Ultimate Kids' Birthday Party Theme Roundup

I've thrown a couple of good kids' parties in my time. My friend Krista, on the other hand, has thrown a ton of AMAZING themed kids' parties, and over the years has generously shared her ideas here on This Mom Loves. (One has become my most-pinned Pinterest post!)

Today I'm providing a roundup of links to all of these great themed birthday party ideas for your convenience, and I hope you can find something to inspire your next child's party! Please pin, forward and share the love!

A Few Birthday Party Ideas
(Don't judge, this was before I had Krista for inspiration)

The Polka-Dot Party

The Pajama Party

The Starting School Party
(I'm a teacher, after all!)

The Jumping Party

The Rock Star Party

The Purple Party

The Butterfly Party
(I was very proud of myself for this one)

The PC Cooking School Birthday Party

(We've done this three times now as hosts and more as guests - love it!!)

The Science Party

And now, for my most-pinned Pinterest pin, and one of my most-visited blog posts ever:

The Amazing Race Party

(By the way, this would make an amazing grownup party, too!)

Have you posted about any great birthday party ideas? Please feel free to link up in the comments so everyone can see!

Party on, Wayne! Party on, Garth! (Wait - did I just date myself there?)

Perfect Parties Theme Nine: The Amazing Race Party

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For updated content (plus all the posts found here) on our fresh new site, visit www.thismomloves.ca

My friend Krista has done it again! This time she organized a super fun "Amazing Race" themed party for her daughter's birthday. If you're not a fan of the show, the details may be a bit confusing...but if your family does enjoy watching, it might be a great party theme to consider!

Colour Scheme: Red and yellow with black and white as accent colours (Amazing Race colours)

Decorations:  "Name's Amazing Race" signs and red and yellow balloons were all over the outside and inside of the house

Cake: Vanilla cupcakes with red sugar sprinkled on top in red liners and Amazing Race Flags as decorations

Loot Bags: Once the girls were in teams (they selected a random piece of coloured paper out of a bag and on the count of 3 they held out their hands and opened the paper to reveal which team they would be on) they received the matching coloured bag (to collect all of their clues), an Amazing Race water bottle, a bag of cheesies (snacks) and matching coloured sweatbands and bandana (to be worn during the race). All items were purchased at the dollar store, other than the water - and Krista added the labels herself. 

The second part of loot bags was matching blankets and glow sticks:

As teams arrived at the Pit Stop (made out of an old bath mat and coloured duct tape) they were allowed to select which matching blankets they wanted (which Krista thought was appropriate since the party was also a sleepover). It became a prize for finishing the race, and part of their loot bags. (Blankets purchased at Giant Tiger for $10 and glow sticks at Dollar Store.) The first place team received a dollar store trophy too!

A peek at the Pit Stop:

Route Info and Envelopes:  Krista would like to thank Chica and Jo's website for offering editable clues (details about their Amazing Race party available there as well).  She found a couple of clue ideas on the Internet and also made up a few of her own.

As I read over her challenges, I was thinking that not only are they fun for kids, but many grownups would enjoy participating in an Amazing Race party too! Many of the same clues could be used, or they could be adapted to be as "adult" as you want!

First Leg:         “Hold Onto Your Spoon”

Second Leg:    “X Marks The Spot”

Third Leg:        DETOUR  “Squash It” or  “Washer It” 

Fourth Leg:      ROAD BLOCK “Poem Madness"

Fifth Leg:         FAST FORWARD “Oreo Kidding Me?"

Sixth Leg:        DETOUR “Lucky Doubles” or “Lucky Charms” 

Seventh Leg:   SPEED BUMP (means go back and do the other detour that you didn’t choose and do it)

Eighth Leg:      ROAD BLOCK “TWEEZE ME CRAZY” 

Ninth Leg:       “You Better Do It Write"

Tenth Leg:       FAST FORWARD “Don’t Burst My Bubble”

Eleventh Leg:  “Don’t Be a Buckethead” 

Twelfth Leg:     “It’s Time to Build A Tower”

Final Leg:         FIND THE HIDDEN TRAVELOCITY GNOME! 

