Party Ideas

How To Host Your Own MLB 2K10 Tournament

cammie@momsmaterial.com — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 05:27:39 GMT

My son, “M”, loves to invite his neighborhood friends over to participate in different tournaments. A couple of years ago we hosted several Pokémon tournaments over the summer. The neighborhood kids always enjoy the tournaments and want to know when we are having our next one.

At the beginning of summer, our kids make a list of rewards and Hubby and I make a list of things they can do to earn them. Like most tween girls, “T” (my daughter) wants to have several girls spend the night and watch movies. On the other hand, “M” wants to have friends over for a tournament. Boys… I am learning it is always about doing an activity together, oh, and competition.

“M” has been obsessed lately with two things, Topps Attax and MLB 2K10. I knew, when he mentioned a tournament, that he would choose one of those. If you aren’t familiar with Topps Attax, check out the 2010 Topps Attax Starter Deck (1 Pack). This has kept the neighborhood boys busy on rainy days or when they need a break from the heat.

“M” really wanted to do a MLB 2K10 Tournament but we had to deal with the logistics of several games going on at the same time. The boys in the neighborhood were very interested in participating and several boys loaned us their Xbox! We figured out the best scenario included 3 Xboxes and up to 10 boys.

The choice was made and we began making plans for a MLB 2K10 Tournament. We think this tournament would make a great boys birthday party.

We sent out invitations, making sure the parents understood that this was not a party, but a tournament. The boys would play each other and the winner would receive a signed Hunter Pence baseball. The boys were excited about the tournament and some went into “training mode”.

The day of the tournament, Hubby set up three stations. The first station had an Xbox hooked up to a projector which displayed on the wall (very nice and big). The second station was on our regular TV in the Family Room and the third station had an Xbox hooked up to an old TV and placed on the kitchen table.

We also thought it would be fun to interview the kids as they arrived and while they were eating pizza. “T” (my daughter) was in charge of the arrival interviews. We set up an interview area which included some 2K Sports and MLB 2K10 logos taped to the wall, 2 barstools and our Flip camera. We had several interview questions, including “What’s your strategy going into the tournament?” and “Tell us about your training program.” The kids had no idea we were doing interviews and some of the responses were hilarious. Check out the video at the end of the post.

After the boys ate and were interviewed, Hubby went over the rules and the kids were divided up into teams. Since we had 9 kids total, we had 3 Rounds and 3 kids were able to watch the other games. “T” continued to cover the games and interviewed the players after each round. The kids loved this!

When it was time for the championship game, they all gathered into one room to watch. Of course, “M” made it to the championship game. Before the final game, Hubby made an announcement, “If “M” wins the championship game, we will have a drawing for the Hunter Pence ball.” During the game, we noticed the kids were cheering for “M” and chanting his name. Luckily, the other player didn’t seem too bothered.

“M” did end up winning the championship game and we were able to give all the players another chance to win the “coveted” ball. One lucky player received the signed ball and all the other players received a signed baseball card from players such as Joe Nathan, Hideki Okajima and Lance Berkman. The boys were thrilled since they had no idea they would end up with a “prize” too.

After the boys left, Hubby went to work on the video. The next day the parents received an email with a 10 minute video recapping the night.

For those that are interested, I have a short photo story from the night which is less than a minute. In addition, I included the longer version, which is almost 5 minutes. If you are considering doing a tournament, I would suggest watching the video.

M’s birthday is coming up and we will certainly consider another MLB 2K10 Tournament.

Photo Story from the Tournament

If you are interested in seeing more about the party or

considering hosting your own tournament, watch the video below.

Side note: I am thankful for my Hubby who loves to create “memorable” moments for our kids. Including Our Annual Haunted Halloween Party, M’s Star Wars party when he dressed up as Darth Vader and T’s Girl’s War & Slime Birthday Party!

We would love some feedback on the tournament. Do you have any great ideas we could have incorporated into the event?

Have you ever hosted a tournament like this? If so, tell us about it.

Cammie Moise

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LEGO Birthday Party Pack, Decorations and Ideas

cammie@momsmaterial.com — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 22:32:41 GMT

When I found out my friend Amy, over at LivingLocurto.com, was having a Lego Birthday party for her son, I couldn’t wait to find out what she was planning. If you know Amy, you will understand. She is very creative and has a gift for design. She just knows how to put things together.

I only know how to copy!

