InspireMe Crafts

Killer Whale Birthday Party: The Fun Stuff – Games, Activities and Goodie Bags

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year" – Ralph Waldo Emerson

I am lucky enough to see this smile every day (well, most of the day at least) because to him every day does seem to be the best day of the year. And it should be for a 5 year old! With some fun birthday games and activities, I made sure that there were plenty of smiles from all the kids. As the kids showed up I used some chalk to write their names on the whale tail of their goodie bag. I cut out the whale tail from chalkboard stickers I found at the craft store and added some blue paper for water.

As the kiddos showed up they would take their goodie bag over to the sand box. They dug for killer whale teeth and some ocean animals. We made the killer whale teeth from some white modeling clay. Dig in!

Then came the big hit of the party – Fishy, Fishy in the Brook. Instead of buying a whole bunch of little things for the goodie bags, I put a couple small things in them and then found some great ocean themed gifts from the DollarTree. Once again, the DollarTree came through for me! I also used blue plastic tablecloths and a fish net from the DollarTree to make our little brook/river/water….whatever it was, the kids got the point.

I posted the saying up so the adults could all have a cheat sheet. Just add the kiddo's name at the blank spot and read the rest….pretty easy J.

And, of course, with a bunch of 4-5 year olds you have to add some of their humor to the mix. Throw in some dirty diapers, dirty socks, empty toilet paper roll, etc and you are sure to get lots of laughs.

Who is behind that "water" anyway?

It was great to see them all so excited about what they would get as well as what their buddies would find in the brook.

So there you have it - A fun party for not much money. Now I'm off to plan for the little man's 1 year celebration.

Be inspired, get creative, and have fun!

Killer Whale Birthday Party: The Decorations

"Spring is nature's way of saying, 'Let's party'" - Robin Williams

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are lucky that Lil Big Man has a spring birthday so we can celebrate outside. Otherwise, I'm not sure what I would do with all his energy plus the energy of 15 of his closest bouncing buddies. Luckily, the weather pretty much held out except a few minutes of rain that didn't even phase the kiddos. Since we celebrate at the park I don't go overboard on the decorations – just a few simple and inexpensive special touches to go with the theme.

Anything I bought went with the blue, black, and white color scheme. Blue tablecloths for the water, black and white napkins and plates, a black and white wrapped box to hold some drinks, etc.

The first things the kiddos noticed were the inflatable killer whales hanging from the rafters of the park picnic shelter. With some Dollartree twine and my underhand toss over the rafters to the hubby we created our own swimming whales in the ocean. They were about $2.00 each and added just the right amount of decorations. I thought of other decorating ideas to make it more under-the-sea theme, but we really wanted to stick to just killer whales as much as possible. So we stopped here…I can't believe I had that kind of self control.                                                                                             

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My ocean in a jar idea was originally going to be a project for the kiddos with some empty baby food jars I had. However, after testing it out on some big jars I decided it was going to be too messy and the little sea creatures I purchased didn't float. You put half water with some food coloring, and then fill the rest with mineral oil or clear vegetable oil ( I couldn't find this). Instead of keeping the non-floating sea creatures in the jar, I printed out some killer whales from the computer and glued them on the outside of the jars. When you move it you make waves. There was a breeze so I used them as paper weights for the plates and napkins. Plus the kids still had fun checking them out and making 'waves'.

Then we had the cake and cupcakes. I used out of the box cake mix, homemade frosting, killer whale cookie cutouts, and some candy fishes and jelly bellies. We made the killer whale cookies for his pre-school class celebration and luckily had leftovers. Thank goodness I refrained from eating them because they saved the day. We used the leftovers to put on the cake instead of having to use a plastic toy or figuring out fondant (one thing I still haven't tackled). Lil big man loves jelly bellies (along with his mommy) so it was a special touch to use those for the waves. It certainly isn't going to win any awards, but it was relatively painless and to a bunch of kiddos it was cute. If only it hadn't taken lil big man 14 tries to blow out 5 candles…

Add a few random beach balls everywhere and we were ready to party!

It is possible to complete a theme just enough without breaking the bank if you pay attention to what the kiddos will appreciate more than what us adults would appreciate. For adults a great layout for the food is often something we focus on or the table setting…..but to a 5 year old? Not so much! The flying killer whales are way more interesting. Think like the age group you are planning for and you'll throw a great party. Next, I'll share the games and activities we played. Stay tuned J

Be inspired, get creative, and have fun!