Gnome was purchased at Green Earth:

Krista says that the order of the clues doesn't matter, so feel free to switch it up. You need a copy of the clues for each team you have playing, and some supervisors (she enlisted grandparents) working at each station.

Teams were not allowed to leave their teammates behind and everyone was encouraged to be positive and a good sport to other teams. The girls had so much fun running the race and it just so happened that the birthday girl and her teammate ended up the winners!

Thanks again for sharing your (ahem) "amazing" ideas with us, Krista!

If you've missed any past party themes, they're all gathered together in a Perfect Party Roundup right here.

UPDATE: Due to popular demand, here are photos of the clues that Krista used, to help you with ideas for your own party. If you'd like the original templates, please visit Chica and Jo at the link above. Thanks!

Perfect Parties Theme Eight: The Science Party!

My friend Krista is back with a brand-new party idea, perfect for the little scientist in your house - male or female! She did this one for her younger daughter's 7th birthday.

There were a few stations set up outside as the kids arrived, such as quicksand, magnets/electricity, specimens in jars, and magic goo.


When the "scientists" entered the basement "lab", their names were typed into the computer and their eyes "scanned" with a glowstick as they placed their hand on the hand scanner (the computer would say “Scientist Frannie, you have been approved to enter the Lab!”)


Each kid received a lab coat (a white t-shirt cut in half), name tag, safety goggles and lab duotang.

Here are some photos of the lab setup:

There were approximately 10 experiments, and while Krista warns that there was a lot of prep work, it was also a lot of fun for the kids...and educational too! (Have I mentioned she's a fellow teacher?)

• bubbling lava lamps
• floating m and m’s
• elephants toothpaste
• dissecting a worm (gummy worm with tweezers)
• exploding Ivory soap in microwave
• diffusion of food colouring in test tubes
• dancing colours (milk, food colouring and dish soap)
• making snow (Steve Spangler kit)
• big finish: outside on the lawn - egg drop (Newton's law) and of course the diet coke and mentos eruption, which was a huge favourite

No party of Krista's would be complete without some themed food. In this case, the cake was made in the shape of a beaker...

...and one of the drink options was 7-Up with Pop Rocks poured on top...which the kids loved! 

To finish things off, the little scientists left with with a loot bag (shown below, containing a book about Science, grow your own Crystal kit, pop rocks, silly straw, and a grow animal), to continue the fun and learning at home. 

Krista credits the blog "Come Together Kids" for a lot of her inspiration for this party, which you can check out at: http://www.cometogetherkids.com/2012/02/super-science-birthday-party.html

Thanks for another fun and creative party theme, Krista! If you missed them, you can catch up on all of Krista's ideas (plus a couple of mine - I'm not totally useless as a party-planner) at the link below.

Perfect Party Roundup (polkadots, pajamas, rock stars, butterflies...you'll find tons of themes here!)

Stay tuned...another "amazing" (hint, hint) party theme coming soon!

Kids' Party Roundup - Themes Galore!

Over the years, I've shared several party themes here at This Mom Loves (with LOTS of help from my themed-party-planning friend, Krista!)

For some reason it seems like the birthday party season ramps up in spring, so I thought it would be the perfect time to share a roundup of different party ideas.

My First Party Post, with some miscellaneous ideas for activities, food (cupcake cones were a bit hit!) and loot:

The Polkadot Party (from Krista)

The Military Party (this one is thanks to my friend Trina, who thought I needed some more masculine ideas!)

The Pajama Party (Krista) Don't you love the cake, decorated to look just like her daughter's bed? I *may* have copied this idea a couple of years later!

The Back-to-School Party

I planned this one as a way for my daughter to get to know the other girls in her JK class (and yes, that's a pencil and eraser in the cupcake!)