My son loves Lego’s and I have never considered throwing a Lego party. I think one reason is the lack of Lego party supplies. Lego doesn’t carry any party supplies, therefore, it isn’t a themed option at any of the party stores.

I really think Lego is missing out on this marketing opportunity. If they had party supplies available, which included party packs and favors, we would have already thrown several Lego themed parties.

Thank goodness, Amy has stepped up! Amy loves theme parties and she goes all out when she plans a party. She is detail oriented and brings the theme into everything, including Lego labels for water bottles. Now she is offering these printables on her website, at LivingLocurto.com.

I recently featured a guest post from Macey Hart titled “Looking for LEGO Birthday Party Ideas?” When you pair up Amy’s party supplies and decorations with Macey’s Lego Party ideas, you are guaranteed to have a successful Lego Birthday Party.

Take a look at some of the invitations, party supplies and printables that Amy put together.

These invitations set the stage for a GREAT Lego Party!

Have fun with the Lego heads on this unique invitation! Use with the cover or print the card alone. Invitation is customizable for you to add your own party details. For use with A-6 envelopes.

Table Decorations

Place some Legos in a clear container, wrap a ribbon around it and top it off with a birthday sign.

Water Bottle Labels

Wrap these labels around water bottles which continue the theme and helps keep track everyone's water.

Cupcake Toppers or Thank You Tags

Easy to cut out the cupcake toppers with a 2 5/16″ paper punch or reduce the size for 2″ punches. Use for cupcakes or goodie bag labels.

Boys who are Lego fanatics will LOVE these fun party printables!

This Lego Printable Party Pack comes with 8 files (6 are customizable):

A custom designed DIY invitation with editable text fields to add your own party details. (For use with A-6 envelopes)
Cupcake Toppers (6 designs to choose from- use one or all of them!)
Customizable Table Decor (2 designs- personalize with your birthday boy’s name)
Customizable Door Hanger (personalize with your birthday boy’s name)
Napkin Holders
Customizable Bookmarks – Add each guest’s name for super fun party favors!!
Customizable Water Bottle Labels (personalize with your birthday boy’s name)
Thank You Card (With editable text fields to type your message.)

Once you purchase, an email will be sent to you with a link to download the files. All files are 8.5″x 11″ and meant to be personalized, printed and trimmed yourself. These files are yours to keep and print as many times as you like. Colors may vary depending on your printer. Don’t have a printer? Just email the files to your local quick print shop like FedEx Kinkos.

You can purchase these over at Amy’s website, LivingLocurto.com.

In addition, Amy has put together a Lego Block Party Favor Box.

These cute Lego box templates make great party favors! Measures 3.5″ x 2.5″ fits on letter sized paper. Fill with Lego candy or actual Legos.

Imagine kids reactions when they see these Lego Cake Pops! They are almost too cute to eat!

Lego Cake Pops
(Original article can be found at Lego Cake Pops at LivingLocurto.com)

Directions

Bake a cake and mash it up with a can of frosting.
Roll a small handful of mashed up cake into a ball, then carefully rolled the ball on wax paper to make the Lego head shape.
The connector on top is a small round marshmallow. I sliced up a large marshmallow and used a Wilton frosting tip to cut out a small circle. You could also use a mini marshmallow cut in half or an M&M.
Arrange on wax paper and stick a lollipop stick in the top.
Once assembled, freeze the cake pops, then dip into yellow candy melts and let cool before drawing faces on them.

A much faster version is to make marshmallow pops!

I made several of these as a tester and they turned out super cute. Slicing off the bottom of a large marshmallow and cutting a circle out of it with a frosting tip for the top worked great.

Thank you for sharing these ideas with us, Amy!

To find out more about Amy, visit her website LivingLocurto.com or follow her on twitter @LivingLocurto.

Living Locurto is published by Amy Locurto, a work-from-home graphic designer and mom of two. Amy owns Atomic Egg and is also co-owner of a photography web site I Heart Faces. Here you can find her free printables, menu plans, recipes, fun party ideas and crafts.

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UPDATE: Amy has posted her son’s LEGO Birthday party at LivingLocurto, check it out for more ideas.

Looking For LEGO Birthday Party Ideas?

cammie@momsmaterial.com — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 18:36:41 GMT

If you are looking for some great ideas for a LEGO® birthday party, you have come to the right place. I found this posting over at BurbMom.net (link below) and had to share it. This party was for her 11 year old son, which gives you great ideas for the older boys and you can change it up for the younger kids.

