Olympics, Summer

Age of Birthday Boy: 9 years old
Age Range of Guests: 7-12 years old
Gender of Guests: boys and girls

Potential Age Range of Theme: 6-14 years, depending on the specific focus & activities, and how physically difficult you make each event

Our son's 9th birthday coordinated nicely with the timing of the Beijing Olympics so it was a natural party theme idea and he was thrilled.


Invitations: Invitations were easy but unfortunately there is no photo.  We drew the Olympic Rings on white card stock and put party information the back.  We found some flag stickers to decorate the envelopes.

Cake:  Again, this one was very easy - Olympic Rings out of colored frosting with a white background on a 9x13 cake.  We also had cupcakes with the same design.

Activities:  This was the highlight!  The kids had to register as they arrived for the party, receiving numbers, and choosing a country to represent.  We had flags from various countries and each child chose one to carry during our opening ceremony.  We even had a "torch" to light (cardboard box and tissue paper)!

The guests were sorted into groups to rotate through stations.  Events included javelin (broomstick), shot put (bocce balls), high jump (using a mattress to land on), long jump, basketball, and soccer.

We also had a station where the kids had to identify countries by their flags with points earned for how many could be completed correctly.
After the games were completed, medals were awarded to the guests (everyone received one), and we had our closing ceremony complete with the Olympic Fanfare music.  Then it was on to cake & ice cream!

Goodie Bags: We filled red party bags with candy and various Olympic themed items such as stickers, pens, etc.  They also kept their flags and we took a picture of each child receiving their Olympic Medals to send along with thank-you cards.

Red Sox Baseball

Age of Birthday Boy: 7 years old
Age Range of Guests: 5-9 years old
Gender of Guests: boys and girls

Potential Age Range of Theme: 3-13+ years, depending on specific focus & activities and how difficult you make the games

Invitations: We printed out a Red Sox logo, glued it to red construction paper, and wrote party details on the back. We found some Red Sox stickers to use on the envelopes (the iParty store is an official Red Sox merchandise distributor and was a good source of items for the party).

Cake: We decorated a 9x13 cake with a baseball diamond using frosting, crushed graham crackers for dirt, and mini marshmallows cut in half for the bases. A Red Sox scoreboard was printed out on the computer and added to the field (complete with the score showing them beating the Yankees - important detail). Using a Red Sox/Yankees chess set we placed players on the field. It was a hit!

Games & Goodies: Party guests were encouraged to wear Red Sox pariphinalia, or the team colors, and were each given a Red Sox souvenir pin as they arrived at the party. Everyone had a chance to stand in front of a "Red Sox Clubhouse" sign and pose for a photo with a baseball bat & glove if they wished. These were then made into personal baseball cards (quickly downloaded & printed out during the party while other activities were going on) which the kids filled out later with personal stats. They also all posed for a team photo. Other activities involved baseball type events - throwing small soft baseballs at a target, catching balls that were being bounced off a re-bounder (a bouncy net used for soccer and baseball practice), and running "bases" outside in an obstacle course set-up.

Goodie bags included a then-current Red Sox player baseball card, baseball shaped pencils with baseball notepads, sports themed erasers, small soft baseballs, Red Sox stickers, candy, & gum. Plus they got to take home their own personal baseball card and a team photo.