent marker
  
• Hang paper towel holders with string (connected to both ends) as little trapezes and hang stuffed animals on them. Best if you hang these higher than the kids' height so they won't fool with them.
  
• Balloon animals - A fun thing to do is blow up lots of long balloons beforehand and put them all in a big empty (and clean) trash can. Place the balloon can in a corner of the party area. This is where the kids can come with their parents to make balloon animals
  
  

Treat Bag Items:Instead of just goody bags use a prize redemption center where you trade tickets for prizes to go into the treat bag - use small items 10-15 tickets, medium items 15-30 tickets, large items 30+ tickets - ideas (or adjust to fit your items)

• whistles
  
• kazoos
  
• spinning top
  
• lollipops
  
• hard candy
  
• card game
  
• silly putty
  
• yo yo
  
• Bouncy Balls
  
• any cheapie bag of toy
  
• paddle ball
  
• punching balloon
  
• Any small item can be used
  

Food:Serve food like a vendor at a circus. Make a tray by cutting off the bottom of a box and spray painting it. Make holes on the sides and string through rope to use as a shoulder harness

• Corn Dogs
  
• Candy Apples
  
• Popcorn
  
• Cotton Candy
  
• Soft Pretzels
  
• Hot Dogs
  
• Peanuts (best with the shells)
• corn on the cob
  
• Colorful candies (M&M's, skittles, gumdrops, jelly beans, etc.)
  
• string cheese
  
• watermelon
  
• Animalwiches - use animal cookie cutters to cut out shapes of ham, bread, & cheese
  
• Pizza
  

Drink:

• Tea
  
• Fruit Punch
  
• Lemonade
  
• Magic Punch
  

Cake:

• Clown Face Cutout Cake
  
• Fairground Sheet Cake
  
• Burried Clown Cake
  

Games:Use the formula 1 ticket for 1 ball/color, 2 tickets for 2 balls/color, 3 tickets for 3 balls/color

• Ping Pong Toss - glue 16 or 20 small cups to a piece of wood (cups about 1-2 inches apart) give each child 3 ping pong balls to try
  
• Balloon Dart Pop - using small balloons - thumbtack them to a cork or other soft wood surface - 3 darts per try
  
• Bean Bag Toss - using 3 bean bags & 3 size coffee cans - paint the insides to reflect different colors - smallest can is worth the most points
  
• Ring Toss - place 10-15 small bottles with different colored liquid inside into a small box - each child gets 3-5 rings
  
• Pin the Nose on the Clown - like pin the tail on the donkey
  
• Penny Toss - toss pennies onto a flat surface with circles painted
  
• Mouse Holes - use a cardboard box and three golf balls. Cut 3 "mouse holes" on the box. Use a piece of Tape to mark the starting point. The children roll the balls and attempt to get them into the holes. I cut the holes in various sizes for different skill levels
  
• Lollipop Tree - With 3 different colored markers, place a dot on the end of each lollipop stick and insert them into the Styrofoam ball. The players pick one lollipop and collects a prize from the corresponding prize bag.
  
• Jelly Bean Guess - who ever guesses a number closest to the actual number takes the jar home.
  
• Knockdown - Put empty tin cans on a table in the form of a pyramid and let the kids throw beanbags or balls at them. If they knock down a certain amount, they get a prize. You can also have the kids use water guns to squirt water at the tin cans and knock them down.
  
• Feed the Lion - On a big cardboard box paint the face of a lion with a hole for his mouth. Designate a throwing line and let the kids toss beanbags into the lion's mouth.
  

Carnival Booths:

• Fortune Teller/Gypsy - use Oreo Cookie Divination
  
• Face Painting
  
• Temporary Tattoos
  

Active Games:

• Clown Tag - This game needs lots of room - like a backyard. Split into two groups - each team gets their own Clown Nose and color of crepe paper. Tie the crepe paper around the waists of each player - like a belt. The goal is to rip off the other teams belts before they rip off yours. Once a player gets de-belted, they sit down. The last person left standing with his belt on wins.
  
• Circus Acts - Stage your own Lion Tamer Show in the center ring. Get the Lion Tamer Straw Pith Helmet and a Lion Hat. Hear the Roar! This lion hat is a great way to be king of the jungle and entertain your guests. Have guests be performers. Write stunts on paper and let each child pick one. Then they take turns acting out the stunt: walking a straight line for a tight rope; dancing like a trained dog; roaring like a lion; walking and imitating an elephant; stunts like a clown; swinging on a trapeze.
  
• Bubble Mania - This is one of those kids birthday party ideas that's always tons of fun. You can designate a section to be the bubble section. On a small table put out bubble liquid and accessories (you can put fly swatters, little bubble wands, take metal hangers and sculpt them into a circle with a handle, etc.) and let everyone make their own huge bubbles
  
• Party Hat/Goody Bag Decorating - Set up a table and place precut cone-shaped paper hats (take large square or rectangular shaped patterned papers and roll them into a cone, staple it to hold and trim the edges so that the brim is even). Then you can give the kids all kinds of things to decorate with, such as markers, glitter, pompoms, etc. After the hat has dried from the decorations seal the seam with tape and staple on an elastic cord to put under the chin.
  
• Musical Clown Noses - This game has the same concept as musical chairs. Place a pile of red sponge clown noses on a table or on the floor and have the kids walk around them in a fairly large circle while music is playing. Once the music is turned off the kids need to grab a nose and put it on (there needs to be one less clown nose than there are kids). Whoever is left with no clown nose to put on needs to leave the game. The game continues until there is one kid remaining (who is the winner).
  
• Mystery Box - Take a large box and cut out one side of it. Then put a little sheet over the cut out side so that you can lift it when you need to and cover it when you need to. On the other side cut two armholes. Then take two sleeves from an old sweatshirt and duct-tape them to the holes so that no one peeks through the holes. Then let the kids stick in their arms and only by touch they need to guess what's in the box. Since the other side is open you can always change the objects. You can put ordinary things like a toothbrush, spatula, light bulb, or even wet and gross things like a squished ripe tomato :-). You can then paint the outside with bright colors and cover it with lots of big question marks.
  

Characters:other wise know as what friend can you con

• Clown
  
• Magician
  
• Ringmaster
  
• Strongman
  
• Animals
  
• Fortune Teller/Gypsy
  

Rentals: This depends on your budget

• Pony Rides
  
• Petting Zoo
  
• Cotton Candy Machine
  
• Helium Tanks (for balloons)
  
• Slushy/Sno Cone Machine
  
• Bouncy Tent
  
• Dunking Booth
  

Fairy Land

Once upon a time - A little fairy dreamt up the most enchanting child birthday party idea ever seen. And here is her very own child birthday 'fairybration'.

Alternate Names:Tinkbell's Garden, Fairy Haven,

Invitations:

• Take a rectangular piece of paper (so that the long side is horizontal to you) and fold in both of the sides to the middle so it looks like a gate.
  
• Cut out magical wands (a long rectangle for the stick and a star for the top of the wand). Using a silver gel pen, or any other nice pen, you can write a poem on the rectangular paper before rolling it up.
  
• Wording for invitations
  
  
  
  • "Fairies, fairies, did you hear? (Your child name)'s birthday is this year! You'll dance, you'll eat, and you'll have sweet fun - you'll be a fairy before it's all done."
    
  • "Wear you fairy best, a tutu will do. You wings and accessories await you. The party is at (time), please say you'll fly by. (Birthday child's name) god-mother awaits your reply!"
    
  • "Far, far away, in a magical place, sits a small little fairy, with her soft smiling face. She waits for her friends, in the warm summer sun; won't you come on (date of the party) to join the fun? With fun foods to eat, and fun games to play, your arrival at (time of the party) will make (kid's name's) day. She anxiously waits, as each day passes by, while her fairy parents await your reply" (and then write RSVP and your phone #).
    
  • "Take a peek through the garden gate". Then on the inside put lots of fairy and butterfly stickers peeking out through holes you've cut in the gate itself. Inside you can write: "The garden fairies have gathered to celebrate a special day for a great little fairy" (and add her name and age). "Please come join the fairybration".
    
  
  

You can also write that all the fairies come dressed in their fairy best - and boys in their pixie best. Don't forget to add a lot of fairy dust (glitter and confetti), and possibly fairy stickers to the invitation (you can also enclose fairy tattoos).

Side Note - For thank you notes, you can write something witty like "Thank you Fairy Much".

Decorations

• The dominant colors of your Fairy birthday party should be lavender, pink, purple, blue cream and silver (and more pastel-like colors).
  
