Boys Birthday Parties and Movie Themes

Boys love movie nights and those deliciously fun parties that Mom or Dad create.  Jump into an adventure and plan your guy’s next b-day bonanza.  We’ve compiled a list of top, boys birthday party ideas for 2012.

Angry Birds Birthday Party for Boys

Invite the red, blue, and white birds to collide with the pigs at your son’s Angry Birds, boys birthday party.

Just about every retail store sells these cross plush toys .  Use them as decorations and as part of a dodge ball game.  Go nuts placing solid color Kit-N-Kaboodles and streamers in red, yellow, and green on your party’s tables.  Buy extra solid color dinner plates to create bird and pig faces with craft pom poms,  googly eyes, and crafting feathers. At another craft station, leave birthday party dough in red, yellow, blue, and green to entertain your creative clutch.  Take a picture of your angry bird with his bird friends and create a personalized banner as a forever keepsake.

Hero Boys Birthday Party

He’s all action and he loves to save the day.  Give your guy and his buds their own hero status.  Ask them to come to the party dressed as their favorite career hero.  Honor those fire fighters, police men, soldiers, and astronauts.  Watch an episode of the 1970′s Emergency movie or series.  All six seasons are now on dvd and are still a find for elementary-aged, boys sleepover parties.

Bake a cake with your son the night before his party and enjoy decorating it with fire truck cake decorations.  This fire truck craft kit could be just what Mom needs to keep the party’s early birds busy as the budding heroes arrive.  Hang a police car piñata over your dance floor.  Start and stop the music or red police light when playing the “freeze” game.  Only the boy who freezes the fastest remains on the floor.  He wins first dibs at whacking the piñata.  Dress the tables with an American hero party pack and write thank you notes to actual soldiers, policemen, fire fighters, and others.  Place military shape bands in the soldiers’ letters and your guests’ favor bags.  Take pictures of the boys by a doctor photo stand in or a personalized jet standee, a personalized spaceship standee, a personalized space shuttle standee, and/or a personalized fire truck standee.

Spy Boys Birthday Parties

Drive your older boys to see Mission Impossible (rated PG-13) and get ready for fast action.

Afterward, direct the gang to a party room with pizza, snack, and cake tables slickly decorated with spy party supplies, black paper tablecovers, and silver plastic tableware .  Include baskets of fortune cookies or Tootsie Rolls.  Pull out Clue or another solve the mystery game.  Hang spy murals or spy personalized banners with special agent birthday messages.

If your agents are too young for Mission Impossible, a Phineas and Ferb pack will delight Disney fans ready for adventure.  Hold your very own secret agent Phineas and Ferb Wii tournament!

Boys Car Birthday Party

Push it into overdrive. Younger boys are sure to love Hot Wheels or Cars 2.  Bring out the red color scheme!

Set the scene with a Disney Cars 2 party pack, car spirit items, and a field trip to a car dealership, race track, and/ or repair shop.  Your party area comes to life with race car standees for the boys to drive in one of your homemade racing games.  Fill goodie bags and stock car pinata with boys party favors.

Throw a set of real keys to your older boys- or… maybe just the key tags.  Create personalized key tags.

Barrel of Monkeys Boys Birthday Party

Your little monkies are ideal for the monkey party pack! Usher the tail swingers to your favorite playground or bouncy house to burn off that excess monkey cake energy.    Decorate any party space with the monkey arch & tree and monkey piñata.  Then, play pin the tail on the monkey.  For a quiet break, slip in a Curious George dvd or take the boys to see Chimpanzee.

For your teen age primates, pop in King Kong or Planet of the Apes.  After ringing neighborhood door bells for a treasure hunt of monkey items- bananas, combs, yellow hat, etc send the boys home with monkey favor packs.

Wimpy Kid Boys Party

Greg and Rodrick rule and so does this boy favorite series.  As guests arrive, place the name of one of the Wimpy Kid characters on each boy’s back. Encourage them to mingle by asking each other about their characters.  The scene is set for a cartoon party in black and white.  Hang black and white balloons with red streamers.  Let the boys create a Wimpy kid cartoon storyboard and homemade movie together.  Keep your computer screens on these Wimpy kid games and serve plenty of chocolate ice cream.  Watch the Diary of a Wimpy Kid or Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2.

Fill miniature back packs with plenty of school-themed party favors.

Underwater Boys Birthday Party

Based on a true story, Big Miracle is the ideal boy’s birthday party theme for arctic buffs, swimmers, divers, and all around water and ice lovers.

These dazzling under the sea invitations welcome your boy’s deep sea adventurers to a magical birthday party.  “Believe in the power of one” or “We accomplish together” could be the messages on your ocean murals.  Turn your basement into an under the sea party that truly takes the boys to new depths of fun.  Ocean creatures, including whales, swim in the air as helium-filled, sea balloons. Place your whale-shaped cake in the middle of Bermuda blue tableware.  Say goodbye with mini fish bowls filled with ocean favors.

