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Looking for a dynamite birthday idea for your child this year? Skip the cartoon-character-of-the-month birthday party. Every other kid on the block will have the same party—same paper plates, same streamers, maybe even the same games. Choose one of these one-of-a-kind parties, and your child will have a unique and unforgettable party. And because of the timelessness of these ideas, you may even be able to recycle your efforts on a younger sibling’s party.
Jungle Party: Decorate the room with green streamers and lots of houseplants. As the children arrive, direct them to a table stocked with white paper plates, construction paper, scissors, glue, pipe cleaners, and any other craft items you think the children would like. Instruct them to make a mask of a jungle animal: tiger, elephant, monkey, lion, toucan, gorilla, etc. When they’ve finished their masks, attach elastic with a stapler and let them wear them.
Play a charades game in which the children act like different animals. For younger children, allow them to act out the animals that correspond with their masks.
Play “Pin the Tail on the Elephant.”
Decorate the cake with green frosting and animals.
Tea Party: This is a favorite among little girls. Send out sophisticated-looking invitations to the children instructing them to come to the party all dressed up (preferably in their mother’s clothes) and to bring a companion (doll, teddy bear, etc.)
Your daughter will likely love the preparation involved for this party. She can make fancy place cards to put on the table and set the table with a lacy tablecloth, flowers, and pretty plates and cups.
Instead of musical chairs and pin-the-tail games, play croquet. If the birthday girl has willing siblings, dress them up like maids and butlers, and they can serve the “ladies.”
Serve dainty pastries like éclairs or ladyfingers. Of course, don’t serve the girls tea, but they’ll love fancy lemonades with their birthday cake and ice cream.
Firefighter Party: Arrange with your local fire department to bring the children to the firehouse to look at the engines and talk with a firefighter. They’ll love listening to the siren, and the firefighters may even let the climb up in the truck.
You can buy plastic red firefighter hats at party supply stores. Buy one for each child and write his or her name on it with a magic marker. They can wear their hats to the fire station and for the rest of the party.
Traditional birthday party games work well for this type of party. You can also play a variation of freeze tag in which the kids have to be sprayed with imaginary fire hoses to be “un-frozen.”
Decorate the birthday cake with fire hats and Dalmatians.
Arts-and-Crafts Party: If you have an artistic child, this may be the perfect party. Set up three or four tables with supplies for simple crafts. If you’re the type who doesn’t like to think up crafts on your own, check a book out of the library or search a kids’ site on the Internet.
The first table they go to should be equipped with brown paper bags, big enough to carry their crafts home in. They should write their names on the bags and decorate them with paints, stickers, glitter, string, crayons, and markers.
If you want this to be a real hands-on party, you could bake cupcakes instead of a big cake and allow the children to decorate their own cupcakes with frosting, candy, and sprinkles.
Water Party: Lucky is the child whose birthday falls in the summer months. On the invitations, tell the children to come in their swimsuits and bring a towel. You must have a yard equipped with a hose for this party, and you’ve got to have a back-up plan in case it rains on your child’s birthday.
Borrow or buy a “Wet Banana” or “Slip-and-Slide.” The kids can line up and run and slide down the slide. You can also play run-through-the-sprinklers games. The rainbow-type sprinklers are great for games. The children will just make the games up as they go along.
Set up a picnic table with a checkered tablecloth. If your party is scheduled for lunch or dinnertime, serve barbecued hot dogs, chips, and soda pop. Then follow the meal with cake and Popsicles.
If none of these party ideas speaks to you or your child, examine your child’s interests. Does he love trains or picnics? Does she love rock climbing or dancing? You can design a party around virtually any interest, and if your child loves it her friends probably do, too.
So skip the cartoon characters and plan your child’s birthday party around an activity he loves. It may not be the trend of the week, but it just may be the party of the year.
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