• Hang Metallic foil curtains in the doorway so the kids will feel like they are entering a magical place.
  
• A fun child birthday party idea is to throw some sparkle glitter on the guests as they arrive or set up a cool bubble machine in the entrance to shower the guests and get them into the fairy mood as the arrive.
  
• Take flowers (even real ones) and tie their stems to clear fishing line and hang them from the ceiling. For a different effect hang them from colored yarn.
  
• Place flowers in vases all around the house and disperse them on tables and shelves.
  
• If you have a garden or a nearby park, it can serve as a great setting for the kids to eat and play.
  
• If the party is at night, another idea is to line the pathway to your house with different colored lunch bags half filled with sand and with a candle inside. The bags glow magnificently once you light the candles (you can also punch holes in the top part of the bag to create twinkling stars).
  
• Add the magical touch by decorating the party area with white Christmas lights.
  
• Scatter confetti in a path leading to the house and on the floor in the party area, telling the kids that those are "fairy footprints."
  
• To make an outdoor fairy garden, cut out cardboard toadstools, giant paper flowers and beanstalks. Attach all cutouts to garden stakes to create the fairyland scene. Make a gumdrop tree by hanging small bags of gumdrops on tree branches using ornament hooks.
  

Costumes:
Dress up your little girl as a fairy with ballet clothes and a garland.
If you have some spare time on your hands, you can make your own fairy wings. It's lots of fun, let alone rewarding.

If you've made or purchased fairy wings, have each guest earn them as they arrive by going outside and looking for a little fairy hidden in the yard. Once a guest finds a fairy, they can go choose wings and put them on. This can also be used as an ice-breaker game.

Ice-Breaker Activities

• Transformation Stations -make your guests feel like dainty little fairies with a sparkly makeover.
  
  
  
  • fingernail station - you can offer a couple of different non-toxic nail polish in bright sparkling colors (use a blow dryer to dry them quickly or ask each little fairy to flick her fingers in the air for about sixty seconds).
    
  • lipgloss station - you'll need your choice of lip gloss that sparkles
    
  • Glitter station - glitter blush or eye shadow, and tiny prismatic stickers to jazz up the activity.
    
  
  
• Beaded Wand Activity - Have the kids make wands out of wooden steak skewers. Prepare star shapes out of any thick paper. Have the kids glue on a star to the tip of the wooden skewer, and then glue another one, to the back of the first star, so that the wooden skewer isn't seen (so for each wand, 2 stars are needed). Once the glue is dry, either spray paint the whole thing silver, having the kids decorate it, or let them color their stars with markers, stickers, etc. And, of course, have them sprinkle different color fairy dust (glitter) over their wands to make then truly magical.
  
• Beaded Fairy Ring Activity - This is a fun fairy activity in which the girls make their magic rings and can then swirl them above their heads and watch the ribbons flutter in the air.
  
• Fairy Craft Area - Necklace-Making Child Birthday Party Idea or this box-of-beads kit. Or, for the sake of simplicity, have the kids make tasty edible necklaces out of licorice string, fruit loops, cheerios, and gummy lifesavers.
  
• Plastic Champagne Glasses - Another cool party idea is to get a bunch of plastic champagne glasses and have the kids decorate them with stickers, markers, stick-on jewels, glitter, etc. Later on, the kids'll love using these glasses as their drinking glasses.
  

Drink:

• Magic Punch
  
• Fairy fizz - Place a full glass of red punch in front of each guest and add some fairy dust (a few Pop Rocks candies) to each cup. The kids just love it when the candy crackles, pops, and splits when it comes into contact with the liquid.
  
• Sparkling apple cider
  
• Fairy punch (raspberry sherbet and Sprite)
  
• Pink lemonade
  
• Strawberry tea (If you want to add more of that strawberry taste to your strawberry tea, do the following: make half a pot of strawberry tea with three bags, let it steep a bit and then add a few drops of strawberry extract and three or four drops of red coloring. Then add milk and sugar to taste
  

Food:

• Fairy Wand Cookies - Simply use your favorite sugar cookie recipe or get the Pillsbury refrigerated sugar cookies. Roll out the dough, and cut it out using a star-shaped cookie cutter (then bake according to instructions). As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, and are still warm and soft to the touch, carefully push a plastic straw or wooden skewer (with the tip cut off) between any two points of the star (this makes the handle for your magic fairy wand). Then frost the cookies with glossy icing. You can also add a few drops of food coloring in the dough for different colored wands (these wand cookies are a bit fragile, but they're very tasty and fun treats to eat!
  
• Fairy Bread - Lightly butter white bread, spread with lots of sprinkles, and cut into triangles.
  
• Fairy Burgers - Cut the hamburgers into star shapes with star cookie cutters.
  
• Hotdog wands
  
• Cream cheese and strawberry jam sandwiches (you can cut these with star, heart, diamond etc. shaped cookie cutters)
  
• Jewel Salad (a salad with dried cranberries, golden raisins, cherries etc.)
  
• Fruits out of wine glasses (or in a watermelon basket where you can cut the watermelon with heart, star, diamond etc. shaped cookie cutters)
  
• Magic wands (pretzel rods dipped in white chocolate and sprinkled with star-shaped decorations or just plain sprinkles)
  
• Fresh-fruit wands (take wooden steak skewers and put grapes, strawberries, and other cut fruit on them and at the top put a melon cut into the shape of a star using a star-shaped cookie cutter).
  
• Chocolate-covered Fruit
  
• Heart-shaped or star-shaped rice crispy treat wands (you can add a stick in them to look like wands; also you can dip in chocolate and add sprinkles for more of the wand effect)
  
• Magic gems (A bowl of pastel colored jelly beans, skittles, etc.)
  
• Cotton candy wands
  
• Marshmallow wands
  
• Fairy dust (pixie sticks)
  
• Dainty Sandwiches - Prepare your child's favorite sandwiches. Cut them into various shapes (such as stars, hearts, and flowers) using cookie cutters. Have the guests choose their preferred sandwich shapes.
  
• Fairy Parfait - In parfait cups, put a layer of yogurt topped with granola and fresh fruit. Make several layers and top the parfait with whipped cream. Serve with long-handled spoons.
  
• Star Jell-O Jigglers - Prepare Jell-O according to package directions and cut with star-shaped cookie cutter.
  
  
  

Extra Note - sprinkle fairy dust onto the food, use small containes and a puffy paint write on them "sweet fairy dust" for sugar, "sea fairy dust" for salt, "kicking fairy dust" for pepper, "green fairy dust" for parsley, etc.

Party Favors:

• fairy dust (pixie sticks)
  
• fairy stickers and tattoos
  
• wands
  
• bubbles
  
• ring pops
  
• stick on earrings
  
• plastic jewelry
  
• hair accessories
  
• body glitter
  
• candy necklaces
  
• golden chocolate coins
  

Party Games:

• Fairy Clay - Make your own play dough. Provide each child with a ball of dough and some fine glitter (craft store). The children will work the glitter into the dough. Package each of the guests dough into a Zip -loc bag to be taken home as a party favor.
  
• Bubble Burst - Blow bubbles and have the children try to catch them without bursting the bubbles. The first child to catch a bubble and return it to you without busting their bubble wins. You might want to have plenty of party favors so that each child can win at this game
  
• Lost Magical Stones - have the children find stones/gems around the area that were hidden by busy little gnomes
  
• Fairy Dress Up Relay - This kid game is a relay race in which the kids dress up as fairies and race to the finish line. You can even separate the two groups into Fairies against Pixies. Arrange for each group to have funny, colorful and oversized fairy attire - including wings of course. Determine a starting line and a turn-back line about 15 feet apart. Place each set of clothes in mound at the starting line. Blow the whistle or say go! The first players in each line dress up us fairies and fly (flap their wings) to a designated point, turn back and return to the starting line and take off the fairy clothes. The next player in line does the same. The first team to finish wins. The more clothes you add, the funnier it gets!
  
• Fairy Tag - This is a kid game of tag in which everyone flies around with their fairy wings and the fairy who's IT can only use her wand to tag the others.
  
• Fairy Hunt - Print a map with clues and a poem to guide the kids to each location. At each location they'll find a garden or fairy-related prize they can keep. In the backyard you can have different fairies hidden. And every clue they find leads them to another clue.
  
