Campout Party Pt 2

Pt. 2 of the Camping Party

I had several games planned for the party. We created a scavenger hunt with items like snakes, birds nest ( that I made), bugs, spiders, etc....all things boys love! We hid them all over the yard and then gave each child a list and a burlap bag to "hunt" with.

A few pics of the kids searching for the items on the list.

We also broke into three groups and did activities like sack races, a money dig in sand and fishing. We attached washers to plastic fish and put a magnet on the end of the fishing line and the kids had to catch one of each color fish before they got their prize.

Before the kids went home they got to take their camp bag and fill it with goodies.

I had bug nets and bug suckers, water guns, bug activity books, bug catchers and viewers, bubble guns and balls.

I also had bug and frog puzzles, legos, and water bottles. I used old ammunition boxes, baskets, and rolled burlap bags to hold the goodies.

I used this twig bag to hold more of the take home favors.

Here was the invitation I used. A tent to set the theme!

Cowboy Birthday Party

Yee Haa! It's a Cowboy Party!



When my middle child turn 1 we decided to have a cowboy party. One fun activity we planned was to rent shetland ponies to give the kids a ride around the yard. This was such a big hit!

I ordered each of my boys custom western theme outfits online. Each guest received a blue or red cowboy hat upon arrival.

Have fun with the cake and food and tie it into the theme too! The cake below is perfect for that. Depending on your menu label each food item with a cute cowboy name. We had barbecue and had "Rustler Ribs", "Buffalo Beans", and I ordered a branding iron online to brand the steaks and potatoes.

As you know, I love stand-ups. This barn makes a great photo opt and is available at shindigz.com for $50.

I bought a bolt of denim from a fabric store and used it to cover all my tables and embellished the edges with bandannas. I then used vintage cowboy boots filled with sunflowers as the center pieces. I opted to use hay bales as chairs.

We had a wide age range at our party so I tried to come up with games to keep all kids busy. Besides the horse rides, we set up several sets of horse shoe tosses. We had a calf rope with a bales of hay. We also had a panning for gold activity. We brought in a large amount of sand and filled it with rocks that I had spray painted gold. We then had lots of sifters and even buckets of water for the kids to clean them off with.

*One idea that I didn't use but will in the future is to turn your tables in to cover wagons. By taken two flexible plastic rods. Bend each into a U and attach one at each end of the table. Then take a piece of painters cloth or burlap and cover . If you want to get really creative, set up wagon wheels at the ends to complete the look.