Ideas for ds' 5th birthday....

[zanelee]

Can anyone help me come up with some ideas for his birthday party? I'm just plum out of ideas! He said he'd like to have some sort of construction theme....but what do I do with that?
Like last year was a fireman theme, the year before was cowboys....I don't go all out, but I do like to have a general idea/theme for the cakes, balloons and some activity.
So, please someone help! I've got 1 month! Ack!
TIA!

Oh! And I'd rather not have it at our home this time. I really just don't want to clean!

[bwylde]

This year I tossed out the idea of themes. I find it too confining and it gets too expensive. The main thing DS wanted was a pinata and we'll have a table where the kids come and can decorate their own party hats and treat bags to put their pinata goodies in. We'll also have games and food, of course . This is the first year DS got to pick out his entire guest list and activities and he's so excited about it.

[babibelli]

i agree with the idea behind themes..too costly
dd's 5th b-day party is this saturday.

she wanted a "princess party" so i'm just asking everyone to wear their favorite "princess costume" (or superhero, pirate, ect)

maybe you could do a "costume" party?

or just a cake and some balloons and some games. that's pretty much what we're doing this year...

[Rigama]

We do a theme every year, and it can be done cheaply. Ds had a Neverland/Peter Pan party and we were able to keep the cost around 50-75 bucks, and we had a turnout of nearly 25 ppl.

For a Construction theme my first idea is to get your ds a Tonka Dumptruck and fill it with a "mud" cake...Crumbled up choco cake with choco frosting (or Oreo cookies run through a food processor with layers of pudding) with random gummy worms running throughout. Serve with a shovel from a set of sand toys.

If you don't want to get the truck, you could always check out your local cake decorating supply store. They frequently rent pans for the day. At my local place there is a deposit on the pan (they don't run the credit card number unless you don't return the pan) and then it's about $3 per day to rent. There are many shapes and types of cake pans.

Also, do a google search of Construction Birthday Party and you'll come up with tons of hits.

Honestly, in my opinion, it's all about the cake. Then again, that's what I do, decorate cakes! My son just turned 5 in March and I've found that at that age kids are happy just to eat a cool looking cake and run around the park or backyard.

Good luck!

[soybeansmama]

How about a gardening/bugs party? If my son had a spring bday we would do something like this...(he turns 4 in dec.) What about getting some gardening soil, cheap pots, or prepare a space in the yard, and some starter plants. You could have the kids bring their own garden spades and grubby clothes. You could also order lady bugs online or at your local nursery and divide them up amoung the kids in dixie cups with plastic wrap or something. Then they can choose where in the yard they want to release them. I would have loved a party like that when I was 5!

For "cake" you could do the gummy worms in a cup with crushed oreos and chocolate pudding or decorate a cake with crushed oreos for dirt and some gummy bugs. The party favors could be the pots they planted...

Have fun and happy bday to your ds!