• Panning for Gems and Gold - This kid game has a royal history. During the late 19th century each woman guest was invited to hold a handful of sand and let it sift through her fingers to find a precious gem left in her palm that was hers to take home. You can set up a similar game by getting a shoe box or larger box filled with clean sand or white cornmeal and bury inside a few small plastic rhinestones and golden nuggets. Have the boys sift for gold while the girls sift for gems.
  
• Bobbing for Apples - For this classic kid game, hang cored apples at the kids height (you can do this from a piece of long wood, which can be held up securely with a ladder and the side of the house), then the kids have to bite the apple with their hands behind their back.
  
• Bibble's on the Move - Play this game just as you would "Hot Potato".
  Position the girls into a circle. Pass a toy "bibble" from player to player around the circle while music is playing. When the music stops the player holding Bibble will sit in the center for one round, or she can be in charge of
  the music for one round.
  
• Stick the Butterfly on the Flower - Played just like "Pin the Tail on the Donkey".Draw a picture of a flower with on poster board. Cut several butterflies
  from card stock paper. On the day of the party, add double stick tape
  to one side of the butterflies and write the girl's names on the other.
  Use a fun fabric sash for the blindfold.
  
• Freeze Tag - Play this game just like "Freeze Tag". Give each player a small pouch of glitter before playing. One player will be "it". When you say "GO" the girls run. If she tags a player, that player is frozen until another player sprinkles fairy dust on her. Make sure that each player has a turn to be "it" and that each round does not take too long.
  
• Flower Pot Toss - Set up large flower pots around the area with a single flower stuck in Styrofoam in each pot. Give the players rings to throw and to ring the flowers
  
• Lily Pad Moat Crossing - Cut out four large lily pads from green cardboard (about 12"x15"). Divide children into two equal teams. Ask each team to line up behind a starting line. Give the first person on each team two lily pads. Lily pads are the only thing they can step on as they travel from the front of the line, around a chair and back to the line again. On the command "Go", children place one lily pad on the ground and step on it. Then they place the other lily pad on the ground in front and step on it. They then pick up the first lily pad and place it on the ground in front of the other. When they cross the moat they hand the two lily pads to the next person in line. The team to make it all the way across the moat first wins.
  
• Fairy, Fairy, Troll - Play this fairy birthday party version of Duck, Duck, Goose. Children sit in a circle, and one person taps others while saying "Fairy."
  When she says "Troll" she must run around the circle trying to occupy the spot where the Troll was sitting before being tagged by the Troll. Have the players flutter their arms as if they are flying.
  
• Floating Balloon Game - Give inflated balloons to all your fairy party guests. The object of the game is to hit the balloons up into the air, and keep them afloat for the longest time possible.
  
• Magic Present - Put small prizes in little-sized boxes before the fairy birthday party. The total number of "prize" boxes should equal the number of your guests.Have the kids sit in a circle, and get them to pass a large box (filled with smaller "prize" boxes) around the circle, while music is playing. When the music stops, the child holding a large box have to open it and choose one of the "prize" boxes. She then leaves the game, and the play continues until everyone has a prize.
  
• Fantastic Fairy Tale - Here is a perfect fairy birthday party activity to unwind. To start, ask one of your guests to begin telling traditional fairy tale. Move around the circle and get each guest to add her installment of the story. It's a great opportunity for the kids to use their imagination to come up with their own fairy tale.
  

And all that's left is to wish you a FAIRY fun party!

Pixie Land Slumber

Invitations: Wrap kraft paper around glittered twigs and secure with glue, include date & time, make note to dress in a flowy nightgown

Magic Wands: The wands are made by laying a silk ribbon over the end of a dowel and sliding on a wooden bead.

Treasure Hunt Map: The handmade map depicts landmarks around the yard, such as Magic Flower Path and Twinkling Meadow; tiny treats and toys can be found at every location. The map was made using paper shapes for scrapbooking.

Burlap Pouch: Guests can collect their wares from the treasure hunt in burlap pouches; to convert a store-bought sack into a shoulder bag, we fed long twill tape through one of the drawstring channels, then hot-glued on artificial foliage.

Pretty Crown: The girls' pretty crowns were made using prewired millinery flower buds (from a floral supply store), which were bent into shape and twisted. Prewired butterflies were then twisted around the frames.

Dinner Menu:
Chicken Wands
Mango Dipping Sauce
Fiddlehead Breadsticks
Nests Filled with Summer Salad
Fairy Berries
Toadstool Cupcakes

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The Backwards kid birthday party theme is one of my favorites because it lets you and your guests go completely wacky and silly. Important Note - this kid birthday party theme is recommended for kids who are 7 years of age and older, when they know what 'backwards' really is. You'll be in for a ton of laughs and giggles at this birthday party!

Invitations - For this kid birthday party theme there are lots of creative invitation ideas.

• You can send "thank you notes" saying "thanks for coming to my backwards birthday party" and putting all the birthday party info on it.
  
• You can have the invitation open backwards and the information can be on the outside.
  
• You can have backwards writing so they have to read it in a mirror.
  
• You can also tell everyone to dress backwards.
  
• You can also tell them to get ready for backward walking, talking, playing, eating etc.
  

Decorations - It's great family fun to make your own kid birthday party theme decorations. An excellent way to start is to find some clipart that'll give your imagination an artistic boost.Now that you're inspired, let's get some creating done!

• You can start by making your house into a backwards house. Pictures can be turned around or upside down along with all kinds of items in the house as well.
  
• You can put streamers on the floor and hang balloons upside down from the ceiling (they definitely don't need helium).
  
• Attach the streamers to the ceiling & hanging below are balloons
  
• You can then have the chairs facing out at the table.
  
• You can put the tablecloth on the floor under the table putting down the silverware first, then the napkins and the plate (upside-down) over both. You can also have the cups put upside down.
  
• For this kid birthday party theme, you can have an "EXIT" sign on the front door, and an "ENTRANCE" sign inside on the back door (written backwards if you'd like).
  
• Print out banners that are written in backwards language
  
• You can have backward playing music in the background
  
• You can have your guests enter through the back door or have them enter backwards through the front door.
  

Party Progression - usually I don't include this but with this theme you need it!

• When they come say "Goodbye, it was nice having you, I'm glad you could come!!"
  
• Give out goody bags
  
• Open Presents - open present 1st then the card
  
• Eating cake & ice cream
  
• Party games
  
• Real Food
  
• Party games
  
• when they leave say "Hello, welcome to my party".
  

Costumes - Your whole family can dress backwards and inside-out, with ponytails on your foreheads, zippers and buttons in the back, sun-shades or glasses on the back of your head, different pairs of shoes on, a watch around your ankle, your underwear over your clothes, the zaniest and silliest things are best!!! As each kid arrives (walking in backwards), you can tape their backward names on their back and call them by their backward name.

Icebreaker Activities

• Inside out Pinatas - Have each kid blow a balloon up and tie it. Then dump a huge bag of wrapped candy on the floor. Then give the kids scotch tape and let them cover their balloons with candy. You can then hang these backwards from the ceiling and later give each kid a pi?ata balloon to pop and take home the candies.
  
• Ball in the Bucket - Kids need to stand with their back to the bucket and try to get balls into the bucket.
  
• Backward Songs - Play songs backwards and have the kids try and guess what songs they are.
  

Food & Drink -

• backward hot dogs where the bun is between a weenie sliced in half
  
• have pizzas and put them in the cups
  
• Inside-Out Sandwiches - Prepare sandwiches. Place the filling on top of the bread slices, instead of inside.
  
• Upside-Down Fruit Salad - Place a cherry at the bottom of a bowl, sprinkle some chopped nuts on top, add a spoonful of vanilla yogurt or whipped cream, then add the fruit. Cover with a lettuce leaf, and serve. Let the backwards birthday party guests eat it as is, or turn the salad out onto a plate for a surprise.
  
• For a drink you can have 7-up. Make it 7-down by turning the cans upside down and poking a hole for the straw!! You can do this with any canned softdrink.
  

Birthday Cake -

• You can have an upside-down cake or cupcakes. Just take your cake or cupcakes, frost them as usual and put them upside-down on a see-through plate. Write on it in backwards writing.
  
• Pineapple Upside Down Cake - Bake a packaged pineapple upside down cake, or use a favorite recipe. Turn the cake out of the baking pan in front of the kids so they can see the surprise topping when you flip it upside down. Use colored alphabet macaroni noodles to write the kids' names backwards on the cake.
  
• Make upside-down ice cream sundaes to go with the cake. Begin with the toppings, and pile on the sundae ingredients until you end up with ice cream on top.
  

