Kohen's 5th Birthday Party! ;;;;;; and ideas
This post is mostly for non-professional party planners, like myself, and also to celebrate our sweet boy, who turned 5 this May.
First of all - SAVE ALL YOUR RECEIPTS!
Why?
In case it rains THE ENTIRE DAY of the birthday party, and you over-bought too many items, expecting a large birthday party at a large park with grass and picnic tables.....and you invited everybody and their dog.
But now, that it's June, and I am finally finishing this post, I can happily report that I found 2 of the receipts and the party store took the rest of the items back without a receipt, so I only got stuck with a couple of items.
So to tell you all, I had so much fun planning the party! I decided to throw Kohen a friend party because it's kind of the first year when he had friends and has lived somewhere long enough to actually know people. We invited pretty much all of the primary kids because I am a teacher, all of our family from northern Utah, and all of the kids from Kohen's preschool class along with their families - as mentioned above, we planned on a large party at a park, but ended up in our kitchen instead.
This year Kohen is into Nintendo, but still loves all of his animals. He asked for Mario, Donkey Kong, Pokemon and an animal theme. How's that for a theme?
I didn't want to tell him "no" because it was his first friend party and he's 5, so I went ahead and found a way to make it all work. We did "all my favorite things" party and incorporated some of everything into the party. This was his invitation, made entirely by mommy.
To make the invitations even cuter, I found some large animal stickers at Walmart and placed them on the front of the envelopes. Also, you can download free fonts for your invitations from fontspace.com I can't remember the name of the font on this invitation, but it was to simulate the bubble conversations that are part of video games, since he's into video games now....
Kohen also loves sea creatures, so we got some shark stickers and an amazing pull string crab pinata, which we ordered ahead of time from birthdayexpress.com I would recommend getting a pull string pinata for small kids, especially when you are having a crowd, because well.....can you imagine a bunch of 4, 5, 6 and 10 years olds with a metal bat????
To incorporate the animal theme, we got:
pull string crab pinata
zebra printed table cloths
put plastic animals on his cake
used animal stickers on the envelopes
zebra plates, or also, you can get plain color plates (red, green, etc...) and add lobster claws or 4 turtle legs for example (out of colored card stock)
helium animal balloons
gummy bears, gummy sharks, gold fish and string cheese (moo) as snacks for the kids
Mario theme and games:
two helium gold star balloons for the front door
made a 3 layer cake with the top layer being the gold star
got some trophies to give out as prizes for a game
ordered 80 chocolate gold coins as one of the kid snacks, off Ebay, about 10 bucks - which was a great find, plus they taste great and kids love chocolate
we got red polka dot balloons and played "balloon stomp", like the "goomba" things in the game, then you play "goomba" stomp, but it was faster not to make goombas
*another super fun outside game (would have been) - get a bunch of large cardboard boxes, make handles out of the long flaps, and cut off the rest of the flaps, except one if the front (windshield), and also the bottom flaps; we got construction paper from a teacher supply store and you can decorate the cars like in the Mario race-kart game; the kids step inside and pick up the "car" by the two handles on each side of their arms and "race" down the lawn... here's an example:
We just made ours way easier, without the wheels and DEFINITELY no paint - takes too freaken long, plus - we were planning on making 6 cars, so construction paper will do just fine, and instead of shoulder straps, we just did handles...
Donkey Kong theme and games:
found a picture of DK online and blew it up at Walmart to a poster size
played "pin the tie on the donkey" game.... cause DK wears a tie, we made ties from card stock and the kids loved it
you know - it's a monkey, but a "donkey" cause he's DK - pin the tail on the donkey....u know, two themes in one!
Pokemon theme and games:
pokemon table cloth
ordered 140 ping pong balls off Ebay (great find for $7) to make pokeballs (don't know what those are? google it.) We used those for a game we called "pokeball hunt", where you spread them out on the lawn like an Easter egg hunt. However, you can order an "actual" pokeball online, but they are about 7 dollars - so you are DEFINITELY not going to buy 140 of those for a game. I started by placing 2 rubber bands around the ball and colored the black line in the middle, then spray painted the ball by placing it on top of a medicine cup - DO NOT DO THAT. It does not work and was a waste of time. INSTEAD, just use permanent markers. Draw the black line with a cirle first, then just color the rest of the ball red - it dries fast and you just end up with a little bit of red on your fingers, but the process goes a LOT faster. We ended up throwing the balls out on the floor and let the kids to crazy collecting them, and they DID!
This is what they ended up looking like and everyone loved them, and took them home as souvenirs, bonus!
