Glow-in-the-Dark Birthday Party!
My sister and I love to joke about how, when we were kids, the theme of a kid's birthday party wasn't "Pajamas and Pancakes" or "Princesses and Pirates" or "Star Wars," complete with decorations and snacks and drinks and games and favors and a cake all created to fit the theme; when we were kids, the theme of the birthday party was "birthday party." Our parents were always good about throwing a nice little shindig to celebrate our birthdays, but the decorations were simple — balloons, crepe paper streamers, a cake, maybe some pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey — and we were HAPPY! I don't remember ever going to a birthday party with any theme other than that.
Not so these days, and I am as guilty as anyone of trying to make fun themed parties for our girls. After all, with twins, we only host one birthday party each year — one and done!
We were looking for a theme for their 10th birthday party, with boys and girls as guests, and the only thing that really came to mind was Star Wars, which we had done last year. Some of the things I find on Pinterest look like they cost more than my wedding, but this basic idea looked do-able. I have to share our take on this theme, because it was SO EASY and the kids had SO MUCH FUN.
The rule of the day: Anything that glows, goes.
Decorations:
100 8" Glow Sticks on Amazon for $8 — done. I think I purchased two packages.
Black lights — we bought a couple of these little fixtures on Amazon, and then I bought another black light bulb to put into a lamp in our basement for an additional $11. (If I were to do it again, I'd probably just put bulbs in lamps we already own.)
We spent less than $5 on white streamers and white balloons — and my husband inserted glow sticks into some of the balloons for added effect.
A black plastic tablecloth was the perfect backdrop for our glow sticks and place settings, and I sprinkled some white confetti (from our three-hole punch!) on the table at the last minute to make it even more festive.
These hats were fun for the kids — another goodie bag item — and one of my daughters really wanted to get some finger lights for everyone. We placed the those in a glass bowl to add to the ambiance, and each child was able to choose some to wear and keep.
I also found these plates and matching banner on Amazon... Oh, I do love Amazon... And we used inexpensive plain white paper napkins and white plastic cutlery from the grocery store.
Games/activities:
The simplest games are way more fun when they glow in the dark!
Twister — I bought some neon paint at Michael's and had our girls paint around the circles of our Twister mat for glow-in-the-dark Twister — a hit!
Ping Pong Ball Relay Race — I also bought a $2 pack of glow-in-the-dark ping pong balls at Party City, and we did one of those silly relays with two teams taking turns using straws (no sharing straws!) to blow the ping pong balls down a path and back.
Glow-Ring Ring-Toss — I put a glow stick in each of three water bottles, and then made rings with glow sticks for ring toss.
Rocket Copters — Thankfully, the November weather cooperated, and we were able to take the kids outside to play with the Rocket Copters that were included in their goodie bags. And only one Rocket Copter flew behind a neighbor's fence! (Each package contains three launchers, so one package can be divided among three guests.)
One benefit to a late November birthday — it gets dark at 5:30, and you can host a kids' glow-in-the-dark party from 5:00-7:30!
Have fun!
-Susanna
Cake Topper assembly:
This is where the simplicity of this party goes a bit out the window, as I admit that I've had a teeny side business at times making custom cakes. However, this topper is very easy to make and could be placed atop the simplest of white-frosted birthday cakes for a fantastic effect:
6" diameter white styrofoam ball (available at craft stores). Saw off approximately 1/4 of the ball to create a flat base. (Thank you, Stephen, for doing the sawing.)
Cover ball with plastic wrap--the sticky kind (Glad Press-n-Seal) worked really well for this. Gotta make sure we don't get any styrofoam crumbs in the cake!
An hour or two before the party: Use a small screwdriver to poke shallow holes in the styrofoam, crack glow sticks, and insert. The girls did this part themselves!