War Horse Boys Birthday Party

The soldiers of World War I fought for country with a cavalry of horses.  War Horse chronicles the devotion of a boy for his steed:

Invite your son’s best buds to see War Horse (rated PG 13) and then come home to a western party or head to a rescue horse stable for a tour.  Colorize your snack bar with green plastic tableware and serve soup in an old army pot.  For the taste of France, add grapes, cheese, and crackers.  You might even add a misty woods photo backdrop here and there. Place dollar party favors in a handkerchief to give to the boys at the party’s end with a galloping brown horse balloon.

What are your favorite boys birthday party ideas and movie themes?

Pilgrims- Decorate a Mayflower Thanksgiving Party

Plan your next Thanksgiving party for children or adults with a sailing theme twist. Remember the Pilgrim’s first autumn aboard the Mayflower in 1620 with this combined sea and autumn genre that will make a lasting impression on your guests. Themed room decorating, crafts, snacks, and costumes are some of the ways to bring this variation of Thanksgiving celebrating to life.

Design a Thanksgiving Party Ship

Recreate the Mayflower’s atmosphere by using party backdrops of old time sailing ships looking out across the deck toward the sea. Your ship can be surrounded by an ocean blue room roll of waves. Use posts connected by rope to outline the ship’s sides and then cover both inside and outside with patterned corrugated paper simulating wooden planks.

Place tables “inside” the ship and use nautical standees like an antique captain’s wheel to go back in time. Or go all inside by using plank paper and columns covered with black or gold tulle and string lights to imitate the inside of the ship. Place a few portholes around the room for a glimpse out to sea.

Think about using the typical orange, brown and golds of autumn mixed with blues and creams from the sea to create interesting combinations of fall decorations. Pumpkins, gourds and sprays of fall leaves amidst shells and sea decorations can make excellent themed accents for both the floor area and/or table tops. Soft or brightly colored lights can brighten up a corner or place emphasis on a special area of interest – such as the food line.

Thanksgiving Party Craft Ideas

Some party crafts to consider for the young ones are:

• Sugar cookies in the form of miniature sailing ships. Decorate with varied colored icing tubes
• Sand crafts-kits and bottles
• Pilgrim and turkey stick crafts for kids
• Table top decorations. Stand the stick puppets upright in a Styrofoam base. Add wreathes of leaves, straw, or orange ribbon.

Pilgrim Thanksgiving Snacks

Serve up autumn inspired treats like apple walnut cake, pumpkin muffins, caramel apples, popcorn balls, and trail mix mixed with candy corn. Fish crackers can be placed in several smaller bowls around a sea of blue punch made from lemon/lime soda and blue colored Kool Aid. Be sure to bring plenty of candy corn!

Thanksgiving Party Costumes

Fall wearables and costumes add that finished touch. Your guests will have fun looking up period clothing on the Internet. Find a suitable equivalent with something homemade or buy costumes from a thrift store.

By trying something new this season and hosting a Mayflower Thanksgiving, you may be surprised at how much fun it is to think outside the typical setting. Above all, enjoy creating, hosting and celebrating this wonderful season full of autumn’s bounty, family and friends.

Personalized Decorations for Nautcial Parties

Summer is the perfect time to have a nautical theme party! Bring a refreshing sea breeze or the romance of a cruise ship to your event with personalized nautical decorations from ShindigZ. Our custom nautical decorations and personalized favors are just the thing to really make your party set sail!

Our Life Preserver Arch makes a fantastic entrance to a nautical theme party. The arch is made from corrugated cardboard to look like a giant life preserver. It stands 8.5′ high x 10.5′ wide x 1′ deep and is personalized with your wording on the top.

Similarly, the Bon Voyage Arch makes a great photo setting for commemorative photos from your party, as well as a fun entrance decoration. The arch (pictured right) stands 8′ 6″ high x 4′ wide x 1′ deep and is constructed from corrugated cardboard to look like life preservers atop dock pilings with fishnet. The top is personalized with your custom wording.

Our Personalized Ship Standee also makes a fun photo accent. The 7′ high x 3′ 9″ wide cardboard standee features a giant ship and your personalized wording at the bottom.

Welcome guests to your party with a Shells and Sand Personalized Banner. Our banners are printed with your custom wording on heavy-duty 10 millimeter vinyl and are available in seven sizes to fit your decorating needs. The Shells and Sand Personalized Banner features a photo of shells on a sandy background, perfect for nautical or summery events.

For personalized party favors, try our new Create-A-Mint Tins. These mint tins are great for dinner parties or tons of other events. You choose the background, colors and wording, printed on the top of your mint tin which holds ½ oz of mints. They make table decorations too when you place one at each place setting.

Ahoy! Nautical Invitations

After selecting this theme for your party, choose a slogan to use in your invitations, and to use in tying in decorations and personalized favors for your sea-faring Nautical theme. Find the perfect slogan for your party by trying one of the following, or by thinking of one that suits you.