All in all, the kids had a blast!!!! We had about 20 kids or more, all in our kitchen, so it was total chaos, but Kohen loved the party! His two lady friends from preschool were so cute, one of them was totally in love with Kohen....we still don't know why the ladies love him so much, but that's a good thing.
So, to get the party started - ha ha, I decided to play a game AND use the items from the game as "thank you" items to take home. I downloaded a bunch of Kidz Bop songs, hooked up the speaker, then, had the kids sit in a circle and pass the wrapped gifts in a circle (like musical chairs, but passing the item instead of running around); when the music stopped, the person holding the gift got to open it and take it home, or trade. I had an adult controlling the music, so that the music would stop on a kid who didn't get a present yet - that way it eliminates chaos and crying, and everyone gets a gift. We played this first, BEFORE all the kids got to the party because it's a game that newcomers can join simply by moving into the circle, and I didn't have to explain the game a 100 times to each new kid who came through the door (because guests don't arrive at the same time); so this was a game designed to pass the time while waiting for everyone to arrive; then the last kid who showed up - got to pick a wrapped gift out the box at the end of the party. I had a bunch of little things sitting around the house from my teaching days, plus I teach primary, and I also went to the dollar store and got some multiple packaged items - that way you get more for your dollar (literally) ha ha. We had things like: cheap girly rings, fake earrings, plastic cars, pencils, balls, rulers, coloring books, stickers, spiderman cards, cheap sunglasses, erasers. etc.....I wrapped the items so the kids didn't take a 100 years choosing something and whine about what they wanted, they just took one thing and opened it and kept what they got!
As you can see, Mr. had an amazing time! He is such a smarty pants and the best big brother. He recently had his kindergarten assessment (he starts K in August) and the teacher had to go get him 3rd grade reading material and his assessment took about an hour because he just kept reading and reading!
He loves his little brother and is very watchful over him, he makes sure Reese uses the bathroom, feeds him, washes him in the tub and teaches him all about geography, nintendo and animals.
Kohen can talk a million miles an hour and he isn't shy! If you strike a conversation with him, you will be standing there for the rest of your life. He is super independent, loves to play with his cousins, he is pretty good at hitting a baseball, can pretty much swim, is going to play soccer in the fall and right now, he's into making up stories and talks about Pokemon and nintendo characters, and he likes to draw.
Kohen hit 50 lbs and 45 inches tall. He wears size 12 shoes and big boy clothes. He eats like a shark and is slowly working on eating new, healthier things. We love our little genius so much!
First of all - SAVE ALL YOUR RECEIPTS!
Why?
In case it rains THE ENTIRE DAY of the birthday party, and you over-bought too many items, expecting a large birthday party at a large park with grass and picnic tables.....and you invited everybody and their dog.
But now, that it's June, and I am finally finishing this post, I can happily report that I found 2 of the receipts and the party store took the rest of the items back without a receipt, so I only got stuck with a couple of items.
So to tell you all, I had so much fun planning the party! I decided to throw Kohen a friend party because it's kind of the first year when he had friends and has lived somewhere long enough to actually know people. We invited pretty much all of the primary kids because I am a teacher, all of our family from northern Utah, and all of the kids from Kohen's preschool class along with their families - as mentioned above, we planned on a large party at a park, but ended up in our kitchen instead.
This year Kohen is into Nintendo, but still loves all of his animals. He asked for Mario, Donkey Kong, Pokemon and an animal theme. How's that for a theme?
I didn't want to tell him "no" because it was his first friend party and he's 5, so I went ahead and found a way to make it all work. We did "all my favorite things" party and incorporated some of everything into the party. This was his invitation, made entirely by mommy.
To make the invitations even cuter, I found some large animal stickers at Walmart and placed them on the front of the envelopes. Also, you can download free fonts for your invitations from fontspace.com I can't remember the name of the font on this invitation, but it was to simulate the bubble conversations that are part of video games, since he's into video games now....
