Army Birthday Party

Feb

2010

I can’t believe my oldest kid turned 7 last month! Where does time go?

This year he decided he wanted an “Army Party” (which I interpreted as his way of wearing his army costume from Halloween one more time- whatever!)

So we started the preparations by sending out this invitation:

I actually made 2 and liked this one better…

I think its easier to read, but Ethan chose the first one because he liked the fighter jet better. Oh well! His party, not mine!

I must preface this by saying I love throwing parties, so I always let my kids have birthday parties, but we never do anything huge- its always like a step above a regular play date, nothing too fancy. Kids don’t need it.

Preparations:

Other than the planning of the actual activity (see below) I did the following:

I bought camo fabric and cut in into strips for each boy to tie around their head, arm or leg.

I bought “Dog Tags” from party city (12 for $5, I think)

I made goody bags with candy and “stuff” for each of the boys:

I bought the “Secret Treasure” they would be after (see activity below)

Here is E all decked out!

His friends arrived in their army gear and were immediately entered into “Basic Training” after being read the following letter:

Dear Soldiers of the Elite Team:

Our nation’s security is under attack by a rebel group who is armed and very dangerous. Sources tell us that they have just uncovered the location of our President’s secret treasure and they are planning to steal it. Your mission is to get to the treasure before the enemy does and bring it safely back to Fort Dulgarian.

You will first undergo serious training that will prepare you physically and mentally for intense combat situations. This mission is considered very dangerous and may even be deadly. Please follow all directions very carefully and hopefully all of you will make it back alive.

Good luck gentlemen.

Sincerely,

The President’s closest advisors

We went outside and began basic training. I had them doing sit ups, jumping jacks and push ups in the backyard as well as some basic math problems for the mental training. The boys were having a blast!

After basic Training, they were given their first mission:

In the backyard of Fort Dulgarian, each member of the elite team must run 2 laps around the bike path. 1 lap you must run normally, the next lap you must run backwards. Once everyone has completed this task, you will receive notice of task #2.

The missions were no-big-deal, but the fun part was after each mission was complete and they had to see if all their men “made it out alive.” When the mission was done, I drew 1 piece of paper out of a basket with different “outcomes” printed on them. Here were the possible outcomes:

-Your team was attacked by snipers on the rooftop across the street! 1 or 2 of you have been shot in the leg and will have to hop on one foot for the rest of the mission!

-Your team was hit by a roadside bomb leaving one or 2 of you blind. You will need to cover your eyes with your headband for the rest of the mission.

-Your team was ambushed and 1 or 2 of you lost an arm and will need to tuck it inside your shirt sleeve for the rest of the mission.

-Your team was attacked by armed men. 1 or 2 of you were scared so bad, you cannot speak the rest of the mission.

-Your team went through a field of land mines and 1 or 2 of you are now dead. You will follow your team as a ghost for the rest of the mission and cannot participate in any other challenge or task.

-Enemy forces have already completed this mission. They know you guys are on their trail, so they set a bomb to explode right now hoping to kill all of you. Luckily not all of you died, just 1 or 2 of you.

-Watch out! Your enemy just launched a grenade! 1 or 2 of you just lost the use of 1 arm and 1 leg.

After the outcome was chosen, we flipped a coin. Heads meant 1 person was effected, tails meant 2 people were effected. Then we drew 1 or 2 names out of a basket to see who it was that would have to “hop on one foot” or loose the use of their arm etc. One little boy never had his name chosen, but other boys had their names drawn multiple times which made them blind, unable to speak and hoping around! It was hysterical!

For example, mission #1 ended in 2 soldiers being so scared they couldn’t speak. So, I made good use of my packing tape and put it over their mouths for the rest of all the missions!

When they lost an arm, they tucked it inside their shirts. When they lost a leg, they hopped around on one leg. If they lost another leg, their teammates carried them on their backs. When they went blind, their headbands had to cover their eyes. It was funnier than I thought it would be, and the boys went along with it and had a blast!