My 9 year old son loves LEGO® sets and this would be a perfect party for him. I can’t wait and may even decide to mix the LEGO® theme with the Star Wars theme!

How to Throw a LEGO Party by Macey Hart

This past weekend my 11 year old son had a LEGO® birthday party. It was somewhat frustrating to not be able to find LEGO® themed items, so I thought I’d share step-by-step what we did to throw the party. (Disclaimer: I do not pretend to know everything there is to know about LEGO®….because there is too much to know! I just know that when I was little my brother was obsessed with LEGO® and now my boys are.)

First, I started off by Googling LEGO® birthday party. It is a great way to cut to the chase and get tried and true ideas related to your party theme. Then I took the best of the best and added in our own ideas to tailor it to my son’s age and personality.

We started off with the invitation 2 weeks out before the party. Now let me just say that we have a set precedence that it cannot be just a plain store bought invitation. Since it was a LEGO® party and has everything to do with building, why not use LEGO® bricks for the invitation? My son at first shot down the idea until I explain how I thought we could do it.

We have acquired a ton of LEGO® bricks. (I read in the LEGO® facts that they are not called Lego’s or Legos, instead the proper way to refer to LEGO® in the plural sense is LEGO® bricks or LEGO® pieces.) My son built 8 invitations that were each unique. They were 4 inch by 5 inch LEGO® brick walls using approximately 16 bricks (He used varying sizes and colors… 2×2, 2×1, 2×4, and 2×6 bricks.) We wrote the invitation details (what, where, when, etc. ) on one side of it and on the other side we numbered each LEGO® brick from 1-16 with a Sharpie fine point permanent marker. Next we placed the LEGO® brick wall on the copier machine with the number side face down and made a copy of each one, so there would be a building diagram for each invitation. Then we broke apart the LEGO® brick invitation and put it in a fun cellophane party bag and put the building diagram in with it. On the outside of the bag we included a printed label with my son’s photo holding a LEGO® creation along with the guest’s name and these instructions “Build you Lego party invitation using the diagram enclosed. Have fun building! –Brett” Each invitation was hand delivered.

Once the LEGO® invitations were delivered, we tried looking for LEGO® paper supplies, decorations and cakes at all the local stores and found nothing! I could not believe it. As popular as LEGO® sets are?! Even online the only paper products are LegoVille which is very juvenile or Bionicle. When I asked a Walmart for a LEGO® cake, they looked at me like I was crazy and said they had never been asked to make a LEGO® themed cake. I could not believe that they had never been asked to make one and did not have any LEGO® cakes in their books! What dimension are they living in? Am I the crazy one? I thought all kids were into LEGO®…boys …..girls. I know all of my boys’ friends ages 4 to 12 are LEGO® crazy. Why do the people who work at Walmart bakery not know about this?

Dumbfounded with the reaction at the Walmart bakery and their lack of creativity to work with me on creating a first time LEGO® cake, I marched over to Target. There I found a cake book that once again had no LEGO® cake! I began discussing the idea of a LEGO® cake with the nice cake decorator behind the counter. She was very creative and said she could work with me to come up with something. I explained to her that my son could make a LEGO® creation to go on the cake. (Again, we have set a precedent by not having a normal everyday birthday cake at my son’s previous birthdays. It has to be out of the ordinary.) She said she could do some primary color LEGO® bricks around the outside edges of the cake. Then we discussed how I could put the LEGO® creation on the cake without it sinking into the cake. She volunteered to put a white cake board in the middle of the sheet cake to sit the LEGO® creation on and ice around the edges of it. Yes! That was the perfect solution. Then we added Happy Birthday Brett written at the bottom of the cake just below the cake board and we had the perfect cake!

Now, what to have as goodies for the guests? I did stumble upon the small LEGO® Racers that McDonald’s had in the Happy Meals. I quickly marched to the counter and ordered 10 of them. Then I checked at all the local stores and found nothing…I was looking for some small LEGO® sets on sale, and LEGO® brick candy that I’d seen before and anything remotely LEGO® connected. I decided to stop looking around locally and go to “LEGOtopia”—the LEGO® Store. I figured I’d spend more money than I planned, but at least I would not be wasting time running from store to store with nothing to show for it.

