Relaxing Father’s Day Party Ideas

Time to Plan Your Relaxing Father’s Day Party

With Father’s Day slowly approaching (it’s June 17^th), it’s definitely time to start planning a fun party.  To show the special Dad in your life just how much he means to you, plan a nice, relaxing Father’s Day party.  Because you have a lot of time to plan (at least, you have a lot of time if you start planning now), you can choose from a wide variety of parties.  Generally, most people plan a fun backyard barbecue for Father’s Day. This year, try pulling out other ideas—look at your dad’s favorite sports.  No matter what sport he follows the most, there are all sorts of party ideas buried.

Relaxing Father’s Day Backyard Barbecue

The standard fun party idea for Father’s Day is a cookout.  While dads are usually the grill men, give him the option this year.  Either let Mom cook, or (if he wants to) give Dad his place at the grill.  The catch this year is that Dad has to wear a chef’s hat and an apron decorated by his loving family.

When you start planning what food will be appearing at your Father’s Day backyard barbecue, think about your dad’s favorite foods.  Pick his favorite main dish, a few of his favorite sides, and make his favorite dessert.  If he wants to be a part of the food preparation (if he maybe has a new seasoning he wants to try or something along those lines) and the cooking, let him.  Don’t refuse to let him be a part of the fun.  It’s his day; he can do whatever he wants!

Father’s Day Sports Party

If your dad wants to just sit and watch sports for awhile on Father’s Day, let him!  Suggest that he invite a few other dads and guys over to join him!  However, after a few hours, try to remind him that he needs to get up and about, maybe go outside and get some fresh air.  The catch is: while he’s been sitting inside watching sports with his friends, you and the kids have been outside, maybe conspiring with the families of the friends he’s watching sports with, and decorate your backyard before beckoning Dad outside.  Watch his face when he walks into a backyard sports party!  Whether his favorite sport is baseball, basketball, football, golf, or racing, he’ll be shocked to see his backyard transformed into a Father’s Day party place!  Even within each of those Father’s Day party themes, there are other choices to be had: use his favorite team as a jumping-off point; pick either car racing or the Kentucky derby; you can even plan activities for the party!  Remember, though, it’s your job to make sure it’s a relaxing day for the dad in your life as well as a chance for you and your family to show him how much you love him.  Happy Father’s Day party planning!

Big Heads, Big Sports Trend, Big Fun

The biggest trend in college basketball student sections is really B-I-G.  Three feet tall, big head cutouts, numbering 150 strong at some schools are waved as an attempt to distract visiting players when shooting free throws.  Whether they are effective is debatable, but it’s clear their popularity has taken off.

“The big heads are very popular during the NCAA tourney. Those watching the games from parties at home or in bars wave personalized big head cutouts of their guests to produce a few laughs, while cheering on their favorite teams,” remarks Jacquie Downey, Director of Sales and Marketing at Shindigz, a leading national party supply company.

Making a BIG Impression

High schools are enjoying the action, too. Administrators and parents create big head cutouts to recognize players and coaches during games. “It was the highlight of the night and the talk of the town,” says one mother who used them during her sons’ final high school football game.

Cheering families of marathon runners find the big head cutout’s huge three feet size make a huge impact when their runner turns the corner and sees themselves larger than life.

“They’re not just for sporting events anymore. We get many orders for milestone birthdays.  Big head cutouts showing the guest of honor as a child and an adult really makes a big impression,” adds Downey.

About Shindigz

Since 1926, Shindigz has been a part of over 22 million events and delighted customers with creative party ideas, supplies, and decorations.

Senior Basketball Night

We just celebrated Senior Night with the Canterbury basketball team this past Tuesday.  My son Chase is only a junior, but time seems to be flying by – next year it will be his big night!  Each year we honor our seniors prior to the start of the last home game.  The players and their families are individually announced and acknowledged as they walk through a giant balloon arch.  This year we had four senior players and one senior manager.  We created personalized standees and banners of each senior.   We ended up winning 58 to 49, not a huge margin, but a win’s a win – on to tournament play next week.  Canterbury teams love it when there is a “Moyle” on the team – more stuff. Good luck, Cavs!