Look at the 1 armed man leading the blind man to the park!

Here are some more of the missions we did:

2.Each member of the elite team must toss the ball into the basket before retrieving your clue to mission #3
3.Take this mail key to the mailboxes and retrieve the mail for the day. You must correctly guess the right mailbox, or you will not move on to task #4.
4.Return back to Fort Dulgarian and line up on the driveway in a perfectly straight line with the tallest one in the front and the shortest one in the back.
5.You must choose 4 men to each take a turn on this bike. Each rider must go all the way down to the stop sign and back.
6.Using sidewalk chalk, each of you must draw a picture of an army tank or airplane.

7. Each member of your team must successfully cross the monkey bars at the park.
(This was probably my favorite! So funny seeing the “blind” guy with “one arm” try to get across!- We helped them of course!)

On the way home from the park, they had this mission:

8. Each of you must choose a partner. One person must carry their partner on their backs all the way back to Fort Dulgarian

This was the best! Boy #1 was blind, but had the use of both legs, so boy #2 who couldn’t walk was telling the blind where to go- almost walking into walls and into people’s yard! Me and my husband were almost dying of laughter!

When we were all home, they got the last 2 missions:

9. You and your partner must sing the following songs together:
- The Itsy Bitsy Spider
- Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
- Jingle Bells
- Popcorn Popping

10. The President’s treasure is in the place where the birthday boy sleeps at night. Hopefully enemy forces have not made it there first! When you find the treasure, please return back to the Family room for cake and ice cream! Good job gentlemen!

So they found the bag of “gold” on E’s bed and then we opened presents, had cupcakes and ice cream and sent them home! Easy party, not a lot of preparation and a ton of fun!

Comments

Goth Honey says:

February 21, 2010 at 12:42 pm

What a clever idea, and what fabulous memories for your little boy. Awesome.


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Paige says:

February 21, 2010 at 1:35 pm

Sounds like so much fun! Thanks for sharing your idea.


2
LuckyStarErin says:

February 21, 2010 at 2:06 pm

great ideas..I have 6 and 7 year old boys..this would be fun for cub scouts, too.


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michelle@somedaycrafts says:

February 21, 2010 at 2:35 pm

Your kids are so lucky to have a great mom like you! This sounds like the perfect party for boys of that age!


4
Jamee says:

February 21, 2010 at 2:42 pm

looks like they had a blast!!


5
Melissa says:

February 21, 2010 at 3:13 pm

How awesome is that!!!! I Love it!


6
Kelly @ Make It Sparkly Mama says:

February 21, 2010 at 4:39 pm

Sound like you did it just right! Focused on the kids and the fun! What a cool party!


7
Tonia says:

February 21, 2010 at 4:57 pm

What a cute idea! I will have to store this one for when my little boy gets a little older!


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Laney says:

February 21, 2010 at 5:33 pm

What an awesome idea! This sounds like it was a lot better than having the kids play for a couple hours. LOL


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Scrappy Gifts says:

February 21, 2010 at 6:03 pm

super fun!


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(un)Deniably Domestic says:

February 21, 2010 at 7:44 pm

What an absolutely fabulous idea! I am so used to tea parties and princess parties with 7 girls, one boy and three grand-daughters. Our poor son never stood a chance. Ha! You a are super mom! ~Kelly

unDeniably Domestic


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The Harris Family says:

February 21, 2010 at 8:14 pm

what a fun idea!


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Amy says:

February 21, 2010 at 9:19 pm

That sounds hilarious! I've saved this for future reference – my little brother would love to do something like this


13
Shelly says:

February 21, 2010 at 11:46 pm

I was laughing just reading it! Wil have to book Mark this one!


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Denise Marie says:

February 22, 2010 at 12:47 am

very cute!!


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Becca @ Blue Cricket Design says:

February 22, 2010 at 5:22 am

Such a fun party! Can I borrow E and throw a party that doesn't include princesses?