The LEGO® Store always has small sale bins up front next to the cash register and today they had a bin of LEGO® mini figure Star Wars key chains on sale for $1! My son picked out 10 of them. I also found a set of LEGO® storage containers on sale for $7 that would be nice to use on the party tables filled with LEGO® bricks. Then I asked the sales clerk if they had anything else on sale. To my surprise the full size LEGO® Racers were on sale! They were $15 marked down to $3.50. The sales clerk had to go in the back stock room and get them, but they had exactly 10 of them. What a find! My son also talked me into getting a 650 piece basic LEGO® brick set for $29, so that the kids would have plenty of basic building bricks for the party activities.

Yeah! The candy store at Stonebriar Mall had the LEGO® brick candy. I started to scoop out 10 scoops into a plastic bag and it began to get real heavy. As I approached the checkout counter I asked, “How much per pound?” I did not really want to hear the answer….it was $9.60/lb.!!! After reluctantly shelling out twenty-six dollars, we were well on our way to completing our goodie bags for the party.

Before the day of the party, I took one last look at Target to see if I could find one or two special prizes I wanted to award at the party. Yes! They had the Easter stuff out and in that I found some small LEGO® Star Wars vehicle sets in a plastic bag for $3.00.

The day of the party we decorated the front door with a photo of a cake made out of LEGO® bricks (found on under the gallery/blank invite heading) and personalized with “Welcome to the Party! Prepare for LEGO® wars! Happy 11th Birthday Brett! (All written in the free LEGO® font).

The entryway was decorated with a 15’ Happy Birthday Brett banner made from a roll of white butcher paper and markers, with handmade LEGO® 2×4 paper bricks strung up on curly ribbon. (Heavy stock color paper was cut to 2.5” x 8” and I used the inside circle of a roll of tape to trace the circles.) The dining room was decorated in primary colors – blue tablecloth, yellow plates, red napkins. We used my son’s LEGO® creations as center pieces on the main dining room table, the side tables, the mantle (for the ones that took many hours to build and we did not want them played with!), the book cases, and the kitchen table. (He has a lot of LEGO® sets he has built as well as his own designs.) I printed out a bunch of photos I had of my son at LEGO®land, his LEGO® creations, and some cool LEGO® creations I found online (like a LEGO® tiered cake made of real LEGO® bricks, largest LEGO® tower, LEGO® bricks used to repair a wall, etc. Just Google Lego and click on search images.) The photos were glued onto heavy stock colored paper and were hung from the lights over the dining table and kitchen table. LEGO® building instruction booklets were placed on the kitchen table and they were covered with a clear see-through tablecloth. Then we collected all of the LEGO® mini-figures with their helmets, guns, or other accessories and placed them on LEGO® building plates to complete the center pieces of the tables.

For the LEGO® goodie bags, we found red bags on sale at Walmart for half price. (They were considered Valentine’s Day markdowns since they were red!) We used a black Sharpie to add circles on the front and back of the bag to make them look like LEGO® bricks. Then we added a sticky label that had the LEGO® logo on it and the guest’s name in LEGO® font. The bags were set out on the entry way table, so that each guest could added their goodies to it as they won prizes.

We set up a race track in the den by purchasing a 4’ x 8’ white board at Lowe’s for $11. The track had black and white checker paper found at Hobby Lobby taped across the bottom for the finish line and Hot Wheels track taped to the sides as a railing to keep the racers from falling off the sides. In front of the race track on the floor, we taped primary colored sheets of paper so each guest would have their own building station. And we placed a ziplock bag of LEGO® bricks on each building station.

As the guests arrived, they were asked to write down their guess as to the number of LEGO® bricks in the big LEGO® storage container. (I counted them ahead of time—there were 238!) Then they were asked to pick a building station and start building a space ship. We allowed about 20 minutes for everyone to arrive and complete their building project. Once the time was up, we took photos of each guest with their creation and gave out awards (such as Most Fascinating, Most Pieces Used, Most Innovative, Best Overall, etc. ) along with the prize of LEGO® brick candy in cellophane bags. We had all the guests put their LEGO® bricks back into their ziplock bag and trade bags with another guest. They were then asked to build a boat within 5 minutes. Once they completed their boats, we took their photo with their creation and tested each boat to see which ones floated and which ones did not. Then each boat was judged and given and award with a ring pop prize.