The Jumping Party (Krista)

This theme is perfect for a party with a bouncy castle!

The Rock Star Party (Krista)

A Pinterest favourite, this one's a "hit" with little performers!

The Purple Party (Krista)

This could be modified to work with any favourite colour!

The Butterfly Party

I planned this one myself, and it was pretty darned themey, from the decorations to the crafts to the loot bags...and of course the cake. Fine, I didn't make that...

The PC Cooking School Party (at Loblaws)


I was extremely pleased with how Maggie's fourth birthday party was run...so pleased that I chose the same location for Frannie's seventh!

Happy party planning!

P.S. If you've posted about a themed birthday party, please feel free to leave a link to your blog in the comments section. We love new ideas!

PC Cooking School Birthday Party (Alternate title: My Baby Is Four!)

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A couple of weeks ago we held Maggie's fourth birthday party at our neighbourhood Loblaws. It was a PC Cooking School Birthday Party, and the kids had an absolute blast!

One of our nieces in Aurora did her birthday this way last year, and I knew I wanted to copy it for one of our girls. Because our kids' parties usually involve their godparents, and Maggie's have five daughters from ages 7 to 11 between the two of them, I try to tailor the parties to suit the older kids as much as the guest of honour. This idea was perfect for all of them (including the four boy guests as well).

I made the booking through the website, then went into the store to make a deposit and meet with "Chef Cat". She answered all of my questions, and even asked Maggie to make several important decisions about the menu for the day. I sent out the provided invitations, and left the rest of the planning and prep to the PC team!

Here are some highlights from the party:

Chef Cat welcomes the guest of honour



I bought a set of 12 children's aprons for $12 from e-bay (a few vendors have them; I found one with free shipping). Aprons are available for use at the party, but I thought this made a cute loot-bag replacement.

The kids began by making fruit kebabs with cut-up strawberries, apples, grapes, kiwi and melon. (Don't you love the chef's hats, which the kids get to keep and decorate?) 

Next, they prepared pizza toppings with their own little chopper. Pizzas were then put in the oven to cook. (You'll want to do this party around a mealtime.) Kids were encouraged to try toppings they might not usually eat, but there was no pressure.

While the pizzas were cooking, each child received their own round cake to ice and decorate. Even the candy toppings were included, as well as an official bakery box to transport the creation home. This was the "party favour" (replacing the idea of a loot bag...although I couldn't resist picking up those aprons too).

Next up? Enjoying the meal they had prepared themselves. This is Maggie's plate...with some yogurt and a dollop of whipped cream on the side for fruit-dipping!

Even the birthday cake was provided, made to Maggie's specifications. She chose a pull-apart cupcake cake with chocolate icing and pink and purple flowers!

(If you're wondering about this photo, my husband was egging my sister-in-law and me on in a who-has the better-macro-feature competition. It works for this purpose, as I don't want to show the whole cake with Maggie's real name on it!)

After the cake, time was provided for gift-opening (with the bonus being that you can leave all of the garbage behind!) and Cat was terrific about arranging a photo op and making the birthday girl feel very special.

From start to finish the party was two hours, but it is a jam-packed time period, so encourage your guests to be punctual!

As for the price...no prices are given on the website, which may mean that they vary by region, but we paid just over $200 for the minimum of 12 guests (extra for each additional guest).

It was well worth it, considering that our alternative would have been to throw the party at home as usual, providing a meal, an activity/craft of some sort, decorations and loot bags. (Not to mention the time it takes to plan and shop for all of that.) Plus, not having to clean my house before and after? Priceless.

I would highly, highly recommend this to anyone looking for that sort of venue party idea. While I likely wouldn't repeat it again with the same crowd, I could definitely see doing it for one of Frannie's future birthdays with her girlfriends from school.

Please let me know if you have any questions, or check out the PC Cooking School website for more information.

Disclosure: As hard as I tried, there were no deals for bloggers on this one! I'm promoting the party simply because I enjoyed it!