Austin's Superhero Birthday Party

Holy Superhero Party! This was so fun and by far the best birthday party we have thrown to date (not especially hard since my oldest is now only 4)!

I was so glad when we decided on the superhero theme because I had so many ideas it was mind-boggling. But in the end we only used a few of the ideas and the party turned out great.

For the cake, we decided to go with a basic red, white and blue cake design. I covered it in stripes and dots, and then added a bunch of exploding stars. It was definitely a eye-catching centerpiece for our snack table.



Since the party was in the middle of the afternoon, we provided snacks instead of an actual meal. We bought strawberries and blueberries to go with the red, white and blue theme, offered a veggie stray, some different potato chips and a variety of drinks and the table was ready to go. My hubby gets the award for most creative food idea though. He made a bunch of ice cubes and colored them each with food coloring. He let the kids pick their colors and then poured 7-Up in their cups. This way they could watch the the color of their soda change as their ice melted. Super!



To add to the basic decor of our backyard, we blew up tons of red, white and blue balloons and I made a bunch of comic book inspired red and blue multi-point star shapes with words like "BAM", "POW" and "WHAM" written on them that we hung along the back fence.



When each child arrived for the party, they received a brown paper package with their initial on the front. Inside, they found a red cape and a mask which they could decorate at a craft table and create their own superhero identity. (I cut the basic cape shape out of simple red fabric and attached sticky back felt squares for the neck closure. I cut the mask shaps from stiff peiecs of felt I found at the craft store). We stocked the table with sheets of sticky back felt and superhero type stencils, scissors, and sticky back stars. We even had face paint crayons if you wanted to paint on your own mask or make a superhero tattoo.



Once all of the kids had all of their gear on, they played around in the yard for awhile. We had set out a table with tons of bubbles and wands, and the kids loved this. This was an easy and cheap addition to the party and I will definitely use again and again.

We played two party games that afternoon. Most of the kids were 4-years old and were just learning how to play party games so we didn't want to overwhelm them with having to learn a bunch of new game rules and play. So first, we did a simple game of "Hot Potato". Each of the kids got a turn to 'unwrap" one layer, until the last layer revealed a bunch of plastic superman rings that I found a a local party store. We also did a scavenger hunt. Since the kids couldn't read, I drew picture clues for them to find. The first clue was a crayon drawing of our plastic basketball hoop. The kids had to run there to find the picture (the slide) to find out where to go next...and so on. the last clue was a piture of the birthday cake. Once they got there, each child recieved a medal (you know the neckalce kind) and then we sang Happy Birhtday and had cake. This was so fun to watch and was super impressed that the kids could tell what all of my drawing were of :).



The best activity we had planned though was the Hot Lava Pit. We took our little plastic swimming pools and filling with just a few inches of water. We used a little red food coloring to tint the water red. My husband then used cinder blocks and 2x4 to rig up a kind of plank ac cross the pool. Then we set a fog machine under the plank...and voila...a hot lava pit. The kids had the best time doing their best to walk across the hot lava without falling in and then doing their best superhero jump off the end. It was the hit of the party!



Happy Birthday Austin! I can't wait to start planning next year party.