It’s Always Birthday Season!
Play Ball! If you have a son or a daughter who is really into sports, then this post is for you! My oldest son adores all sports, so naturally we decided to have a sports themed party for his 7th Birthday, right here in our home. I enjoy having parties here at our house, and creating some fun memories. When I was growing up, we always had our birthday parties at home, so I like to try and keep that tradition going for my kids as well. Hosting a kids birthday party definitely takes a lot more prep work and planning, but this particular theme is certainly something you can tackle and achieve. Give yourself a month lead time, then you won’t feel stressed and will have plenty of time to prepare at your own pace. Make the party last an hour and a half. It’s the perfect amount of time for kids (and you) to get in all the good stuff. If you are worried about space in your house, don’t worry, you’re not alone. If the weather is warm and cooperating, it’s awesome to have a kids party in the backyard. But if it’s a colder month, think about extending the party into your garage – which is what we did! Don’t have a garage? That’s ok too. Get creative and think out of the box a bit. Move a few things around, clear a little path in your living room. Archways are a great place to hang pinatas. Long hallways are great for a tossing game. Maybe make your guest list a bit smaller to just 5 really close, good friends.
Prepping Your Party
Remember, Amazon is your friend. And Amazon Prime is your BEST friend! Think about having 2-3 little games the kids can play during the party. I had little trinket prizes ready for all the kids after each game they played – and everyone’s a winner. You can purchase cool tattoos, little keychains etc. to use as your prizes (Amazon, baby!)
Games and Activities:
- Pitching Games – Stack some empty soda cans and use a nerf ball for a pitching game. Try to knock them all down, aim right at the sweet spot. SO easy to create.
- Football Ring Toss – This is so easy to create as well, and your kids can help out with this one, too! I went to the Dollar Store and purchased a bunch of these pool noodles. I used some duct tape to bend them into rings and attach them all together. I hung this from the ceiling and the kids used a nerf football to try and get the ball through certain rings for higher points.
- Basketball Shots – We had an old Little Tykes basketball hoop that we resurrected and had the kids stand as far back as they could to try and make a basket. If you don’t have one, maybe ask a neighbor or friend with little ones, or try the smaller hoops you can hang from the back of a door. Remember – the kids are with friends, at a party, and getting prizes. So any version of basketball you do will be fun for them!
- Pinatas – They are always a crowd pleaser. Amazon, Target, party stores – they all have cool selections for a sports party. You can actually easily make a round pinata yourself and paint it the colors of a sports ball (a post for another time!)
- Autograph a Baseball – Get a brand new “Birthday Ball” and leave some sharpies next to it for your kid’s friends to autograph. It’s a great little keepsake to have from the party as well.
- Watch a Greatest Sports Highlights of All Time Video – YouTube has some awesome 10-15 minute long “Best Sports Moments In History” videos, set to really fun and inspiring music; with very encouraging, good sportsmanship themes throughout. The kid’s reactions when they make that shot or hit that grand slam to win the game is priceless! Hand out some popcorn or soft pretzels and waters as a snack while they watch. Then you can have some time to prep the cake.
This is the video we used: Greatest Sports Moments In History
- Create a Sports Playlist – A party isn’t complete without the appropriate jams! As your party is happening, have some fun, well known, game music playing in the background. Here’s some classics we used:
Dream On, Aerosmith
We Will Rock You, Queen
Thunderstruck, AC/DC
Whoomp! (There it is), Tag Team
Gonna Fly Now (Theme From Rocky), Bill Conti
Walk This Way, Run DMC
All I Do Is Win, DJ Khaled
Decor
Table cloths, paper goods, wall hangings – Amazon, baby! Honestly everything you see here I purchased at a very reasonable price from Amazon (with the exception of the baseball hat party favors, getting to that soon below!)
Cake – You have options here. You can go all out and get a one of a kind, creative sports themed cake from a specialty bakery – they sure look amazing and taste delicious. Or you can just as easily go to your grocery store bakery as well. They have a ton of themes you can choose from, and my kids (and me, too) just happen to think they are really yummy, so thats’ the route we went.
Party Favors
- Treat bags – Wait for it…Amazon, baby! In full sports themed fashion, we had some Big Chew bubble gum, sweatbands, and little mini team pennants.
- Baseball Hats – Put the fun back in functional! This is something really easy you can do by yourself at home, it’s inexpensive AND useful. Everyone can use a hat, right?
I ordered the hats and the number patches online, and the best deals are here:
You can pick any color you’d like for the hats, and the number iron-on patches come in a variety of choices as well. So go ahead and pick something you like. Once you have your hats and patches, you just need to iron the patch right on the hat.
I created a cute little party favor label at home that I attached to my hats, and handed them out to each friend as they left. I am including a template for these party favor labels here for you to print out at home, and use for your own party favors:
Game Over
After the party starts winding down, I usually suggest the kids do some free play around the house. Often times they start feeling the need to just do their own thing by that point, and that’s totally cool!
I’m grateful I have three awesome little dudes, and we can create some fun birthday memories each year.