Ballet, Dance

Age of Birthday Girl: 8 years old
Age Range of Guests: 5-10 years old
Gender of Guests: boys and girls

Potential Age Range of Theme: 3-12 years, depending on specific focus & activities

When our middle child turned 8 she was taking dance class and wanted a ballet birthday party.  (Who knew at the time that this recreational dance class would turn into the hours and hours of dance it is today?!)

Invitations: We cut ballet slipper shapes out of pink card stock and glued them onto white card stock.  A pink bow was added to the front with "You're invited... (A little bit like this...).  Party details were printed on the back.

 Cake:  We used a 9x13 cake pan and then created a template out of wax paper and carved ballet slipper shapes out of the cake. These were then covered with pink frosting with white in the middle for the inside of the shoes.  Pearlized candy was added around the edge of the white area with a small frosting bow on the toe.  Real pink ribbon was added to turn them into pointe shoes. We were greatly inspired by this tutorial.

Activities: The party guests each decorated crowns found at Oriental Trading Company using stickers, jewels, ribbon, and markers.

The kids also had the chance to take strips of ribbon and tulle to create a simple tutu by tying the strips onto a main waistband piece of ribbon.  Most guests didn't finish at the party and took strips of cloth home with them to finish it up there.

 They all got a brief ballet lesson, led by Dad of course - what a good sport! - and then we played a version of musical chairs where the kids had to dance around the basement and when the music stopped they went to a photo of a ballerina in a certain pose.  They had to copy the pose as they stood next to it.

Then, in two teams, they created poses with props and costumes. The other team got to look at it briefly and then the original team would change something.  The other team had to figure out what had been changed.

Another variety of this game would be to have one team create a pose and the second team looks at it briefly. Then that second team has to recreate it themselves.

Goodie bags: Pink and blue goodie bags were filled with candy treats, ballet/dance stickers, ballet pencils and notepads, hair scrunchies, and bracelets.

Angels

Age of Birthday Girl: 5 years old
Age Range of Guests: 3-8 years old
Gender of Guests: boys and girls

Potential Age Range of Theme: 2-10 years, depending on specific focus & activities

An angel party seemed like a fun idea (and it was) except it's hard to find angel decorations in May! We eventually found a few things that would work but this party may be easier to put together in late fall or early winter once Christmas decorations are in the stores.

Invitations: On plain white card stock we taped silvery star paper on the front and added small wooden angels we found at Micheal's Craft store (we cleaned them out of their supply at the time). We stamped "You're Invited" on the front and then wrote the party details inside.

Cake: The cake was made in a 9x13 pan. After covering it with light blue frosting we added mini-marshmallows, cut in half, to make clouds. Small wooden stars and angels were taped to toothpicks and inserted into the top of the cake. Cupcakes were covered with blue or white frosting and then topped with star & moon sprinkles and/or a mini marshmallow. We decorated the table with a white tablecloth covered with silver star confetti. It was a very nice effect overall.

Games & Goodies: The birthday girl wore a white dress, angel wings, and a halo. Party guests made their own halos out of silver or gold pipe cleaners. We found an angel craft from Oriental Trading and decorated them with markers, stickers, gems, ribbon, etc. We played games with angel themes such as a halo version of musical chairs, an angel scavenger hunt (find something white, something that makes music, something that has wings, etc).

Goodie bags were made from white paper bags decorated with the silver star paper and another wooden angel. They had angel stickers inside, silver glittery pencils and paper, candy, and gum.

Dinosaurs & Volcanoes

Age of Birthday Boy: 5 years old
Age Range of Guests: 3-8 years old
Gender of Guests: boys and girls

Potential Age Range of Theme: 2-8 years, depending on specific focus & activities

The Cake: For this cake we used a pan that is designed for the skirt of a doll - you can purchase it at most craft stores and it can have a variety of uses. For us it became a mountain and we placed it beside another base cake. We then covered it with chocolate frosting and added orange frosting for lava.

 Malt balls & crushed chocolate cookies were rocks coming down the side of the mountain but any round or crumbly cookie-type food will work. Green & blue frosting made up the grass & a watering hole. Around this we placed plastic dinosaurs. We also had extra cupcakes with blue or green frosting and a plastic dinosaur on each one.

Games & Goodies: Games were dinosaur themed versions of classics such as pin the scale on the dinosaur. Goodie bags included candy treats, dinosaur stickers, and plastic dinosaurs.