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Mama Mote says:

February 22, 2010 at 5:53 am

WOW!!! What a fun party and what memories you will all have. Wish I would have been more creative when my girls were growing up. Good job.


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Joyce says:

February 22, 2010 at 3:55 pm

Creative party and looks like the kids were having fun. Will pass this idea to my son for his little boy as he is Army.
Joyce


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C.R.A.F.T. says:

February 22, 2010 at 8:01 pm

I LOVE blogs I;m new to this, but there are so many neat ideas out there…I'm happy we all get to share ideas!


19
Kelley says:

February 22, 2010 at 8:23 pm

Great idea… my son turns seven today! I am going to file this for a future party. Great idea!


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Caroline says:

February 22, 2010 at 9:28 pm

What a fabulous birthday party. I'm sure he loved it! Wonderful and creative job!


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too Blessed to Stress says:

February 23, 2010 at 12:14 am

I so want a party like that for me what a fun idea – thanks for sharing!
~ Emily N. from "too Blessed to Stress"


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Allison Shops says:

February 23, 2010 at 1:38 am

Great party! Looks like everyone had fun.

I hope you'll drop by AtticMag to tour my home.
Allison


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Katherine @ Grass Stains says:

February 23, 2010 at 4:26 am

Such a great idea! I have three boys (7, 5 and 2), so you can imagine how much Army Man playing we do around here! I will bookmark this for a return trip one day.


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Treasia Stepp says:

February 24, 2010 at 8:02 pm

What a fantastic idea for a birthday party it is! I love this. I might just steal this and use it for my step son's birthday this year.

I can just picture the blind boy with only one arm doing his activities. How funny.


25
The Persimmon Perch says:

February 25, 2010 at 9:08 pm

So creative and fun! Thanks for sharing with Made it Monday! Jules


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Andy Porter says:

February 26, 2010 at 6:17 pm

That's a really good idea. Make them sweat a little! Lol.


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John Hanson says:

February 27, 2010 at 8:11 am

I don't know what those guys on the other chat room were talking about. I loved this idea! I have a 7 year old boy who would love this party. I wanted to throw one for his next birthday when I read about the idea. Life is not always pretty, but sometimes you just got to lighten up a bit. There's a time to be serious and a time to not be. A 7 year old boy's birthday party is a time to have fun. Throw serious out the window! These boys had fun!


28
Lori says:

February 27, 2010 at 9:40 pm

How fun!!! What a great idea…

Thanks for joining Get your Craft on Thurs. Please join me next week for another great party.

Lori


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Shelly says:

February 28, 2010 at 3:10 am

Hi- When I first read this I thought what a great idea and I think it still is. The other board had valid points about the kids pretending to be hurt. But I have two boys and that is the way they live it. My oldest and I throw superheros at each other in a fight! I heard someone say once that you can try to keep guns away from them but they still have their fingers. We just teach ours that guns and killing on TV is not real and we don't mess with "Real" guns. Which we do not have in our house. My oldest went to a Spiderman party where a "spiderman" taught them how to fight like a super hero. I got a little nervous when he taught them a Karate Chop. But, so far he hasn't tried it on his brother. They had a blast and I am sure he would like this and he is 5


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Tiff @ Making The World Cuter says:

February 28, 2010 at 8:04 am

I wish I could shield my boys from playing like this, but it just seems to come naturally. So I know they would have had an absolute ball at the party, thanks for sharing this!
-Tiff


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angee says:

August 8, 2011 at 12:01 pm

FUN ideas!!! I’m using some of these as inspiration for my own son’s 7th army birthday party. Thanx!


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Mom of a 6 year old boy says:

August 29, 2011 at 9:43 am

Love these ideas. My 6 year old boy wants to have an army birthday party. This is a fun way to start. We are going to get army hats at a 1$ store for all the kids. I thought that would be cute!


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