Bubble Birthday Party

Bubble Birthday Party

My son wanted to have a Frozen birthday party, like we'd recently done for his sister.  Since everyone was getting over the Frozen craze at the time, I thought maybe something else would be appreciated by the guests.  It turns out that he really just wanted to have it "snow" like it did at her party.  I suggested a bubble party, complete with bubble machine.  Yes!

First, we ordered a bunch of clear beach balls so they'd look like large bubbles in the grass.  I got 10 that were 16", 5 that were 12" and 4 that were 6" balls from beachballs.com ($1.28-$1.88 each).  I wanted to have a variety to look interesting and also let guests take them home balls for party favors.  This was the most beach ball for the best shipping price combination.

Look closely to see the clear beach ball bubbles on the grass.

We had lots of opportunities for bubbles at the party.  I made my own bubble mix out of distilled water, dawn dish soap, and glycerin (ordered through Amazon for about $15) so we would have plenty to use at the birthday.  I made 6 gallons.  That was excessive.  We maybe used 3 gallons.  But the bubbles work best if they sit for at least 24 hours so I didn't want to end up trying to mix some on the fly.  Having some left over bubbles isn't the worst thing ever and it was basically free after I bought the glycerin.

Then I got a Gazillions Bubble Machine and used it to make a gazillion bubbles.  (My own bubble mix and it worked fine in the machine, but not quite as well.  It was more like dozens of bubbles than a gazillion.  We used the name brand stuff in the machine at the party.  At least until we ran out.)

Of course we used the ol' snow machine to make it snow (like at the Frozen birthday party) because when you know someone with a snow machine, why not?  Besides, this snow is really just bubbles which the birthday boy was quick to point out.  That was a fun addition.

We had a station for making bubble wands using string, straws, and/or pipe cleaners.  We made some examples in advance so the kids could mimic them.  They weren't very interested in making their own, but they liked playing with the examples that were available.  Some adults were intrigued by the geometric figures I'd prepped in advance and wanted to make their own.

We also tried to put people into big bubbles.  I filled a tub with a couple of inches of bubble mix (this is the primary reason I wanted to make my own-- that adds up fast!), got a small hula hoop for $1 at the Dollar Tree (lucky find!) and then put a large bucket in the middle for people to stand in.  I was originally planning on doing a bigger hula hoop that we already had and buying a baby pool, but in addition to the cost of the pool, it would take a lot of bubble mix to fill it enough.  Since the kids are pretty small, I decided that the metal drink bin we already had would be sufficient.   The plastic bucket in the middle prevented wet feet and also meant I needed less bubble mix.  Of course, it's not actually putting them inside a bubble.  It's more like a bubble cylinder, but it was still exciting.  It was really hard to get the bubbles to work on the day of the party (but it worked in tests!) so perhaps I didn't have the right mix or it was too hot or humid.  I maybe should have gone heavier with the glycerin or dawn soap.  The kids still had fun trying though.

The cake was a grocery store cake that my son declared he wanted to have Dusty from Planes on.    Since the store didn't have that, I asked them to just put some clouds and we'd add the plastic plane.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find one!  I finally found a small lego set that is a similar design and color so we used that.  It didn't quite match our bubble theme, but it worked for the birthday boy.  It also solved the problem of him constantly wanting to change the theme.  After we'd started all the bubble prep, I didn't want to abandon for a new theme, but I told him he could change whatever he wanted on his cake until it was ordered.  He was ultimately happy with his cake.

The biggest hit of the party were the pool noodle bubble tubes.  I didn't know if the kids would like this at all, but they loved it.  The party could have been foam tubes and cake and they'd have been content.  Just rubber band a piece of cloth to a segment of pool noodle.  (One pool noodle was cut into 8 pieces.)  Kids dip the cloth into a tray of bubble mix and then blow LOTS of tiny bubbles.  It's like foam.  They loved it.  Pro Tip: Tell the kids to take the tube away from their mouths before inhaling to blow in it again or they will wind up with a mouthful of soap.  Maybe not dangerous, but unpleasant.

One of our test designs.  We cut the hand towel into quarters for the final design.

Foam bubbles that are fun to blow away.

Another big hit at the party was a gift that was opened during the party.  Foam stomp rocket.  The kids thought it looked neat and the last portion of the party was them taking turns stomping on it and chasing the foam rockets around the yard.

Party dad retrieving a rocket from the plants.  You can also see the large beach ball "bubbles" in the yard.

Our party favors were the clear beach balls, bubble tubes, and large bubble wands.  The kids used the tubes during the party and then took them home.  They LOVED having a couple of beach balls to take home.  The large bubble wands were a big hit, too.  Can't have too many bubbles, right?

The bubble tubes arranged around a rainbow of bubble wands.  These were party favors along with clear beach ball "bubbles."

I also must mention the adorable baby (my nephew) who was put in a bin (dry!) with several of the beach ball bubbles and we blew more bubbles around him.  I thought it would be an amazing photo op.  Unfortunately, he didn't agree and this was the best pic we got.  Might be a cute idea for other kids, though!