After the LEGO® building was over, the party moved outside where three cinder blocks supported a 9 foot long 2”x4” plank about 8” off the ground with a Nerf Axe at each end. (Yes! There are now Nerf Axes…as if the Nerf gun collection was not bad enough! This is part of the party that’s tailored to my son’s personality.) Two guests at a time battled with the Nerf Axes to knock the other one off balance off the wooden beam to win a LEGO® Mini Racer. The rules were to only hit the other person’s axe. I was a little worried about this game, but thank goodness everyone stuck to the rules and they got knocked off balance pretty quickly. (An alternative to this game is to have them use balloon swords.)

The pizza arrived, so we stopped and ate pizza and had cake. My son’s LEGO® creation fit perfectly on the cake and I found extra long candles so that the flames do not set the creation on fire. We also announced the winners of the “Guess How Many LEGO® bricks” in the storage container game. Two boys guessed really close to the 238 pieces, so I gave them each a small LEGO®Star Wars vehicle set that I found at Target.

Then we moved back outside for a water balloon war. Each guest got their own bin with 15 water balloons in it. We had LEGO® targets setup at varying distances that were worth from 50 to 300 points. (I used the plastic LEGO® bag and cut out the LEGO® logo and bricks and glued them to foam core boards which were stood up by wood glued to the bottom. I also used white bins with paper LEGO® bricks of different colors taped to them. ) Each guest went one at a time and threw their balloons. First, they only threw 4 balloons, then 5 balloons, then it was kind of a free for all….you can only hold back 11 year old boys so long! The boys with the highest points got to pick from a prize box.

The last game outside was a silly string fight which I know has nothing to do with the LEGO® theme, but it was fun for the boys to run around and blow off some energy before going back inside. Once we were back indoors, we had the kids each sit at a building station and build their Mini LEGO® Racers. Then they raced them down the race track. And for the next 15 minutes each kid added whatever LEGO® pieces they wanted to out of our LEGO® bins to see if they could make their car race faster. We knew this raceway game would be a winner because it is straight from what they do at LEGO®land in their creative building areas.

For the next game, we divided the kids into 2 teams. Each team had each person go to the LEGO® bin and try to carry back to their team as many LEGO® pieces as they could carry. Then they had 3 minutes to build the tallest tower they could. The team with the tallest tower that stood without falling over won and got to pick a prize from the prize box.

For the last game, each guest got to stand up and pick out 3 LEGO® pieces of their choice and try to drop them into a glass jar with a small opening. Sounds easy, right? Wrong! Some kids got two pieces in, but nobody got all three in.

Next, the birthday boy opened his presents. Then the grand finale was a LEGO® Scavenger Hunt which took them from room to room with 10 clues until they found their Lego Star Wars key chains and Lego Racer Sets packed away in decorative suitcases in the den.

My son and his friends had a great time. I think their favorite parts were the LEGO® building and the scavenger hunt. Good luck on your LEGO® party!

Interesting Lego sites:

    * Images of using LEGO® bricks to repair walls.
    * LEGO® Star Wars Armor Case for Nintendo DS
    * LEGO® brick construction t-shirt that is marked down to $9.99! (I found this after the party or my son would have been wearing it at the party!)
    * LEGO® Gadgets
    * And finally, everything you always wanted to know about LEGO®

Original post “How to Throw as LEGO Party” was found at BurbMom.net, a great site for parenting ideas, especially around the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

About Macey Hart

Throughout her corporate career Macey gathered experience in catalog, marketing, communications, and internet merchandising. The opportunities lead her to always work with the creative teams (advertising, photographers, videographers and television crews), giving them direction and making sure that they produced the best possible product. Now, Macey is excited to be the creative team for her clients and give them best possible photos of them and their family through her company, Macey Hart Photography!

I am a burb wife, mother of two wonderful boys, and photographer. Love to travel, shop, find new adventurous things to do with my boys, go out to eat, go to the movies, and watch the Bachelor and Bachelorette on TV.

Macey, thanks for sharing these great ideas! If you want to tell Macey thanks or of you have any great LEGO® theme ideas to add, please comment below!

What Do You Think of Haunted Houses on Halloween? Our Family May Have Different Opinions But Our Annual Haunted House Party Has Quite a Reputation!

cammie@momsmaterial.com — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:37:27 GMT

Halloween is around the corner and at our house, we begin getting ready for our annual Haunted Halloween Party in September. We discuss the theme, our costumes, props, decorations, etc. At the end of September, the garage gets cleaned out and the walls of the Haunted House start going up.