Party Favors -

• Silly putty
  
• silly string
  
• backward pictures - kids standing on their heads or facing away from the camera
  
• Another excellent option is to personalize items in backward language.
  

Games - You can practically take any game and make it a backwards game - it's great fun and can be hysterical!!!

• Backwards Pinata: For this peculiar birthday party theme you can take any pinata and hang it upside-down!!
  
• Backward cake eating: Each kid gets a partner and one of the kids sits in front of the other. The kid sitting behind has to feed the kid sitting in front a piece of cake, since the kid in front can't use her hands and the kid in back can't see, this can be quite hilarious!!
  
• Backward freeze dance: In this kid birthday party theme game you freeze when the music starts!!
  
• Backward animal guessing: Put pictures of animals or write down names of animals and tape them on kids' backs. Then the kids have to ask the other players yes or no questions to figure out which animal they were. The twist: yes=no and no=yes.
  
• Backward Fashion Show: Set up a runway area, put on some good (possibly backwards) music, and have a backwards fashion show. You can provide an extra trunk of dress-up clothes to complement what kids have already got on. Let the kids walk backwards on the runway!!
  
• Sardines: This is the name of the backward "Hide and Seek" game. One person hides and everyone else seeks them. When the players find the person hiding, they hide with them and the last person to find them is it for the next round.
  
• Backwards obstacle course: Set up an obstacle course and give each kid a numerical number. Have the kids run backwards and in backwards numerical order. You can time each kid and after all are finished, reward the one who took the longest time to finish!!
  
• Guessing game: Fill three containers with jelly beans, gum balls and coins (or anything else of the sort) and ask the guests to guess how many are in each container, the person who is farthest from the actual number wins!! (Don't let them know this beforehand so that they will try and get the correct number right…)
  
• Pin the Donkey on the Tail: This is a great one! The kids have to pin the donkey on the tail. Remember, whomever is the farthest in getting it right is the winner!!
  
• Message Deciphering: Write all kinds of messages backwards and print out on many pages. Then let the kids try to decipher the messages. First one to figure it out wins.
  
• Backwards charades - we put a picture on the backs of the contestant and the rest of the guests had to act out the picture
  
• Play "What's Missing"-backwards! Fill a tray with a variety of small objects. Let kids study the contents for a few minutes. Then take the tray away, have the kids close their eyes, and add an object. See if they can guess what's new.
  Yes/No Questions: Put an animal sticker (or write the name of the animal) on the back of a player. He or she must ask yes and no questions to figure out what kind of animal he or she is. For example, "Do I live in Africa?" and so on. When the kids answer "yes", it really means "no".
  
• Do the Limbo: Play the party limbo music in the background. Have the kids do the limbo, but instead of going underneath the stick - they have to jump over it. Have adults hold the stick. They will start very low and incrementally increase the height.
  
• Scavenger Hunt: Write the clues backwards, so the kids must decipher the message before they find any items.
  

Beach Party

Enjoy the Best of Summer
Few experiences capture the essence of summer as strongly as a day at the beach. When the hot, humid weather hits, that's about the only place I want to be, lounging in the sand, cooling off at the shoreline, and relaxing under the sun. And given the perfection of a summer day at the beach, the only way it can be made better is by hosting a party there, and inviting your favorite beach bum friends to enjoy the salty, sea air with you. Keep your party casual, transportable, and by all means as relaxed as a day at the beach should be.
Preparing for Your Beach Party
Write your invitations on a deflated beach ball. Ask your friends to inflate the ball and bring it with them to the party, along with their own chair, beach blanket and towel.

Prior to your party, check with local officials to determine the rules regarding alcoholic beverages, bottles and whether you will be responsible for taking your trash with you when you leave, or whether there are receptacles on the beach for your trash.

If required, obtain a permit for your party or bonfire (if you plan to make one).

Research the cooking facilities that are already available on the beach, and what kind of grill, if any, you can bring with you for preparing food.

Be sure to have enough large coolers and ice to transport your food and beverages to the party and keep them at a safe temperature until they're consumed.

Favors and Activities
Give everyone your party favor at the beginning of your party.

Make it a beach pail with shovel, sunscreen, water squirt bottle, and sun visor. If your budget allows, toss in an after-sun product too.
Bring equipment for a game of beach volleyball.

Organize a sand castle building contest. Everyone can use the pail and shovel you have given to them. Judge creations in any number of categories including tallest castle, biggest castle, most authentic looking castle, etc.

If you're on a beach with interesting sea shells, send your guests scavenging for the best variety of shells. You'll know who tried the hardest by the amount of sun burn on their back and shoulders!

Remember to bring along music and play your favorite beach songs throughout the party.

Challenge your guests to a hula hoop contest to see who can keep one spinning for the longest time.

The Menu
Enhance your fun on the beach by preparing as much food as you can before you leave home. Just be careful to transport the food at the correct temperature.

Szechuan Cold Garlic Shrimp - This recipe needs to be made in advance to allow adequate time for chilling.

Red's Eats Lobster Rolls - Lobster rolls always remind me of summer road trips through New England.

Grilled Gourmet Sausages - Many stores now offer a wide variety of sausages from Italian pork, to spicy chicken or turkey, to seafood blends. Serve on crusty rolls topped with any of the following: grilled onions, sweet, hot, or pickled peppers, mustard, ketchup, or salsa as the sausage dictates. Plan to cook the sausages on the beach for maximum freshness.

Sweet Corn and Tomato Salad with Fresh Cilantro - Here's a great combination of summer vegetables, destined to travel well, and add extra layers of summer taste to your party.

S'mores - Who doesn't love this do-it-yourself treat in the summer?

Purchased Frozen Fruit Bars - This will be a refreshing treat during the heat of your party.

Assorted Cold Beverages such as Beer, Iced Tea, Lemonade, and Water

Make Over

Invitations

• Your makeover party invites could go something like this:
  Do you dream of glitz and glamour?
  Do you want to ditch the old hairstyle and be pampered and styled?
  Well this is going to be your big day
  Grab your hairbrush and your favourite accessories and meet at the beauty salon (address),
  at (time),on (date) for a mega makeover party
  
• Dig out a less than flattering photo of the party kid ( don't worry, she'll thank you later!) plus a very nice one. Make enough copies for the party guests, using a scanner or get some reprinted. Make invites using coloured craft paper and paste the unflattering photo on the front with the words BEFORE underneath. Place the nicer photo inside with the word AFTER written below.
  
• Cut out lots of pictures from beauty magazines and make a collage on the front of plain invitation cards.
  
• Be sneaky and get parents of the guests to give you a photo of the guest not looking their best. Glue to the front of the invite with the word BEFORE written below and on the inside, place a blank oval paper shape for the guests to design their own AFTER image. You can use these as a guide for the makeover event.
  Place the invites in cheap makeup purses picked up from bargain stores.
  

Costume
Ask the kids to come dressed causal and without makeup but they could bring a special costume if the want for the 'after photo' shoot.
Scour the thrift and charity shops for cheap clothing and accessories. You'll be amazed at what you can find. Make a wardrobe area and have the clothes hung up, washed and ironed. NB take into account the different sizes of the guests.
PJ's and robes

Party Decorations

• Have a big sign on your door or gate saying "Welcome to X’s Beauty Salon"
  
• Decide on a colour theme.
  
• Set up different beauty stations in the party room(s) such as hair, nails, makeup, wardrobe, accessories. Make a big sign to put over each area. Don't forget the accessories such as lots of hair spray, hair ties, tissues and all important makeup remover and wet wipes.
  
• Cut out lots of beauty and hair pictures from magazines and stick to large craft card and place on the walls around the room. If your pictures are small, no problem as you can make a collage.
  
• Have lots of mirrors around the room. All makeover beauties want to admire themselves!
  
• If using balloons, put a small accessory inside such as hair ties, stick on jewels, earrings etc and them blow up. The kids can pop them later to get their balloon surprise
  
• Think about the lighting.
  
• Have lots of hair styling and beauty magazines on a table so that the kids can browse for ideas.
  
• Make a cat walk for the fashion show. Place a floor length curtain over a doorway or create a dazzling entrance with this dazzling metallic foil curtain and then place a sheet or carpet runner on the floor as the walkway. The beauties can emerge from behind the curtain and strut their stuff! Have some suitable music going on in the background.
  

Food

• Cosmetic Canapés The kids might be more interested in the makeover and not smudging their lipstick so bit sized finger food is perfect. Top small crackers or bread rounds with cheese, spreads and pate. Make it look grown up using decorative garnishes.
  
