• Organize a bug hunt. Hide lots of plastic bugs, ants, ladybugs, etc, in your yard or party area. Give the kids “bug jars or bags” and tell the kids to find as many as they can in a certain amount of time. The prize is keeping the bugs they find!
• Play Buzz, Buzz, Sting! (just like Duck, Duck, Goose)
• Play “Wrap the Caterpillar” ~ organize two teams, give each a roll of toilet paper, then designate one person on each team to be the caterpillar. See who can wrap the “Caterpillar” in the cocoon the fastest!
• Using sleeping bags or gunny sacks, have a caterpillar race between two teams
• Pin the spider on the web
• Fly swatter relay
• “Web walk” (themed musical chairs)

Be sure to check out our birthday invitation designs that can be customized just for your party, including our Bug Birthday Invitation Design!

1. $2.00 gift certificate to an ice cream shop with a safety lollipop attached.
2. A simple reading book.
3. Pail and shovel for some summer fun!
4. McArch cards from McDonalds.
5. Coloring book and crayons/washable markers.
6. Bubbles and a wand.
7. Playdoh and a cookie cutter.
8. Kites.
9. Bath squirters (usually found in many different themes, so you can have them match your party theme with ducks or Dora, etc).
10. Fruit snacks (also can be themed).
11. Sidewalk chalk.
12. A small stuffed animal/character.
13. Stickers!

Also be sure to check out our custom Photo Birthday Invitations for your party.

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First of all, call each child “Sir______”, Lord, Lady, Knight, or Princess all day long.

Give the girls princess wands and the boys plastic “prince” swords. They can wear tiaras and crowns - even make their own if you want as a fun activity. They can also make family crests if the children are a bit older. You can tell them how the boys would have used theirs in battle as a shield…. and the girls would have used them to mark their houses.

Boys do not mind pink as long as they are included in the games and prizes and cake. It can also be toned down with more jewel tones or silver and gold (light blue pairs well with pink also so you can mix up the plates, etc.). Also see our decoration ideas for princess parties for more ideas!

Serve medieval fare - giant chicken legs and rolls you eat without forks - always a big hit with boys of all ages :).

They can also decorate their own goblet, then fill it with candy from an assortment as their party favor.

Be sure to check out our royal birthday invitations for both princesses and princes as well!

Instead of party hats, buy some pink poster board paper and fake fur material. Cut strips and ears and glue them together. Then, on the bottom of the ears, glue a circle of the fur material to create a poodle look. You could even make fur wrist bands, like poodles have (thin strips with velcro to keep them on).

Cupcakes with pink icing are easy to make into poodles with gel icing for details. Fruit roll ups can be cut to make the ears and pink cotton candy can be the fur. Bake and fill cake pans can be filled with strawberry ice cream to look like a poodle head also.

A perfect match for your party is this custom Pink Poodle Birthday Party Invitation as well.

The party favor bags could include a small bag of Circus Peanuts, animal crackers, foam clown nose, plastic toy tigers and elephants, deflated balloons (for older children only), and circus theme stickers.

A cute idea for the party would be to have the guests have tickets for each of the games they would play. Be sure to have tons of balloons!!!

You can usually find, for a fairly inexpensive price, those popcorn containers that look like movie popcorn bags and put goodies in those.

If you want to do the face painting yourself - you can buy foam shapes at Michael’s crafts and dip them in face paint. Then tattoo the image on the child’s face - you’ll get a crisp outline of the shape which you’ll be able to fill in with small brushes and face paint.

Don’t forget to order our themed Circus Clown Photo Birthday Invitation for your party as well!

1. Sounds like BBQ time to me - you can go as simple as hot dogs and burgers or make a more elaborate menu of marinated chicken, ribs, etc. depending upon your budget. You can save even more by shopping in bulk.
2. Build your own hot dog bar! Kids like plain dogs, melted cheese, onions, grilled peppers, etc. Have chili for the adults & some burgers (also veggie).
3. Grilled Hawaiian chicken. Pre-cook the chicken breasts, then throw them on the grill in pre-made foil packs of teriyaki, pineapple and chicken.
4. A bag of chicken strips can make some kid-happy chicken fingers as well!
5. Jello jigglers in matching party colors - cut them out with themed cookie cutters for a festive touch.
6. Watermelon slices (for outside parties only, make sure to get the seedless variety for younger children).

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• Small bottles of bubbles
• Plastic clappers (when you shake them, they clap their hands, available at party stores).
• Fun sippy or straw cups (shaped or designed to match your theme if possible) - they are usually inexpensive & quite useful!
• Wood magnets to match the theme (one mother used ducky shaped ones, painted them yellow and then wrote her daughter’s name on them)
• Themed stickers, of course.
• Single serving boxes of Cheerios.
• Personalized sugar cookie pops - bake your sugar cookies with a popsicle stick, frost it, then write a name on it with these edible markers. Wrap it in some cellophane. If you don’t have all the names, you could just put a design on it like a flower or sprinkles.
• Whatever you decide to use, be sure to give the favors to the parents so that they can make the final decision on what to give to their child!

1. Garden salad
2. Order pizza and have it delivered pool-side. Have it delivered for the time you would like everyone to eat. It will be a hit and easy for you.
3. Peanut butter & jelly sandwiches (if there is no allergy concerns, of course).
4. Fruit kabobs
5. Goldfish crackers
6. Chips
7. Trail mix of some kind
8. Dried fruit (raisins, bananas, apple chips, pineapple, mango, etc) - SuperTarget has many varieties.
9. Animal crackers
10. Ritz bits sandwiches with cheese or peanut butter filling.
11. Cold pasta salad (kept properly chilled, of course).
12. Fruit salad (also chilled).
13. Veggie tray (be sure to keep any dips chilled, of course).