Frozen Birthday Party

Frozen Birthday Party

My daughter requested a Frozen Party for her 6th birthday.  Given that Frozen was THE thing at the time, we'd been to quite a few Frozen-themed party.  By the time my daughter's bday rolled around, practically everyone had had such a party so it was starting to get "old" and we needed to add some creativity to the party.  On the plus side, nearly all the little girls had Elsa costumes that they wore to the party.  The birthday girl dressed up like Anna.  It worked pretty well.

We tried to do some things that were a little bit different from her friends' parties, so we did:

• Coloring
• Bracelet making
• Snow globes
• Cake
• Snow!

Coloring is pretty straight-forward.  I just found free coloring pages on the Internet and printed them.   I bought some snowflakes on clearance.   Then I put out some crayons and glitter glue.  Ta-dah!  Kind of ridiculously easy, but perfect for the preschool-kinder crowd.  Some of the parents got engaged with the coloring, too.

The bracelet making is pretty straight-forward, too.  I got beads, elastic, ribbon, and plastic bowls from Dollar Tree and Walmart.  The metal snowflakes were an ebay find (for like $2!)  Both adults and kids enjoyed making bracelets.  I was impressed that we ended up with very few beads on the floor.  Protip: tie one bead to the end before the kids start stringing them so there's less risk of losing them all and having frustrated kids.

Another activity, the snow globes, were a unique part of our party.  We got some baby food jars for free from someone who no longer needed them.  I painted the lids blue and sprinkled with glitter so they wouldn't say "gerber" or anything.  I bought a bunch of Frozen-themed stickers (Party City), some clear packing tape, and some glitter (Dollar Tree and Walmart).  There were instructions to put stickers on the tape and then tape on the top so the stickers were sealed inside.  Then the kids (or parents) would roll the tape into a cylinder and put it inside the baby food jar.  Add some water/glycerin and then sprinkle in some glitter.  Put the lid on tightly.  Snow globe!

Most of the decorations were snow flakes (easy to get for our early-January party) or left over decorations from alllllllllll those other Frozen parties.  (Thanks for donating to us, folks!)  We got Frozen-themed and solid-color balloons for $1 each at the Dollar Tree and one large balloon from Party City (for like $12!  Yikes!)  The kids were thrilled to have their own balloons to take home.

For the cake, we just got one from the local grocery store.  I also wanted to serve ice cream so I filled a muffin tin with Frozen liners (of course!) and then scooped the ice cream in before the party.  That made it really easy to pass out during the party.  As the ice cream got warmer, the cupcake papers got mushy and things got messy, but most kids didn't let it go that long so it was fine, especially if it was on their plate with their cake.

The biggest hit in this party was the "snow."  We played "Let it go" and the kids immediately ran around singing and acting out the song enthusiastically.  At a mid-song crescendo, the birthday girl's uncle hit a button on the snow machine he'd set up in secret and it snowed on the mob of Anna and Elsas.  Quite the hit on a 70 degree day!  In fact, it was such a hit, I didn't get any good pictures of the kids as they all ran around screaming with glee.

Finally, we sent the kids off with some hopefully useful party favors.  Along with their bracelets, snow globes, and balloons, they got fuzzy gloves and a fleece scarf.  I got a large piece of remnant fleece and cut the scarves myself.  Pretty simple, especially if you have a rotary cutter.

Happy Birthday!

Construction Party

Construction Party

For his 3rd birthday, we decided to have a construction party.  We had burgers for lunch and some snacks along with some construction-related activities.

The decor was fairly simple.  We used light yellow table cloths and wrapped them in caution tape.   I put some across the fence in the backyard but it caused some panic with one of the party goers.  "What's wrong with the fence!?"  Nothing, it's just some decorations for the construction party.  "Ohhhhh...." After that, I thought I'd better not put caution tape on the play structure or it might be avoided, too. I liked it on the tables and that didn't seem to confuse anyone, though.

The party favors were passed out at the beginning of the party.  They got plastic construction hats, home depot tool belts, levels, tape measures, and screw drivers.  (Hats were from Amazon.  Tools belts, tape measures, and levels were from Home Depot for less than $1 each.  Screwdrivers were from Dollar Tree in multipacks for $1.)  In addition to being fun tools the kids could use, they looked adorable!

For activities, I got a set of interlocking popsicle sticks that the kids could just use to build whatever they wanted.  I think I got them on Amazon, but I've seen them at several stores.

We also set up some screwing boxes on the ground.  These were just old boxes we happened to have.  I wrapped some construction tape around them so they'd look more "festive" and then partially screwed in several screws.  The kids came by with their screw drivers and enjoyed screwing and unscrewing them.

The kids also enjoyed the play structure and playing in the backyard when they weren't munching on their cheese burgers.  They were certainly not bored!

Then we had cake.  We'd asked for a construction theme, but the local grocery store bakery was out of the plastic toys they put on top.  No problem, we got our own set (5 pack of construction vehicles from Target for $6) but they mysteriously disappeared just prior to cake time.  (It turns out that one of the little party attendees took off with them, but we didn't recover them until after the party.)  It was important to have some vehicles though, because it looked a bit like... uh... maybe a big rabbit had left a deposit.  Not a great look for a cake.

Fortunately, a dig through the car drawer and a quick wash and we had a suitable vehicle.  Whew!  Not that the kids cared, though.  Cake is cake!  Yum!

Happy Birthday, Steven!