1. The balloon arch was created with blue and white latex 11” balloons, a roll of white curling ribbon, six balloon weights, a helium tank (provided and stored at the school) and three sets of hands.  The entire arch took about 30 minutes to complete.  Once the assembly line was established, we were flying.  We tied one end of the curling ribbon to the balloon weight and kept the remainder of the ribbon on the roll.  We couldn’t decide how big we wanted the arch.  One parent inflated the balloons, I tied the knot in the balloon (years of practice) and the third parent created an open knot/loop in the curling ribbon.  We pulled the knotted end of the balloon through the loop, pulled it tight and moved on to the next balloon.  We alternated blue and white, but any pattern could easily be established.  Because we were moving so quickly, we made a huge arch and had to add extra weights to each end.
2. The standees were made by Shindigz with straight on, high resolution photos that we simply uploaded to Shindigz.com when ordering.  Fast and easy.
3. The banners took a bit longer to prepare since we needed to collect a number of images per player to make a collage.  The printing was the fast part by Shindigz.
4. We also offered “after the game” cookies for players and parents, flowers for the moms, a senior gift and a certificate of accomplishment.

Shindigz can help make your Senior Basketball Night a success, too! Join us on Facebook for a chance to win great party give aways every weekday!

Throw a Basketball Party for James Naismith

Basketball Party Supplies

Since I grew up in Indiana, today is a special day of celebration—it is James Naismith’s birthday! Woo hoo!

James was born in 1861 and is the inventor of the game of basketball. Let’s all celebrate with a little basketball party by shooting a free throw in his honor—one for each year coaches?—and eating a little basketball birthday cake while singing a little happy birthday tune. The whole peach basket idea was pretty lame, but we finally got it right. And, we all know the Duke Blue Devils have perfected the game. Go Devils!

 Happy Birthday to Sally Field, too. You rock, girlfriend.

Shep Moyle

ShindigZ, Mad Ants Basketball Want to Party

Join the Fort Wayne Mad Ants Kids Club

The Fort Wayne Mad Ants and ShindigZ will have free birthday parties for kids this season.

Thanks to ShindigZ, all participants will receive FREE tickets to a Mad Ants basketball home game, name recognition on the giant video board, participation in a high five tunnel, and a spot on the court for the ShindigZ Fourth Quarter Dance Party. They will also get to meet a Mad Ants player and have their picture taken with The Mad Ant and the Madame Ants dancers.

“ShindigZ’s mission is to ‘bring people together to make life more fun,’ and our new ShindigZ Birthday Spectacular is the perfect combination of great fun at a basketball game along with a very special and unique birthday celebration,” said ShindigZ President and CEO, Shep Moyle. “We look forward to being a part of many special celebrations and helping to create memories for kids throughout northeast Indiana with the Mad Ants.”

“We could not think of a better partner than ShindigZ to bring fun to the families of Fort Wayne. The Shindigz Birthday Spectacular allows the Mad Ants to not only make their family friendly product available to more kids in the area, but it also allows the team to provide an unforgettable birthday experience that the birthday boy or girl will not soon forget. We are incredibly thankful to ShindigZ for making this generous offer possible,” remarked Mad Ants President and General Manager Jeff Potter.

To add even more excitement to birthday parties, the team will offer additional options in their premium birthday packages, which include locker room tours, a special gift from the team, a pre-game clinic, and a chance to be the team’s honorary captain for the night (based upon availability).

Fans can call the Mad Ants office at 260-469-4667 to schedule a party.

State Basketball Tournament Banners

Proud Parent Funtoo

The excitement is mounting for the upcoming basketball girl’s Semi-state game Saturday, March 1st. High School basketball in Indiana is more than a sport – it is a major event. After two wins in the Regionals this past weekend, the girl’s advanced to the Semi-State competition. (My oldest, Madison, plays on her High School Varsity basketball team. Last year, they won the state championship in Division 1A.) There are now only four teams left in the State – Division 1A girl’s high school basketball. So, back to the drawing board to create another basketball banner!

The coach’s saying is “just do what we do” so I am using that as the main line on the banner. The coach is awesome at keeping the girl’s focused on one game at a time.

I’m pulling a few spirit items together for the big game. My check list follows:
1. Blue, green and white basketball beads,
2. Sports cowbells,
3. Feather necklaces in blue and white,
4. Clacker necklaces, and
5. Parent funtoos.

Looking forward to the game on Saturday.

State Basketball Banner