• Blushing bagels Top or fill bagels with their favourite fillings
  
• Jewel cookies Make biscuit dough using a packet mix. Roll out and cut into rounds with a cookie cutter and place on a baking sheet. Using a smaller cookie cutter, remove the centre of each cookie and replace with a hard boiled sweet. Bake in the oven and when cool remove carefully from the tray. The sweet will have melted to form a lovely jewel center.
  
• Ruby tomatoes Dig out the centre of small cherry tomatoes. Using an icing bag, fill with cream cheese flavoured with chopped chives.
  
• Pink fizz Buy ready made or make your own addling a dash of pink food colouring. Top with paper umbrellas and coloured bendy straws.
  
• Star studded fruit platter Make a large fruit salad using lots of bright coloured fruits such as strawberries, cherries, oranges and grapes. Top with slices of star fruit.
  
• Mirror cake Prepare a basic chocolate cake using a packet cake mix. Make a round cake the size that you want and when cool place a round mirror in the centre of the cake. Decorate the cake with frosting and then place candles around the mirror. When lit they will reflect in the mirror and it will look truly dazzling.
  

Activities

• Picture frames This is a good makeover party activity for when the kids first arrive and the frames can be used later for their 'after makeover' photos. Buy inexpensive plain wooden photo frames. Provide the kids with lots of glue, glitter and paint and let their imaginations run wild.
  
• BEFOR/AFTERE photo shoot Sit the kids on a chair holding a placard which says "Before" on it. Take Polaroid (or digital) photos to put on a wall chart so that they can have a giggle. Get them to look as scruffy as possible! Repeat at the end of the makeover session with an "After" photo.
  
• Fashion designer In advance, prepare some large templates of a body using strong white card – about 12" in length should be enough. Give the kids lots of fashion magazines that they can cut up, sequins, stickers, fabric scraps, braids and ribbons and lots of glue. They then need to make a fashion outfit to glue onto their template plus add hair and facial features. This can be followed by a judging competition to see who has created the best outfit.
  
• Jewellery trees In advance find some strong twigs that have several smaller twigs coming off the main stem. Spray with gold or silver paint. Put a ball of modelling clay in the bottom of a small clay flower pot and secure the tree into the clay. When the kids arrive they can decorate the tree with glitter glue and paint the pots in lots of snazzy patterns. These make great party favors.
  
• Tattoos You can buy stick-on and washable tattoos on-line (US supplier) or you could use slightly more permanent, henna tattoos. Henna kits can be bought from many beauty shops but it does require adult supervision as it can be very messy and the results take a few weeks to fade. I have had my feet and hands done in the past and if done properly it can look really stunning.
  
• Professional hair and beauty advice Think about asking at a local salon if they would come to your house for the party to give the kids beauty and hair advice. If not enlist the help of several adult or older teenagers to act as beauty therapists. Wear white coats or buy long white shirts from a thrift or charity shop and put on name badges with their chosen area of expertise.
  
• Of course - your makeover stations
  

Party Games

• Lipstick mania Blindfold all the guests and issue each with a cheap brightly coloured lipstick. Make everyone turn around on the spot 3 times and then they have to go in search of a partner. Once everyone is paired up, they have to attempt to apply the lipstick to their partner still with the blindfolds on. Set a time limit and then everyone can remove their blindfolds to see how gorgeous their lips are! Definitely have your camera ready for this one!
  
• Makeup memory Prepare a tray with a variety of makeup items on it – about fifteen to twenty items is plenty. Don’t let the kids see it till the game starts. Issue each child with a pen and paper and then place the tray down in front of them. Give them three minutes to memorise what is on the tray and then remove the tray from the room. Each child has to write down as many makeup items as they can remember within a time limit. The person who memorises the most is the winner.
  
• Pass the blusher I know that 'Pass the parcel' is more a younger child’s game but this is a slightly more grown up version which for some reason always goes down well and is really hilarious. In advance collect a variety of whacky and funny clothes such as over the top hats, scarves, nappies!, whacky glasses and accessories and so on. Sit the kids in a large circle with the clothes in a large sack in the middle. Start the music and the kids have to pass round a blusher compact. When the music stops, the person left holding the blusher has to put her hand in the bag and draw out an item of clothing and put it on. Once all the clothes have been used the results can be pretty hilarious. Check out who is the ultimate 'blusher'!
  

Party Favours and Prizes

• Makeup bags filled with lots of small makeup items such as lipstick, blusher, eye shadow, mirror.
  
• Photo frame with their 'before' and 'after' makeover photos.
  
• Mirrors
  
• Hairbrushes
  
• Hair accessories.
  
• Little books on makeup ideas.
  
• Teen fashion magazine
  

Bistro

Whether shared between colleagues in the break room, sipped after a family meal or savored during conversation with friends, coffee is a fixture on the American social scene. After experiencing a surge of popularity in the 1990s, coffee is now so entrenched in our culture that the idea of the traditional tea party has given way to the "coffee party".

Coffee parties offer friends a chance to gather and enjoy each other’s company along with a hot cup of a favorite brew. Sound like an inviting experience? If so, here are some ideas for hosting a delightful coffee party for you and your friends:

• Send invitations to your friends, instead of just an e-mail or phone call. This adds a special touch that everyone can appreciate.
  
• Let the coffee be the star of the show. Have a variety of brews and flavorings on hand for your guests to try. It’s easier than you think when you brew your drinks using a single cup coffee maker. Be it a Senseo, Melitta or Keurig coffee machine, your guests will love how quick and easy it is to make their favorite coffee. Single cup brewers can make one cup in less than a minute – there’s no mess and no waiting to finish the pot before trying a different coffee blend.
  
• Use decorative mugs and plates to serve your guests – these can be fun, colorful dishes or something more dainty and sophisticated, whatever suits the mood.
  
• Make your coffee party a special event. Put up decorations, be they simple flower arrangements or multi-colored streamers.
  
• Play up your indulgences. Serve finger foods and bite-sized desserts, such as biscotti, lady fingers or mini-muffins. Get your friends involved by asking everyone to bring his or her favorite baked goods.
  
• Give your coffee party a special theme. Whether it’s a going-away party, a Hawaiian luau-styled event or an occasion to dress in formal wear, your coffee party is sure to be a hit.
  
• Enjoy the company. Whether you’re exchanging books, playing board games, watching a movie or just catching up with one another, the point of the coffee party is to have a good time with the people you care about.
  

Remember, all it takes is a little imagination and a few good friends to make your coffee party a big success.

The 80s

80s party decoration ideas
The 80's were all about excess, so make your decorations dramatic and colorful. Look for paper cups and plates in neon colors, animal prints or black-and-white geometric patterns. Plaster the walls with posters of quintessential 80's pop stars like Culture Club, Thompson Twins, Cyndi Lauper, New Kids on the Block and the queen of the decade, Madonna. To really get in the spirit, pop in a DVD of a John Hughes movie or an 80's band's video collection and have it playing, on mute, during the event.

Looking for a unique 80's party tip? Make yourself and your guests part of the decor! Before the party, ask your guests to lend you a photo of themselves in their wildest 80's outfit. Make enlarged copies of these photos and hang them up around the party area. During the party, your guests can guess who's who and laugh at all the bi-level haircuts and pegged pants. If you aren't old enough to have been a teen back then, you can easily find retro photos online of stars like Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe and Molly Ringwald looking their 80's best.


80s party costume ideas
Thanks to the arrival of MTV, 80's fashion was defined by music. Inspired by pop stars like Duran Duran and Wham, guys wore frilly shirts, superskinny ties and huge op-art belts. 80's chicks emulated their musical idols with Bananarama-style overalls, Pat Benatar-esque headbands and Madonna’s layered mesh-and-lace ensembles.

And don’t forget the makeup, guys: From the new romantics to the punk rockers, all the gnarliest dudes sported eyeliner, lipstick, glittery eye shadow and way too much mousse in their hair, just like their girlfriends. Want more 80's party costumes? 80's ladies also sported leg warmers, rubber bracelets and sideways ponytails, while guys channeled Miami Vice-era Don Johnson with pastel-colored suits.

80s party games + activities
Get into the 80's groove with a lip-synch contest to your favorite 80's songs, or put on Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and have a contest to see who can do the best moonwalk. If you have a video game system, buy some of the classic 80's video games like PacMan, Frogger, Donkey Kong and Asteroids—you can also find versions of these games online and play them on your computer.

Plus, pay homage to the classic board game Trivial Pursuit, which launched in 1982, by splitting up your guests into teams to answer questions about random factoids and earn those little colored pie wedges.