It hasn’t always been this way at our house, it started with our neighbors. They had an elaborate Christmas presentation in there yard and I knew we couldn’t compete. So, I decided we would just “claim” Halloween. We began with the graveyard scene in our front yard. Each year we bought more decorations and soon we had a pretty good set up. The year “Mr. Bones” joined us, everything changed.

Mr. Bones began greeting our trick or treaters by dropping from the top of a tree. Luckily, I convinced my hubby that he should only do this to “older kids”. If I didn’t convince him, then the first child (or their parents) quickly let him know Mr. Bones was too scary for the younger crowd. We were hoping the kids would be so scared they would drop their bags of candy and run. Unfortunately, we did scare them and they ran off, but they took their candy with them!

Hubby and my daughter had so much fun trying to scare the middle and high schoolers, that the Haunted House idea soon became a reality. The first Haunted House took months of preparation as hubby and his brother worked on a design and began transforming our garage. Hubby was in charge of the Haunted House and I was in charge of the decorations inside and outside, food, drinks and games to entertain the younger kids.

One of my favorite decorating idea was soaking white sheets in tea (to stain) and then ripping and tearing them up. We used the sheets on furniture, including couches, chairs, tables and we used them as old ratty curtains. It made the house look like it had been vacant for a long time or possible even abandoned.

In addition, we replaced ALL the light bulbs with black, orange or red light bulbs. We strung Halloween lights all around the house, some were colored purple and orange and others had decorations on them, like plastic eyeballs. This gave a dark “eerie” glow to the inside. We played old black & white Halloween classics like Frankenstein and Dracula (DVD’s) on small TV’s that we placed on the food table and in the bathroom. We also had Young Frankenstein playing in the background on our regular TV. We took down our photos and pictures and replaced them with the hologram photos that would change from the nice old fashioned married couple to a scary skeleton bride and groom.

The food included monster toes and fingers, edible eyeballs, mummy wraps, brain cupcakes, “vomit” queso and our friends brought their own special Halloween treats. My favorite part was not feeling the need for the house to be in typical “party presentation” mode. A Haunted House theme, includes dust and spider webs, so no need to stress over a “clean house”.

The Haunted House is the main event at this party and families have been warned, it is SCARY (and it’s not rated “G”)! This is one of hubby’s favorite activities every year and he does a phenomenal job. Now I have never been a big fan of haunted houses. Yes, I admit they scare me and they are just evil! I always try to tone it down, but I have learned the haunted house is my hubby’s project. After several haunted Halloween parties, my hubby’s reputation (for our haunted house) is well known in this neighborhood. Which means, he has to change it every year and the kids are always surprised.

Hubby giving the tour of the Haunted House!

We understand not all kids are like ours and enjoy this type of activity, so we do provide other games and activities. In the backyard, we set up a pumpkin bean bag toss, pin the face on the jack-o-lantern, find the hidden ghosts, coloring activities and the mummy wrap (which ended up being a wrap the backyard game). The younger kids really enjoyed coloring Halloween pictures and taping them around the house. We also decided some kids may enjoy it if they saw it during the day. So, last year, hubby did allow families to come by earlier in the day to “tour” the haunted house in the daylight with their kids.

The kids (and adults) love the party and every year we get more volunteers and help with running the haunted house. It has become one of our favorite holidays and brings our neighborhood friends and families together. The party is always before Halloween and we let the kids run the haunted house on Halloween. So if you really want a good scare, stop by Halloween Night, you never know what will happen when the kids run it!

This has been one of our favorite family activities. We plan it together, we prepare together and we work together! This is one of those activities that we hope the kids will want to continue for many years. We know when our kids are grown these parties will be included in some of their favorite family memories.

Click on the story book below to check out some pictures of our last Haunted Halloween Party!

We are always looking for great ideas to incorporate into our Halloween party. So, if you have any fun ideas or know of a great website that includes ideas for a Halloween party, please share it below. Then come back before Halloween to check out some more great Halloween party ideas.

Cammie Moise

SUPER Mario Bros Birthday Party Ideas

cammie@momsmaterial.com — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 09:37:54 GMT

My friend Nicole recently posted her son’s birthday party pictures on Facebook and I was in awe and very impressed. I immediately asked her if I could share her pictures and her party information on MomsMaterial. Luckily, she agreed.

If you are looking for some ideas for a Super Mario Bros Birthday Party, you will find them here.

She went all out on a Mario Bros Theme. The kids were given a Mario hat and a mustache to get into character and were greeted by stand up decorations of the characters found in the game.

