He wanted to have a theme for his birthday party, but kept changing his mind. One month he was obsessed with ninjas, another month with Scooby Doo, and just this month we went back to our reoccurring theme of knights. And then, this past week, after reading books about King Arthur and the knights of the round table, James had finally made his choice of party theme. We sent invitations to his friends calling them the knights of the round table and the princesses of the neighboring towns. We started our list with five close friends, and then kept adding to it, because James wanted to invite all of his friends. I'm sure we had over fifteen kids altogether at the party, and although that was a big crowd, the birthday party was a grand success.
We had asked the children to dress according to their status, and I had bought each boy a helmet with chain mail and a sword, and each girl a crown, necklaces, and a ring. James received a king's hat, being the birthday boy as well as King Arthur.
While waiting for everybody to come to the party, I started reading them a book about King Arthur and his knights. They paid more attention than I thought they would, and they kept asking me questions about the story. After the reading, I, Queen Guinevere, sent them on a treasure hunt looking for King's lost gold. The king was gracious enough to allow his knights their share.
We then played a few more games such as "Practice your swordsmanship" by hitting as many bubbles as you can within a minute and ring toss game by trying to throw the king's hat on King's Excalibur. We had a lot of fun playing these games, but the kids were ready for some sit down activity. I had Elijah, my behind the scene helper of everything, cut some card board shields, and I had the boys color their coats of arm, and then glue them on their shield. The girls worked on making bracelets and necklaces. We had also provided shields for the girls who felt inclined to do both.
We were all tired out and hungry, but the Pizza guy was late, so we headed toward the present area and asked James to open them. James was very happy to receive all the great gifts that his friends gave him. There were books, robots, guns, light sabers, and many more. After pizza, it was time for cake. I had made a cake made of cupcakes, representing the chairs around the table, and had put a toy knight and horse on top of the cake. James was very happy with the cake, and it was very easy to just give the kids the cupcakes instead of having to cut the cake itself.
Presents were opened, pizza consumed, cupcakes devoured, so what's left except Pinata of course. The kids had absolute fun hitting the pinata and then collecting all the candy showered upon them.
This was a cool party, and I think everybody had a wonderful time. James' birthday celebration wasn't over yet. We had him open presents from us and then from the rest of the family. We had bought a brand new bike for him, and James couldn't hide his joy. He rode it for a while, and then was ready to check the other presents. I'm so glad James liked all of the presents.
While I was preparing dinner, James and his older siblings were playing this Scooby Doo game that we got for him. After dinner, James expressed a desire to watch White Christmas, a big hit in our home, and I heartily agreed. I really needed a little rest after having spent all day managing a big group of children. We ended our day by reading a Christmas book (Silent night, Holy night.) The party was a success, the presents abundant, and my boy happy.
At one point, Elijah nostalgically recalled birthdays of the past without themes and party favors. Or pizza for that matter. I personally like the theme idea; it gives me ideas for games and party favors.
What do you, guys, think about themes for the birthday parties? Have you been to a really spectacular birthday party? What made it fun? What is one of the most interesting themes you have done or heard?
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