80s party food ideas
Yuppies and Valley girls made sushi big in the 80's, as well as appetizers like artichoke dip served in a bread bowl. Kid-friendly treats like Rice Crispie treats and fluffernutter sandwiches make great snacks for an 80's party, and you can celebrate the frozen yogurt fad with a fro-yo cake. Finally, no 80's party guide is complete without mentioning classic candy like Nerds, Fun Dip, Pop Rocks, Ring Pops and Charleston Chews.


80s party music
1. Relax / Frankie Goes to Hollywood
2. Footloose / Kenny Loggins
3. Rock Me Amadeus / Falco
4. Whip It / Devo
5. Burning Down the House / Talking Heads
6. Rio / Duran Duran
7. Dancing with Myself / Billy Idol
8. Take On Me / A-ha
9. Living On a Prayer / Bon Jovi
10. Call Me / Blondie

Detective You

Detective Birthday Invitations: For organizing a detective party, the invitations must be prepared with special care. This is because the invitations are going to set the tone for all the fun afterwards. Your birthday party invitations can be hand written on special paper that looks old and brittle. (Soaking normal white paper in warm tea liquor can easily help you achieve this effect.) You can put a riddle in it, which your guests have to solve to find out the venue and other details. Don’t make it too complicated, or some of your guests might still be scratching their heads even on the date of the party! You should send out the invitations at least a couple of weeks in advance so that people have enough time in hand to solve your mysterious message and arrange their schedule to accommodate your party. You can also be a little more creative and add to the mysterious charm by sending out an online birthday invites.

Birthday Party Decorations: The decorations should reflect the theme of the party to a T. You can tone down the lights to get a mystery feel. Around the house, you can put up pictures of famous detectives like Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple. Other pictures like pipes and magnifying glasses can also be used. Toy knives, guns, mysterious women, cloaked assassins, cards, broken glasses and skeletons are other pictures that you can use to add variety to the theme. Not only pictures, you can actually strew around many of these things and other detective knick knacks all over the house, to add that special mystery effect.

Detective Games: The games are the most enjoyable part of a detective birthday party. You can get your inspiration from a number of popular “who done it” murder mysteries.

• Solve the Riddle: You can collect a number of short mystery riddles and ask to guests to solve them. For added effect, you can organize this around a backyard campfire. Have your guests sit around the fire in a circle and narrate the riddles one by one. You can arrange some special mystery gifts for the winners.
  
• Treasure Hunt: This is an age old game and you can play it anywhere. But you have to do a bit of planning first. Hide the treasure or prize in a location that is difficult to access, and create a trail of clues to it. Give the guests the first clue; and then they have to solve one clue after another to get to the ultimate prize. You can create parallel trials so that more that one path can be followed to get to the hidden treasure. This is especially required when you have a lot of guests and don’t want them pushing and shoving over the clues.

Detective Birthday Party Crafts: To add more fun to your Detective Party, you can declare that all participants have to have unique headgear as a mark of identity. So all the guests have to wear their own detective hats (or Detective Caps) while participating in the game. There are a number of ways to arrange for this. But first, you have to visit your local craft store to get the required stuff. The caps or hats can be cut out from poster boards beforehand and then decorated during the party by the individual guests. Some things that may be needed for this purpose are dark ribbons, markers, pencil, glue, etc. If you are not up for cutting out the hats, you can also find foam hats and caps from the local store that can also be uniquely decorated. It would be a lot of fun to have all the amateur detectives milling around the house in their trademark headgear, searching for clues all over the place.

Birthday Party Food: The detective theme can also be carried over to the food and cake. Some treats can be specially ordered from the confectioners so that they come in the shapes of pipes, magnifying glasses, knives, guns, cards, bludgeons, etc. The cake can be in the shape of a distinctive Sherlock Holmes hat.

Favors: Everyone loves to go home at the end with some take home gifts. Some good items to include in the gift bags for a detective theme are: detective books, detective caps, toy guns, magnifying glasses, and packs of cards. If you have provided some crafts for the guests, remember that these are favors as well. You can also include chocolates and other treats in the bag, along with the detective party themed knick knacks.

So celebrate your coming birthday in style. Go for the Detective theme for your next birthday bash and surprise all your friends. Follow the guidelines given above and your party will surely be a grand success. Let your imagination run wild and come up with a few original ideas of your own. Read a couple of detective thrillers if you get the time. Put together all the ideas and have a rocking good time when your birthday approaches.

Earth Day

Earth Day reminds us to love and care for the Earth and our fellow creatures. An often-forgotten holiday, this is a day that is so important to our future and we should all celebrate in one way or another! Save our planet!!! Why not resolve to spend the day in the most Earth friendly way possible. Lead the way by throwing a party for the planet to show your support for protecting the environment.

Earth Day Invitations:
-Your invitations should spell out the details and the significance of the day.
-You can write your invitation on miniature globes!
-Instead of using paper, send your invitations online to save on paper.
-If you want to make your own, recycling old Christmas cards into new invitations can be a fun project.
-If you decide buying invitations is necessary, look for invitations printed on non-bleached, recycled paper using soy-based inks.
-Send your invites on brown paper bags, which symbolize the importance of recycling.

Note:
-You can write something fun like: “Earth to Katie; Earth to Katie. You’re invited to an Earth Day Party!”
-You can request your guests to bring a recyclable item as their “ticket” to enter the party.
-Encourage attendees to walk, bike, carpool or take public transportation to your party. Riding the bus can be fun with a group of friends.
-Encourage your guests to dress in any color that is found in nature. Green is a great choice.

Earth Day Party Decorations:
-Why not use nature’s decor for your backdrop? A nature center, a park or your own backyard makes an ideal setting for a party. But if you plan it indoors the color scheme should reflect tones found in nature, so opt for shades of brown, gold and green.
-Posters of stunning vistas, oceans or mountains are easy to get and display. And of course, the more small trees or plants that you can fit into the party site, the better.
-Use blue tablecloths (for the sky) and green napkins (for the earth). Make sure they are cloth and therefore reusable. Party supply stores often sell inflatable globes or small globes on key chains that are inexpensive in large quantities and can serve a dual purpose as party favors.
-Scatter candles made of natural beeswax across tabletops for added light and ambiance.
-Old outdated maps and atlases can be found at used bookstores. Cut them up and use them as “place maps.”
-Potted plants and seedlings make great decorations that can be given to guests to take home and plant. Put them in recycled decorated coffee cans, yogurt cups or glass jars.
-Dried seasonal plants or fresh organic flowers also make great centerpieces.
-There are also great earth balloons at your local balloon store. When your party is over, you can donate the beautiful balloons to a local hospital or nursing home.

Music:
Why not make an Earth Day CD of songs having Earth in their title or songs with lyrics promoting the earth or nature. Copies of this would also be a great party favor for your guests.

Note:
-Don’t forget that this holiday encourages everyone to recycle, reduce and reuse. -Decorations like streamers and balloons that will get trashed after your party doesn’t exactly say “earth-friendly.” Set up plenty of recycling bins for paper, plastic and aluminum waste instead of general trash cans. (If you’re really crafty, you could reuse some St. Patrick’s Day decorations. They’re green and recycled!).

Party Food:
Green! It’s earth day so serve foods from the earth! Eating green has less of an impact on the environment. Earth Day is a great time to experiment with foods many people don’t normally eat. Your menu could consist of
-Tofu hotdogs
-Vegetarian baked beans
-Organic potato chips
-Soy cheese wedges
-Fresh fruits or vegetables with dip
-Lentil and brown rice soup
-Sandwiches on home-baked rolls
-Add fresh herbs, diced tomatoes and a little minced garlic to hummus and serve this
earthy dip with crudités and toasted pita wedges.
-Dessert is a no-brainer. Because Earth Day is also Arbor Day - the day that Johnny Apple seed is honored - serve apple pie.

Drinks:
Don’t forget that Earth is the water planet! The beverage of choice can be anything from ice-cold water dressed up with fresh lemon or lime wedges to homemade lemonade. If serving alcohol, most liquor stores offer selections of organic wide or locally brewed beer. Dandelion wine would also be a truly fitting refreshment.

Note:
-Check your local library or online for simple vegetarian recipes.
-Serve refreshments in earthenware containers.
-Add natural grains like couscous, wheat pasta, whole wheat breads, and the like.
-Select environmentally friendly ingredients when shopping for your food. Some key words and phrases to look for include: Organic, All-natural, Free-range, Fair-trade, Pesticide-free
-To make sure that you don’t use any disposable utensils or tableware. Provide guests with cloth napkins, regular silverware, glasses and plates.
-Make sure everyone knows where the recycling bins are located and have your guests compost kitchen waste.
-You might also suggest that attendees bring a canned good to donate to your community’s food shelf.