She set up a game by putting different colored posterboard on the floor to look like the squares on the Mario Party game.

If they landed on blue, they received 3 gold coins. If they landed on red, they have to give back 3 gold coins. When they land on the orange square with the question mark, they had to play a mini game. She made her own die by covering a small square box and adding numbers.

The first mini game was Astroid Dodge. The kids took turns throwing marshmallows at the kids that were running from start to finish and then they switched.

The second game was Yoshi’s Egg Hunt. The kids looked for eggs that held gold coins.

The third game was Bozier Blast. The kids had to shoot Bozier with a water gun.

King Boo was waiting on the last square that had the Star pinata. You had to pay 20 gold coins to get to the star.

They also had all the Wii Mario games for the kids to play and they served a Super Mario Theme cake.

Before the kids left, she took pictures of them with the characters.

Did I mention that Nicole is creative, crafty and talented?

She made the cake by copying a picture she found online. Click here to find out how to make the cake.

She made the hats from a pattern she found online. I am not sure this is the exact site she got it from, but these look like it. Click here to find out how to make the hats.

She drew the characters freehand on insulation sheets (you can find at Lowes) and painted them. I am not a good artist, but I figured you could project an image onto the insulation sheet and copy it. I forgot to ask her how she cut them out, but I am sure you could use an exacto knife.

This was such a great looking party, it makes me want to hire Nicole and throw a Super Mario Bros. Party!

Thank you, Nicole for sharing.

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Birthday Party Planner

Looking For Lego Birthday Party Ideas?

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Great Birthday Party Game – Make Your Own Board Game

Cammie Moise

Looking For Some Great Party Cups - These Are Fun And Help Guests Keep Track of Their Drink

cammie@momsmaterial.com — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 07:30:10 GMT

About a year ago, I saw these cups at one of my Bunco Nights. I thought these were a great idea for parties. If someone sets their cup down, they can find it easily - or you can tell who left their cup out and didn’t throw it away.

Another fun idea is to use nicknames. You can even use names related to a theme or event and let them choose which “name” they want.

I finally saw the cups the other day at the grocery store and decided to grab some for our next social event. This past Friday we had some boys and their families over for a Movie Night At The Moise Theater (that is our backyard). We watched Star Wars – The Phantom Menace. I pulled out the cups and since the kids used juice boxes or cans of soda, the adults used them. If I would have thought about it, I could have set a few out with names and lines, like:

Names: Jedi Master, Darth Vader, QUEEN Amidala, Luke, Yoda, Obi-Wan, C3-PO, Princess Leia, Jar Jar Binks, Jabba teh Hutt, Darth Maul,

Lines:

Luke, I am Your Father

Noooooooooo

That would have been fun! Oh, well! Here are a couple of pictures of what they look like.

By the way, I purchased these on my own and just wanted to share!

Cammie Moise

Great Birthday Party Game - Make Your Own Game

cammie@momsmaterial.com — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 05:55:20 GMT

Make Up Your Own Game!

We did this at a 10 year old birthday party, with about 6 kids. Works best with 4-8 players over the age of 6.

You need: paper (white or colored construction paper), markers/crayons and Extra Large dice (we had some blow up dice)

Give each player around 4-6 pieces of white or colored construction paper. Make a "Start the Party Here" space and "Party is over!" space. These will be your start and end spaces.

Have them write down a move for the game on each piece of paper. Half should be move ahead and half should be go back.

Here are some examples:

"You gave the birthday boy/girl the best present. Move ahead 5 spaces."

"You pulled a prank on (insert name)! Move ahead 3 spaces. If you are (insert same name), go back 2 spaces."

"You had a fight with your friends, move back 3 spaces."

"You forgot your pj's, sleeping bag & pillow for the sleepover. Go back home (1st space) to get them."

Have an adult go through the "spaces" to place them according to the move. For instance, don't place a move back 4, on the 2nd space. Fill in with some blank pieces of paper. After you have placed them in order, find a good starting spot and place the spaces around the house and finish with the end space.

If it is a birthday party have the birthday boy/girl go first. The others roll for order. The first person rolls, moving that number of spaces, they read the move out loud and move ahead or back. Their turn is now over. Continue playing game until someone lands on the End Space (does not have to be exact roll).

The kids loved this game and played more than once and still talk about it!