Kohen also loves sea creatures, so we got some shark stickers and an amazing pull string crab pinata, which we ordered ahead of time from birthdayexpress.com I would recommend getting a pull string pinata for small kids, especially when you are having a crowd, because well.....can you imagine a bunch of 4, 5, 6 and 10 years olds with a metal bat????
pull string crab pinata
zebra printed table cloths
put plastic animals on his cake
used animal stickers on the envelopes
zebra plates, or also, you can get plain color plates (red, green, etc...) and add lobster claws or 4 turtle legs for example (out of colored card stock)
helium animal balloons
gummy bears, gummy sharks, gold fish and string cheese (moo) as snacks for the kids
Mario theme and games:
two helium gold star balloons for the front door
made a 3 layer cake with the top layer being the gold star
got some trophies to give out as prizes for a game
ordered 80 chocolate gold coins as one of the kid snacks, off Ebay, about 10 bucks - which was a great find, plus they taste great and kids love chocolate
we got red polka dot balloons and played "balloon stomp", like the "goomba" things in the game, then you play "goomba" stomp, but it was faster not to make goombas
*another super fun outside game (would have been) - get a bunch of large cardboard boxes, make handles out of the long flaps, and cut off the rest of the flaps, except one if the front (windshield), and also the bottom flaps; we got construction paper from a teacher supply store and you can decorate the cars like in the Mario race-kart game; the kids step inside and pick up the "car" by the two handles on each side of their arms and "race" down the lawn... here's an example:
Donkey Kong theme and games:
found a picture of DK online and blew it up at Walmart to a poster size
played "pin the tie on the donkey" game.... cause DK wears a tie, we made ties from card stock and the kids loved it
you know - it's a monkey, but a "donkey" cause he's DK - pin the tail on the donkey....u know, two themes in one!
Pokemon theme and games:
pokemon table cloth
ordered 140 ping pong balls off Ebay (great find for $7) to make pokeballs (don't know what those are? google it.) We used those for a game we called "pokeball hunt", where you spread them out on the lawn like an Easter egg hunt. However, you can order an "actual" pokeball online, but they are about 7 dollars - so you are DEFINITELY not going to buy 140 of those for a game. I started by placing 2 rubber bands around the ball and colored the black line in the middle, then spray painted the ball by placing it on top of a medicine cup - DO NOT DO THAT. It does not work and was a waste of time. INSTEAD, just use permanent markers. Draw the black line with a cirle first, then just color the rest of the ball red - it dries fast and you just end up with a little bit of red on your fingers, but the process goes a LOT faster. We ended up throwing the balls out on the floor and let the kids to crazy collecting them, and they DID!
All in all, the kids had a blast!!!! We had about 20 kids or more, all in our kitchen, so it was total chaos, but Kohen loved the party! His two lady friends from preschool were so cute, one of them was totally in love with Kohen....we still don't know why the ladies love him so much, but that's a good thing.
So, to get the party started - ha ha, I decided to play a game AND use the items from the game as "thank you" items to take home. I downloaded a bunch of Kidz Bop songs, hooked up the speaker, then, had the kids sit in a circle and pass the wrapped gifts in a circle (like musical chairs, but passing the item instead of running around); when the music stopped, the person holding the gift got to open it and take it home, or trade. I had an adult controlling the music, so that the music would stop on a kid who didn't get a present yet - that way it eliminates chaos and crying, and everyone gets a gift. We played this first, BEFORE all the kids got to the party because it's a game that newcomers can join simply by moving into the circle, and I didn't have to explain the game a 100 times to each new kid who came through the door (because guests don't arrive at the same time); so this was a game designed to pass the time while waiting for everyone to arrive; then the last kid who showed up - got to pick a wrapped gift out the box at the end of the party. I had a bunch of little things sitting around the house from my teaching days, plus I teach primary, and I also went to the dollar store and got some multiple packaged items - that way you get more for your dollar (literally) ha ha. We had things like: cheap girly rings, fake earrings, plastic cars, pencils, balls, rulers, coloring books, stickers, spiderman cards, cheap sunglasses, erasers. etc.....I wrapped the items so the kids didn't take a 100 years choosing something and whine about what they wanted, they just took one thing and opened it and kept what they got!
As you can see, Mr. had an amazing time! He is such a smarty pants and the best big brother. He recently had his kindergarten assessment (he starts K in August) and the teacher had to go get him 3rd grade reading material and his assessment took about an hour because he just kept reading and reading!
He loves his little brother and is very watchful over him, he makes sure Reese uses the bathroom, feeds him, washes him in the tub and teaches him all about geography, nintendo and animals.
Kohen can talk a million miles an hour and he isn't shy! If you strike a conversation with him, you will be standing there for the rest of your life. He is super independent, loves to play with his cousins, he is pretty good at hitting a baseball, can pretty much swim, is going to play soccer in the fall and right now, he's into making up stories and talks about Pokemon and nintendo characters, and he likes to draw.
Kohen hit 50 lbs and 45 inches tall. He wears size 12 shoes and big boy clothes. He eats like a shark and is slowly working on eating new, healthier things. We love our little genius so much!
