Reinvent the traditional birthday party.
Birthday parties celebrate the important milestones in your child's life. Reinvent the traditional birthday party with an unusual theme or ditch the always present cake and ice cream for a more exotic treat. Allow your child to help plan his own special day. With a little advance planning and some creative ideas, together you will create a day to remember. Does this Spark an idea?
Theme
A birthday party with a theme provides an interesting twist to a traditional birthday party, and offers options limited only by your creativity. Some kid-friendly themes could include: tropical, dinosaurs, horses, luau, pirates, space or race cars. Coordinate decorations, food and cake for a total theme event.
Scavenger Hunt
A scavenger hunt is a great way to occupy active children. This activity, in its most basic form, can be performed by distributing a list of miscellaneous items for each group to collect; the team that retrieves the most items wins. A variation on this theme could be to collect items to be donated to charity, such as books or canned goods. A responsible adult should accompany each group, and if your group is collecting for a charity, have literature available to answer any questions.
Cultural
A birthday party can become a cultural experience.
Embrace the cultures of the world. A Mexican birthday party can include the popular pinata, filled with candy and party favors. Instead of a traditional birthday cake, a Mexican custard dessert called flan could be served. An Australian party could be decorated with kangaroos and other animals native to Australia. Serve the famed Pavlova dessert from New Zealand, a fluffy meringue shell topped with whipped cream and fruit; it's a lovely stand-in for the birthday cake. Celebrate Asian culture by eating with chopsticks and serve sweet treats in the shape of sushi. Wrap gifts in specially purposed Chinese takeout containers.
Costume
Children love to dress up. Why should Halloween be their only opportunity? Throw a costume birthday party. Allow children to dress up according to a theme or as a character of their choice. You could also award prizes for best costume, most unusual costume or best superhero.
Cake Decorating
Cake decorating is a great way to occupy little hands.
Have a cake decorating party. Bake personal-size cakes for each person attending your party. Provide a small dish with frosting, a plastic knife for spreading and an assortment of candy toppings for each child to decorate her own birthday cake work of art. Cover surfaces with freezer paper to make cleanup a snap.
Tags: birthday party, traditional birthday, birthday cake, traditional birthday party, birthday party with, each group, great occupy