Cammie Moise

Looking For Fun Entertainment For Family and Friends - How About A Movie Night In Your Backyard

cammie@momsmaterial.com — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:34:20 GMT

A few years ago, we started our very own movie nights in our backyard. We recently purchased a projector for work and I soon envisioned family and friends gathered to watch outdoor movies. We set the projector and a computer up in the backyard, and put up our screen - a king size sheet, tacked to the side of the garage. We added some large "Neat Sheets" on the ground and topped it off with pillows and blankets and added some chairs. Throw in a popular DVD, family, friends, popcorn and you have your own outdoor theater!

One summer, we planned Friday Night Movie Nights. Every Friday, we would show a movie in the backyard, order pizzas and pop some popcorn. We picked out family friendly movies that ranged from classics to newly released DVD's. We made out a schedule of what movies we would be showing and sent out by email to family and neighborhood friends. We usually ended up with around 8 to 15 friends stopping by. Most of our friends knew that if Friday came around and you didn't have plans, stop by and see if the "theater" is set up.

Since we live in Texas, we can do it year round! In the summers, we set up a couple of fans and spray the yard a few hours before the movie starts. In the winter, we add extra blankets. We have also used this for our kids birthday parties. It was perfect for our son's Star Wars birthday party and our daughter's High School Musical birthday party. If a popular family DVD is released, check our house that Friday night, we might have the theater open.

Did I mention that in two weeks, we are planning a Girls Night In at the theater? We will be showing Twilight, the DVD is scheduled for release March 21st. The girls (Moms) are looking forward to seeing Edward!

Cammie Moise

40th Birthday Girls Getaway (Yes, We Still Call Ourselves Girls)

cammie@momsmaterial.com — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 21:36:23 GMT

For a Fabulous 40th Birthday treat, consider a girls night out at the theatre! Recently, one of my friends had her 40th birthday. Her husband treated her to a "Girls Night On The Town". He sent some of her friends to see Legally Blonde, The Musical at Hobby Center and set us up at Hotel ZaZa for the night! It was an evening to remember.

We met at the hotel on a Friday afternoon, visited, got ready and headed to dinner, the theatre and then out dancing! We stayed up late visiting and now we are ready for another one to join the "40+ club"!

Legally Blonde, The Musical was "one Elle of a Show!" It was the perfect show for a group of girls (ok, women) to see together.

I thought this was another great idea to share for a birthday party! And for those husbands looking for a great 40th birthday idea for their wife, check out the theatre in case any fun shows are headed to town!

Cammie Moise

Are You Looking For Valentine's Day Party Games?

cammie@momsmaterial.com — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 07:26:06 GMT

Valentine's Day is around the corner. Are you looking for some great games that kids can play in the classroom? Here are several great Valentines Day party classroom games.

Word Find

Start with the word Valentine, see how many words you can come up with in 1 minute. Continue with more Valentine related word such as: Valentine, sweetheart, Chocolate, flowers, friends, cards, etc. and find as many little words as possible before the timer runs out.

Example: Chocolate
Words: late, at, ate, tea, tale, tool, cool, hat, hot, cat, coat...

Valentine Dictionary

Have some Valentine words written on cards, place them in a container. Divide the students into two groups. The first team chooses a word, when the timer starts (1 minute) they draw clues to get their team to guess the answer. Teams score 1 point if they guess the correct answer before the timer goes off. Then they switch and the other team takes a turn. You can set a word, point or time limit to decide when the game ends. Here are some word suggestions:

valentine, broken heart, cupid, arrow, fall in love, dozen roses, chocolates, crush, girlfriend, boyfriend, hugs, dance, love letter, February, card, jewelry, flowers

Cupids Surprise
Before your party wrap enough small prizes for each guest in a box. Then wrap it in a larger box, then larger and larger etc. Each box should be wrapped in red, pink or Valentine paper. Sit the guests in a circle and play music while the box is passed around the circle. When the music is stopped, the player holding the box begins to unwrap it. Then, start the music again...the box is passed...music stops...unwrap etc. Continue like this until the final box is unwrapped and the prizes can be passed out.

Stacking Heart Challenge
Make a tower of hearts, it isn't as easy as you think. This racing game is lots of fun filled with cheering and laughing. You'll need to buy plenty of small conversation hearts, I recommend a few bags. The object of the game is to build the tallest tower in the allotted amount of time (30 seconds should do). When the time is up, the kids count the hearts to see who is the winner. Then the next to players have turn. This game is usually a big enough hit for each player to request another turn.