Earth Day Activity & Earth Day Games:
-Earth Day trivia game - Know how hybrid cars manage to conserve gas? How many tons of waste Americans produce each year? With a little pre-party research you’ll have plenty of facts to entertain and spread a little eco-awareness.
-Scavenger hunt - Send your guests out to retrieve a list of items found in nature, such as acorns, pinecones, or even an earthworm. Add litter to the list and the game doubles as a neighborhood beautification project. Or have people look for clues (that you have hidden throughout your home or the room you’re using) to fill out a form that has 10 ways to save our planet.
-Trash into treasure - Use milk jugs, grocery bags, aluminum cans and other recyclables to create sculptures that can be used as centerpieces.
-Earth friendly Spa - You can also host an earth-friendly spa party. You and your guests can create natural beauty remedies with things you probably already have around the house.

• Wash hair with lemon juice or beer for shine
  
• Cleanse skin with egg whites, which are known for their clarifying properties
  
• Combine oatmeal and honey for a natural and gentle face scrub
  
• Make your own body scrub with coconut oil and sugar

-Challenge your guests to come up with the best Earth Day poem or song. The results will range from the hilarious to the poignant.
-Have everyone bring old white T-shirts to tie-dye and decorate as their own “Save Our Planet” T-shirt–give a prize for the best one.

Prizes:
Give away earth friendly products for prizes like Earth friendly soaps, stationary, flowers or plants.

Earth Day Party Favors:
-Send guests home with party favors that encourage them to conserve. Packets of seedlings, an energy-efficient light bulb and a list of local curbside recycling services can be reminders to help jumpstart a greener lifestyle.

Most importantly, have fun while protecting the planet!

Mardi Gras

Invitations:
Create small Mardi Gras masks and print the invitation info on the back. Decorate the front with colorful feathers, beads, glitter or anything else you can find.

Decorations:
The predominate colors of Mardi Gras are green (faith), purple (justice), and gold (power). Use any mixture of these colors as much as possible when decorating for your Mardi Gras party.
Create or purchase numerous masks and hang them from the ceilings and on the walls.
Make up several helium balloon bouquets in the Mardi Gras colors and set them in various locations around your party venue.
Use tons of streamers and beads to add to the festive atmosphere.
If you can find some New Orleans posters hang them up too.
Use colorful tablecloths and party paper goods.

Food:
Fried chicken and king cakes are traditional Mardi Gras foods. You'll find Mardi Gras recipes include lots of variety, color and spice. Whatever you decide to make though, be sure to include a king cake in your menu. King cakes are such an historical part of Mardi Gras and so fun.
Mardi Gras also involves a lot of drinking. Fun. colorful drinks are always a part of the celebration. Make sure to have non-alcoholic versions of these drinks.

Activities:
*A costume contest is a must for a Mardi Gras party, but if you don't think your guests are up to it, have them bring a mask. Play any New Orleans inspired music while your guests form a colorful parade line and compete for best costume/mask.
*Provide all of the supplies for making masks at the party location and have your guests compete to design and model their creations in a given time period.
*Feeling Daring AND creative? Why not give Mardi Gras body painting a try. Whether you decide to paint your whole body or just your face, you'll definitely catch the spirit of a true New Orleans Mardi Gras.
*Rent carnival games or design your own. Play fun Mardi Gras music while your guests compete. Hand out strands of beads to the winners of each game. The person with the most beads at the end of the party gets a door prize.

Prizes:
If you're planning a Mardi Gras party you MUST have beads. Beads are a huge part of any Mardi Gras celebration. Use them as prizes. Slip one strand around the neck of each of your guests as they arrive. Have tons of them on hand. Let your guests compete for them in as many ways as possible. Having the most strands of beads at the end of a Mardi Gras event is a BIG deal.

Give a Mardi Gras music cd as a door prize so the winner can relive the party for days to come.

St Patrick's Day

Faith and b’gorra! St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner, and its the perfect time to break out your green clothes, eat lucky charms and celebrate being Irish! On St. Patrick’s Day this year, why not celebrate this Irish holiday by hosting a spectacular Irish-themed party for friends and loved ones. Your party will be a memorable event featuring delicious Irish food, drinks and traditional activities. Raise a toast high in the honor of St. Patrick’s Day, and use these simple tips to throw a grand party that will have you and your friends “going green” with fun.

St. Patrick’s Day Party Invitations: St. Patrick’s Day is a fun and free spirited celebration for everyone, whether you belong to the Irish community or your just enjoy the spirit of this green holiday. Sending out tradition party invitations is a great option. For making these invitations you will need green construction paper or card stock, green envelopes, green or gold glue glitter and green confetti. Draw a shamrock shape onto the construction paper and cut it out. One one side of the shamrock write “Happy St. Patrick’s Day” or “Your Invited to a St. Patrick’s Day Celebration” and on the other side write all the information about your party. Decorate the shamrock with the glitter. Once it is dry, put the shamrock in the envelope with a sprinkling of confetti. This is sure to give your guests a sneak peak of the fun that awaits them.

St. Patrick’s Day Party Decorations: What should be the color of the decorations for a perfect St. Patrick’s party? Of course its green because this is the color which is most associated with everything Irish. You can also use white and orange for decorations, as these colors make up the flag of the Republic of Ireland. Why not make the day special with leprechaun and green shamrock decorations and lay your feast on an emerald field redolent of the luxuriant meadows of the Ireland’s countryside.

• Use a green tablecloth to cover the table and use white dishes. Set the table with beer mugs and use orange table napkins to give it a dandy Irish look. You can then decorate the table further by scattering green sequins or curling ribbon, gold wrapped chocolate coins, kisses or Lucky Charms cereal.
  
• Wrap the orange napkins with a “torc”. You can easily create these golden torc with twisted gold cord. Cut them into small pieces and tie a knot at each end. Then you can tie these beautiful golden torc’s around each napkin as an attractive and symbolic napkin ring.
  
• To give your event a traditional twist you can place a “blarney” stone at the entrance. And ask each of your guests to kiss the blarney stone as they enter. This will help to make everyone all the more talkative. You can further decorate the party space with green balloons, mylar balloons and leprechauns.
  
• Decorate the party space with bells and white calla lilies. The Bells of Ireland bring in good luck, and the lilies represent beauty.
  
• For simple, easy and effective decorations, you can make green shamrocks. These can be made with green construction paper or poster board. Decorate them with some gold glitter and then hang these shiny shamrocks all around the room.

St. Patrick’s Day Party Activities: It is always nice to have music at a party. For St. Patrick’s Day, you can throw in a CD that has some Irish ties like Enya, The Pogues, or another Irish band. Here are some activities to get your party rolling.

• Start with a simple fun activity. Greet your guests at the door to check if they have come appareled in green. If they have, they get a nice hand made Shamrock for good luck. If not, they get pinched. Then you can hand them a green pin as a party favor. This will be a fun little activity and gives everyone something to talk about.
  
• The Ladder Lingo Game: This is a nice mind teaser game. Begin with St. Patrick’s Day themed words, and ask the person sitting next to you to think of another themed word beginning with the last letter of your word. For the word “Celtic,” the next word could be “Clover.” The game keeps going until no one can think of another themed word.
  
• The Tater Toss Game: For this game you will need some potatoes and a hula-hoop. First, lay the hoop on the ground. Starting close to the hoop each player tosses his/her potato so that it lands within the hoop. Each player who is successful, moves to the next round which is played from a greater distance say 1 meter or so away from the hoop. The players who miss the hoop is OUT. The game continues with each round getting more distant from the hoop. The player who gets his potato into the hoop from the longest distance becomes the winner.
  
• Painting St. Paddy’s T-Shirts: For this activity you will have to arrange for some plain T-shirts and some fabric paints. Then ask each of your guests to insert a piece of cardboard inside each T-shirt so the paint doesn’t leak through. The guests are supposed to paint anything associated with St. Patrick’s on the T-shirts. The most well designed and painted T-shirt gets and award. Then the guests can take these t-shirts home as party favor.