• “Anchors Away…for a boat rockin’ party!
• “Ahoy Maties…It’s time to party!”
• “Ship’s Ahoy Sailmates…We’ll be cruising on the S.S. Party!”
• “Join us for some Nautical Nonsense to celebrate Jon’s 40th birthday!”

Invitations:

Choose one of the following invitations to let your guests know what a seaworthy time they will have at the party:

A Titanic Invitation is perfect for this theme. Invite your guests to come dressed for some “wind-in-your-hair” fun!

Write out your own invitations for a personalized touch. Roll the invitation up, and tie it with a small piece of green (seaweed) curling ribbon or raffia. Add the invite to an empty water bottle (label removed). Add about 4 tablespoons of sand to each bottle, and a few small seashells. One shell necklace can be cut apart, and will provide enough shells for about 10-12 invites.

For your convenience, if you don’t have a design that you would like to use, we have several designs that would be perfect to use in personalized invitations along with your choice of wording.

Create a Seaside Escape with Nautical Decorations

These decorating ideas are great for your nautical themed event or yacht party!

The color scheme that works the best with this theme is definitely blue, red, and white, with touches of yellow. A combination of only two of these colors would work as well, so pick what works best for you. There are complete nautical decorating kits that, if your budget allows, would transport your guests to a nautical paradise.

The Nautical Theme Party Kit includes a dock, a lighthouse, a sailboat, a cruise ship mural and much more!

Greet your guests at the door with a Life Preserver Arch for a fun way to get the party started. This can also be used as a fun cruise style backdrop for some souvenir picture taking! The personalized nautical banners also make great entrance decorations.

Set up a Personalized Ship Standee next to your buffet tables, gift tables, or other key areas for a great touch.

The nautical anchors would be perfect to place on your walls – these are available in gray, red, yellow or blue. Complement these with some of our seagulls and portholes!

To create a fun and unusual illusion of actually being on a cruise ship, place a ship’s rail decoration approximately three feet away from a wall. Add some blue water gossamer on the floor between the rail and the wall and add a few small white and blue balloons to look just like the ocean!

If you wish, you could attach a beautiful mural to the adjacent wall! Our room rolls are great for creating a lush ocean backdrop to your nautical themed party.

Table Decorations:

Start by covering your tables with blue table covers and add blue table skirts. You may use either fine white china for an elegant look, or try red plastic tableware for a truly nautical effect.

• If you wish to have assigned seating, purchase a sand dollar for each guest and use a paint pen to write their names on them. Place one sand dollar on each plate to serve as a placecard.
• Scatter sand and a few shells across you table like confetti.
• If you will be having a head table, or a buffet table, highlight it by placing a set of dockside pilings on either side of the table.
• Highlight it even further by lining the edge of the table with our nautical signal garland.
• Place a plastic life preserver at the center of your table. For the center of the ring, spraypaint some tree branches white and hang fish net and shells from them. Keep the branches upright by using a Styrofoam base to support them.
• If you can find some beautiful pieces of coral, these always look beautiful on your tables. You could add some air plants and sprinkles of sand to complete the look!

Some other decorating items that you may want to use around your party site would include lots of:

• Fish netting
• Glass ball floats
• Air plants
• Palm trees
• Cork
• Lighthouses
• Canvas-backed beach chairs
• Lanterns
• Beacon lights

Set Sail with Nautical Themed Activities

Of course you will want to play some appropriate cruisin’ kind of music – the kind that hopefully will inspire some dancin’ on the upper deck! We suggest playing Caribbean type music, or maybe a little Jimmy Buffet for starters! Don’t forget about the theme song to the infamous Love Boat for a cute and unusual twist!

Here are a couple of games that work great with this theme and help your guests mingle together throughout the entire evening!

Get a list of the different nautical symbols. Spell words with the symbols, and have people figure out what the words are. Give out prizes to the person who gets the most right.

You could also play “To Speak, or Not to Speak.” Give each player a bag or goodie box with 10 small treasures in it (candy, chocolates, little favors). Have bags labeled with players’ names, so they don’t get mixed up. Let players know at the start of the game exactly when the game will be ending–this game can be played throughout an entire party if you so choose. The object of the game is to catch fellow players saying one of the forbidden words or phrases. For example:

NAUTICAL, BOAT, OCEAN, WAVES, BEACH, YACHT

To help players, post the words prominently on a board where they can be seen often. If someone is caught saying one of the words on the list, that person has to give up a treasure from their stash and give it to the person they said the word to. The player with the biggest haul of goodies at the end of the game is the winner. Lots of fun!

This idea is great for the little mates you may have on board, but is appropriate for any age:

Sand Sculpting
Materials:
1 C. play sand
½ C. cornstarch
¾ C. hot water
Nautical theme molds or cookie cutters

Mix ingredients in a pan and let cook while stirring until very thick. Cool the mixture. Form the object using molds or cookie cutters. Let them dry in the sun for approximately 12 hours. These can be painted when dried if desired.