St. Patrick’s Party Food and Drinks: Celebrate this great Irish day with traditional St. Patrick’s Day recipes. Serve your guests a menu mixed with classic dishes and a few surprises. Irish Pub foods are always a big hit, and another great idea is to make some of the dishes green. For example, use green food coloring to color the beer. cupcakes and frosting, and cookies. Here are some traditional dishes that are favorites. Pick a few and you will have a great menu:
• Shepard’s Pie
• Reuben Casserole
• Cabbage Stew
• Corned Beef and Cabbage
• Cabbage and Apples
• Sweet Irish Soda Bread
• Apple Oatmeal Crisp

Drinks: These St. Patricks drinks are sure to make your party a big hit!

• Everybody’s Irish: Everybody is Irish, at least on St. Patrick’s Day. This delicious whiskey cocktail blends smooth Irish whiskey with the minty flavor of crème de menthe liqueur and the herbs of Chartreuse. The recipe does call for an olive for the garnish, but if you’re not hip to this idea and how it accents the crème de menthe, use a fresh sprig of mint instead.
  
• Emerald Isle: Go green. Hold the vermouth and add some crème de menthe in your Martini on St. Patrick’s Day. You’ll have the Irish spirit in no time.
  
• Irish Whip: No Irish spirits are used to make an Irish Whip, instead vodka and Cuban rum are the base spirits. However it is served in a beer mug and has a light green coloring thanks to the crème de menthe, making this cocktail a great alternative to drinking green beer.
  
• Green Beer: What better then serving Green beer for St. Patrick’s party. Drinking green beer has become more of an American tradition than anything else. It’s easy to make and gives a traditional feel to your party. Just add one drop of green food coloring into a light colored beer and your green drink is ready to serve.

With so much fun in store you don’t have to be Irish to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day!

Mail Call

This game is usually played as an icebreaker. Have your group sit in a circle so there are no gaps. (It may be helpful to use chairs if possible.) Someone stands in the center of the circle and says, "Mail Call for everyone who is wearing red." Then all the people who have red on get up and switch chairs with someone else who had red on. Players cannot sit in a chair immediately beside them or in their own chair. The object is for the person in the middle to get a chair before someone else can. It's similar to musical chairs.

Note: The person in the middle does not have to be wearing red. Be creative, some other examples you can use are: "Mail Call for everyone who ... has a dog, has a sister, likes to eat pizza, drove in a car to get here, wears braces, hates math." The list is endless!

Guess the Phrase

You need two teams for this game with an adult serving as referee. Before the party, think of phrases, TV shows, movies, etc. that your group would easily guess and put them on index cards. You may want to follow a theme (example: Christmas or summer vacation) or just say "anything goes!" Team members take a turn drawing and guessing. Everyone on the team must take a turn drawing! The team that draws has an opportunity to guess the phrase and receives a point if guessed correctly within 1 1/2 minutes. (You may want to use a kitchen timer or use a timer from another game you already have.) The other team does the same. Drawings must be completed without any words or gestures. Teams alternate back and forth guessing and drawing. If the phrase isn't guessed within the time limit; the other team gets a free guess and can steal the point. Note: A fun twist on this game is to allow your teams to think up the words or phrases to be drawn. Each team makes up the clues that the other team has to draw and guess.

Scavenger / Treasure Hunts

Treasure Hunt Divide kids into teams 1through 4 depending on how many are at the party. Make up clues and scatter them all over the house (and outside, too, if weather permits). Each clue leads to the next and at the end of the trail is a treasure for the team, for example, food, party favors, or prizes. Hint: Color code clues so teams only find their own clues. Time the hunt and see which team gets done first.

String Treasure Hunt Take colored strings and wind them all over your property, inside and outside. Up the stairs and then back down. Over and under furniture, beds and chairs. Teams must wind up their roll of string to find the treasure at the end of the roll.

Scavenger Hunts Scavenger hunts are a lot of fun, there are many variations on the idea. The key to a successful scavenger hunt is to think about who the players will be and make clues and items that will appeal to them. After you decide what type of scavenger hunt you will have, you need to spend some time coming up with a list of items to collect or activities to complete. Here are some fun ideas:

• Video Scavenger Hunt - Players use video recorders to record themselves doing the silly things on their list. When all the groups get back together, they watch the tapes.
  
• Picture Scavenger Hunt - Players use Polaroid® cameras to photograph the crazy things on their list.
  
• Neighborhood Scavenger Hunt - Players go out on foot in your immediate neighborhood to follow the instructions on their list.
  
• Mall Scavenger Hunt - Players are set loose in the mall to follow the instructions on their list. (This works well with the camera!)
  

Back to Back

Have youth start in groups of two or three people. Have the pair (or trio) sit on the floor back to back. The youth need to bend their knees and link elbows. On the count of three they try to stand up. It may take a few tries before the group is successful! Next have the individual groups combine to make a larger circle. Combine circles until you have everyone work together to stand at the same time.

Guess What?

Divide the group evenly.

Have the first person from each team run across the room to a paper sack (each team has a sack.) In the bag are a bunch of different foods wrapped in tin foil. Each person has to take a food article and eat it - no matter what it is! Then run back to their team and let the next person go. Some food ideas: candy, liverwurst, pizza, or onions. Warn everyone that they may be in for a surprise! Check with the youth about food allergies before playing this game.

Orange Race

• Each team is lined up with one orange per team. The object is to pass the orange to the end of the line by using only your neck and chin. If you drop the orange, you have to start back at the beginning.
  
• This is a fun race game. You will need two oranges and one pair of old pantyhose for each racer. Place one orange into the leg of the pantyhose and then tie the pantyhose around the waist of the racer. The orange leg should hang down towards the ground and swing between their legs. Using the "third leg" players tap the second orange on the floor in front of them and race to the finish line. The first player and orange to cross the finish line wins. Note.- This is a great game for a tournament. Hold practice runs, then elimination races, and finally a championship race.

Coin Toss / Hand Squeeze

Players form two teams.

The teams sit on the floor in lines, facing each other. At the head of the lines, the "referee" sits between the two players with a coin. At the end of the line, a small ball or other item sits in the middle of the last two players. All the team members hold hands and close their eyes. The only team members who can keep their eyes open are the two at the head of the lines. They watch as the referee flips the coin. If it lands tails, nothing happens. If it lands heads, the hand squeezing begins! It is a race to squeeze hands quick enough so that your team member at the end of the line can be the first to grab the ball or other item in the middle. The winning team gets to rotate their players down one. The game is over when a team has rotated all their players through the line.

Valentine Specific Games

Kids will love the following ideas for Valentine's Day party games. Remember, most games can be adapted to all ages of children with a bit of creative thinking. Also, if you choose to play a game that requires teams, and you have an odd number of children, one person will need to go twice. Ask for a volunteer and if one doesn't surface you might want to leave it up to the team to choose who they think will be the fastest.

For more great tips on how to liven up your V-Day, visit our main Valentine's Day ideas page for great party and Valentine's craft ideas. Also be sure to visit our Valentine's Day coloring pages.


Valentine Bingo

Supplies:

Make your own heart shaped bingo cards or print our Heart Bingo Cards
Red hots or a small candy, such as M&M's, for markers
Valentine bag to hold call cards
How To Play: Print our Heart Bingo Cards or create your own cards using a Valentine, February, or Candy Bar theme. Valentine theme might include: card, heart, red, pink, white, cupid, St. Valentine. February theme might include: groundhogs, President Lincoln, Washington, winter, doves, valentines. A candybar theme might include: Skor, Mr. Goodbar, Milkyway, Hershey, Kisses, Hugs, Joy (go to the grocery store for this one).

Another variation to create your own Bingo card: Write the names of all the children on pieces of paper and drop them into a Valentine bag. Note: remove the names of any children absent that day.

Create a BINGO card with blank spaces. Across the top it will say "N-A-M-E-S". Have the children go around and have their classmates sign their name to the spaces on the card. When all are done, have them sit down at their tables.

Play NAMES by drawing a name out of the bag. Play regular BINGO or blackout. If the children really like the game, then play "Postage Stamp" any 2x2 square (4 names) on the board, etc. Click here for some easy craft ideas.


Valentine Box Contest

Supplies:

Shoebox for each child
Decorating supply list for each child
Scissors
Glue
How To Play: Children take their shoebox home and decorate it using only the items listed on their supply list. At the party they are judged and winners are named for categories: funniest, prettiest, most creative, etc.


Pin The Heart On Cupid

Supplies:

Big picture of Cupid
A red heart, for each child, with adhesive on back and their name on the front
Blindfold
How To Play: Blindfold the player, spin 'em around and let them try to stick the heart where it's supposed to go. Give a prize for the player that gets the closest.